Friday, October 5, 2012

When a Pretty Quilt Goes Bad - Off the Wall Friday

After completing the Fall art quilt , I'm really in the mood to get back to my roots and do a traditional project.  With that in mind, I pulled out a UFO that had gotten boxed up a year or two ago.  I originally started it because I wanted to make a "pretty" quilt for a change.  Well - it started out pretty and then it all went terribly wrong.

Wait!

The start of the FIX - Solid - Solid - Solid
Let me start at the beginning!  Wayyyy  back in 1998, I saw a really pretty  pattern by Alex Anderson on her show.  It was this little postage stamp basket block.  The pattern was in in her book Quilts for Fabric LoversSince I was low on funds, I put an ad online looking to trade for the book .  When Julia of Nebraska (now of Alaska) answered the ad, not only did I get the book, but I made a  new life long email friend.  Of course, I never did get around to making that quilt - but it was on my bucket list.

Jump ahead 10 years!

So with the hankering to make a pretty quilt, I remember that pretty 4-1/2" basket block of Alex's.  I had all these pretty RJR fabric samples from the Quilter's Sateen line just waiting to be used.

Soooo would you think that . . . . .

This




Plus This. . . . .
Would Equal This
Yikes!
Yes - like Tessa said -  OMG Momma - that's a hot mess!  I was so annoyed at myself not realizing that all those florals were going to overwhelm my pretty  quilt.  Still now the fix doesn't seem too bad - it just needs something to tie it all together - maybe quiet it down with some solids and for Goodness Sakes  work on the values!!  Who said traditional quilters have it easy??


So What have you been up to Creatively??

 

8 comments:

Sylvia said...

I have had quilts that just don't work. Looks like the scale of the print is too large for those small blocks. And the values are very similar. Are you going to divide them into smaller projects?

Kit Lang said...

have you read Rayna Gilman's latest book? Those blocks are great candidates! :)

Nina Marie said...

Actually - what I'm going to do - is break them up a bit with solid pieces of Sateen. The group of 4's is the very beginning of it. I didn't plan it all out - since I thought I would take a cue from Ms. Rayna and just work intuitively as I go. Obviously, the planned out pattern way was not going to work - LOL!!

I know there is hope for this quilt yet - it will make a good before and after!

annette said...

HY-sterical! Ok, we are going to attribute it to a long sunless winter with a three year old...yeah, that's it...tell Tessa, "see what you have wrought!" I love this post...but the quilt not so much. <3

Lisa Chin said...

All the same color and design principles apply to traditional quilts as to art quilts. Funny how we forget to cross that over some times! I see hope here! I think you are on the right track with adding some solids and adding some contrast. It will be fun to see how the end project comes out! I bet it will be gorgeous.

Katherine McNeese said...

the fix is looking GOOD!

Robin said...

I think you have chosen a very smart fix!

Unknown said...

Sometimes when you need to make a contrast between the two fabrics (when there is a goof or when fixing someone else's blocks) I add trim to set it off...a line of soutache braid and a little lace might work wonders. An alternate set with a plain fabric is a wonderful fix to the busy-ness!