MQA Progress Report 4
September 13, 2005
The top is done:
I’m not in love with it. I like the mix of fabrics, which includes some Fairy Frost and Lakehouse with their pearlescent highlights, several snowflake motifs, a pine needle print, a few that sparkle like fresh snow does on a sunny day, a white on white stripe to represent the slopes groomed like corduroy, and a great batik that worked as both a blue and a grey/brown. I’m pretty happy with the color and value distribution, though there are some blocks where I’d like to swap out a fabric or two, which isn’t really practical given the construction method. I’m just not sure if I like the thing as a whole. Maybe it’s just that it’s so different from the smaller, brighter quilts I’ve been making lately that my eyes need time to adjust.
I had eighteen blocks left over and decided to use them on the back instead of adding to my scrap pile. Originally, I thought I’d piece three rectangles of six blocks each and fill in the rest of the space with skiing fabric, but when I got the block rectangles up, I didn’t like them. On to plan B, which I made up as I went along, starting with putting the leftover blocks in diagonal arrangement using that half-drop idea I’d considered for the front. I also had some rectangles that I had cut but not used to make blocks, so I added those. Then I cut some more rectangles and some half rectangles and filled in the edges with two skiing fabrics. It’s a lot more complicated than I’d intended to get, but I like it.
Now both the top and the back are going to sit for a while until I decide how to quilt it. Right now I’m leaning toward an allover pattern of curved lines flowing generally from left to right, but I need to ponder for a while in case I get a better idea.
The completely unofficial Nieblung ring for MQA is here.
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