Wednesday, February 07, 2007


These blocks were bugging me, and not in a good way. I made them to use up the leftovers from my Grey Havens quilt, and then they refused to co-operate when I tried to put them together. Those madder squares in the corners kept forming a secondary pattern when I tried to sash them with 2" sashing and cornerstones, and I didn't like the effect. I tried dozens of settings and different fabrics and nothing clicked. I din't mind the green and navy setting I showed a couple of posts ago, but Meredith obligingly pointed out that my Square-in-a square blocks have that setting too. And I didn't want to duplicate it. So thanks Meredith, the delay was all your doing.

I finally tried this dirty browny-grey print that I adore, and it worked. I wanted the quilt to have that ancient, multi-patterned look of 18th Century quilts, kind of like a faded carpet. I had just enough to make the sashings, so that is another metre and a half of fabric gone from the stash for good. And seeing it was a piece that I've been hoarding it counts for Judy's challenge.

As a bonus, one of the fabrics that didn't work for this quilt proved to be perfect for another set of blocks, so that will be my next project. It's a simple one, so I should be able to whip it up in a few days. Famous last words. It took great resolve and determination to get this latest top finished, and I had to ignore a few chores this afternoon so that I could get it in one piece. I kept repeating to myself 'I'm going to blog about this tonight, I AM
going to blog about this...'

I stuck to another resolve and kept this small, only 20 blocks. It will be a nice wall quilt, or one for the couch. The colours are very subtle and muted, and look much nicer in natural light than in the photo. I do like muddy combinations though. I'm not much into brights; love what other people do, but I don't buy bright material myself.

I'm going to pull out all my orphan blocks tomorrow and see if I can make a top from them. Just about every top I made last year had leftover blocks, so I will play around and see if I can be as creative as Bonnie....

9 comments:

mereth 8:33 PM  

I'm glad I pointed out your duplication, because I adore this setting choice. It's a colour combination you'd probably never come up with in your head, but it looks exactly as you wanted, old and faded and comfortable.Sometimes I hate all the laying out and trying this one and that one, but it pays off when you get that unusual pairing that just 'clicks'.

Darlene 11:33 PM  

It's perfect! Truly has an "old, faded and comfortable" look.

Joyce 1:20 AM  

I love the old faded look. I work a lot with brights myself but love these colors in other people's quilts.

Angie 2:31 AM  

What an absolutely PERFECT 'antique' quilt!! I LOVE it!!

Lucy 6:09 AM  

I am in love.... what a beautiful quilt . I love the purple accents.. it is such a surprise

Helen 5:32 PM  

It is looking really lovely

Unknown 5:34 AM  

Muddy colors are "in" and I love them too. You made a beautiful antique looking quilt and the purples are just perfect in it.

Mary Johnson 9:22 AM  

Keryn, thanks for your comments on my Half Square Strings. It's funny because this quilt of yours is the type I love but because I make so many donation quilts - brights have taken over my stash!

I'm so glad you wrote because it's been a while since I'd visited your blog and I love the scrap quilts you make. Now I've got your site on my bloglines list and will be back.

Shelina 4:50 AM  

This is a great quilt. I like to make bright quilts, especially in the winter, but when it comes to using and owning, I like looking at the old fashioned quilts. So I have made some more muddy quilts - but most of them are still UFOs.

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