I'm a month behind with this project, but I'm going to share it anyway. Our RSC color for May was green, and I had lots of green 3" strips to use. My original plan was to make a variation of a jelly roll race quilt. I couldn't face the thought of miles of strips joined end-to-end, so I made my version using strips that were deliberately pieced together to make rows that measured about 60" across. I was planning to make 32 rows, which would have finished at 80" long. Here is the top half from that original plan.
How boring is that? I hated it!! Time for Plan B. The rest of the rows for the lower half were joined into groups of four. I decided to cut those groups into segments that measured 10.5" x 14.5" and wrap them around central squares to make blocks. Here are the two fabrics I auditioned for the centers of the blocks and the sashing.
After deciding to go with the darker brown contrast fabric, I made six blocks that finish at 24" square. At that point the plan was to also use the dark brown fabric as sashing between the blocks, then use some remaining green sections for a piano key type border.
The narrow sashing seemed overwhelmed by the giant blocks in the above layout. Here comes Plan C--instead of doing a pieced border, I ended up making pieced sashing with two strips of the dark brown and a line of green pieces in between. So much better! Now I like the way this has come together. Here is a photo of the completed quilt top, followed by two close-ups of blocks that give you a better look at the fabrics.
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| Green Strippy quilt top 64.25" x 93.5" |
I haven't come up with any good names for this quilt yet. I'm just glad to have the top done and the pieces off my design wall. It feels good to have a finished top--it may not be my favorite ever, but at least I don't hate it anymore!
I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. I am also linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag and to the Ad Hoc Improv Quilters at Fret Not Yourself. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing!
Julie in GA
It's always fun to watch someone's creative process in action. Great finish.
ReplyDeleteAll those wonderful shades of green? I absolutely LOVE it!!! I'm glad that you were able to work through the design challenges to end up with a piece that you "don't hate."
ReplyDeleteIt was fun to see to see the evolution of this quilt from beginning to end! The final quilt really is so much more interesting! I especially like the little green sashing squares in between each block.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas, and now a finished top, always feels good.
ReplyDeleteI like the way this turned out. Having it start out as one idea, only to become totally different! Great idea and well done!
ReplyDeleteIt was fun seeing this quilt evolve. I think it looks a bit like furrowed fields. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!
ReplyDeleteOh, I like the end result...soooooo much nicer than the jelly roll race type quilt you began with AND congrats to you for using up some of that old stuff!
ReplyDeleteJulie, that was a terrific Improv solution to the boring first look. You should show this whole post on Tuesday for the Ad Hoc Improv Quilts challenge. It's sponsored by Kaja at Sew Slowly and Ann at Fret Not Yourself. I know they would love to have,you link up. It's a winner!
ReplyDeleteLove how you worked it out. Great use of strips.
ReplyDeleteHi Julie,
ReplyDeleteIt was fun to read about your designing process. I agree with your end result - the double sashing looks fabulous. Now how are you going to quilt it? ~smile~ Roseanne
Thanks for sharing your design process. I learn so much from my internet Design Wall Monday friends. Good job!
ReplyDeleteWow! I love what you did with the strips. I really like green and brown together. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cool top and very cool scrappy blocks!
ReplyDeleteNice. Your blocks are much more interesting than a jelly roll race quilt.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed see you thoughts in action. Great job! Happy 4th of July.
ReplyDeleteI love following someone's design decisions; thanks for sharing them. And I love the final result. Not too original, but "It's Not Easy Being Green" comes to mind for a title. Now the Sesame Street song will be in my head all day. LOL Claire aka knitnkwilt
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing all your decisions and your gorgeous too. There's no comparison with a jelly roll race. I'm a Plan A, B, C... person, too. Each of yours moved your design ahead by leaps and bounds.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking this educational post with AHIQ. Always fun to see how people work out a design.
So interesting to read through your process! This turned out so very well. The darker fabric strips and smaller green sashing was the perfect choice! Very striking.:)
ReplyDeleteYour top turned out wonderful! The design is still straightforward and clean, but you added just enough complexity to it to make it more interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you linked this up with AHIQ; it was so interesting to follow your process and see how you went from quite an ordinary starting point to a really interesting and successful quilt.I especially love what you did with the sashing, as it holds everything together beautifully.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely not boring! What a brilliant idea to slice and rearrange the pieces.
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