After Gwen finished her trunk show on solids, she basically said Go to it! But the hardest part is cutting your first fabric! It was so hard to actually start! You look at all your fabrics and you can't decide what to do! I figure there was 2 ways to start with a block or a colour palette. I chose a block...I liked her red square quilts and thought I will start with something simple to get going, knowing I could always change my path. Instead of red sqares I chose 3 yellows, cut 16 yellow squares and just got going.
I don't know how well the colour in the photos will turn out, but I added dark purples and blues, with a splash of green! This is how I ended my first day of sewing:
That night at bed time, I went through Gwen's book before I slept, Mexican Hat Dance was a favourite of mine, I knew I would have to try that block, even if I only made 4 of them. I chose random colours. I mixed them up,
I tried them together:
Eventually, I thought it needed a frame around it and made a blue inner border, that didn't go right so I added a red border, and from the left over pieces from the Mexican Hat Dance blocks I made a couple of sawtooth borders...that wasn't my idea...I stole it from someone in the middle of the room...can't remember who...
Anyway, I got stuck here I needed more fabric, didn't have the right colour to frame it...So it was time for a trip to the fabric store. Found what I needed at the cute store in Elk Rapids and what a deal, many of the quilt stores gave discounts to Retreat participants. It's a deep plum colour.
I added Gwen's serpentine borders and appliqued some circles...one of those circles, is strategically placed to cover a tiny error... of which will remain nameless.
I haven't decided what to call this piece yet, it reminds me of a test pattern on a TV, and since it is a bit of a sampler...I tried out many of the tutorials Gwen gave...maybe Test Pattern is a good name, or maybe Do not Adjust your Set, This is just a Test.
15 comments:
That is fantastic! I really enjoyed seeing the progress steps.
I absolutely love the border. that "trick" Gwen taught with the insert is so useful.
what a great quiot! love seeing it develop
thanks for showing us the steps. its fun. and thanks for letting us go to the BIQR vicariously thru your blog.
What a great quilt. It reminds me of the old TV test card
I like that a lot. Nice color choices! I think "Test Pattern" is a great title.
Great title ideas! I think I like your last suggestion the best :- )
What a wonderful experience you had.
Lucky lucky you, I love the mexican hat dance one, I have tried something similar, now I can see room for more scope on mine. Came together really well, sounded like fun, Tracey
Thanks for carrying us through your thought process, good job solids are on my list of someday to-do. I don't know why some of us are afraid of solids, but I am.
Thanks for sharing the process. It was so fun to see it grow.
fun quilt and what a great way to walk us through it. esp love that last pic at the end with you in it!
Fantastic quilt! I love the name Test Pattern.
My vote is for Do Not Adjust Your Set. It is a wonderful quilt. Thank you for all the great pictures- I do hope to take one of Gwen's retreats someday.
Beautiful. Thanks for the virtual retreat. It's been great fun and I've enjoyed the photos. I agree that Test Card sums your quilt up brilliantly.
I'll probably never get to a Gwen Marston retreat so your posts have made me green with envy and I loved every miniute of it.
Totally wonderful quilt! Really terrific! I've ordered that book, just waiting for it to arrive.
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