This is the very first time I've worked on a quilt without any looming deadlines and without any external factors influencing my design decisions. It's not for anyone, just me, and I cast off any of the usual inhibitors, such as "I can't afford to go get more fabric!" Actually it's to exhibit in the Lowell Quilt Show, but that's not until August so it does set the bar a bit high but, given the time, that's just as I like it, a challenge without feeling overwhelmed by it.
This time I really went and got more fabric, including another trip up to Marden's in Maine. Unfortunately I didn't realize that they close so early on weekends, but I still did some significant damage in a half hour!
Instead of having to rush, I could take my time and actually redo anything I wasn't satisfied with. Well, that turned out to be almost every single square! I have enough rejects to make another quilt!
The result is that I love every square of this quilt!
But now I have my final design decisions ahead about how to finish it so I'm hoping some of you can help me make a good decision on this one. I intend to Quilt As You Go (QAYG) this time! I've found some great tutes on this technique I'll share with you:
I'm inclined to go with Marguerita McManus' technique but I'm still open minded on this, although I did just order her book , "Finish (almost) Any Quilt: A
Simple Guide to Adapting Quilts to Finish As You Go."
I have 2 reasons for wanting to add sashing. One is to separate each block with a solid neutral to ease the view from so much pattern but also because these blocks are painstakingly cut to 12 inch squares and once I start to FMQ on these babies there's bound to be some serious distortion, so to keep the integrity of the blocks, I want to add on a border big enough to absorb the distortion and still end up with precisely squared blocks. But what color? Of course white is usually my first choice but I already have a fair amount of white built in so I have 2 colors I'm thinking of, though not locked into:
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a very light grey/beige Kaffe Fassett's
shot cotton used in the quilt |
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a tan broadcloth not used in the quilt but seems to compliment it |
Any suggestions?