For years I kept journals -- in composition, spiral bound, and French graph paper books. This blog is an attempt to get back to writing and documenting the world around me using photos, newspaper headlines, and other articles.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Embassy Inspired Quilt Design

I have made so much progress on my Embassy inspired quilting.  My goal last weekend was to finish the top of the patchwork quilt before the Sunday football games.  With the football season winding down, I wanted to be able to enjoy watching some of the action.  At 12:20 (in plenty of time for the 1:00 kick off), I had sewed row 4 to row 5 and pressed the last seam!



Looking at it, I am very satisfied with the overall block design.  It is pleasing to my eye.  The pattern can be expanded or shrunk very easily, depending on need.  So from that standpoint, I'm happy with my first foray into pattern design.  I also love the fabric that I chose.  There are lots of Carolyn Friedlander's architectural inspired patterns from her Doe, Botanics, and Carkai collections.  I have my new favorite geometric pattern, Squared Elements, by Art Gallery Fabrics.  I also have some grays from Cotton and Steele as well as several from my stash.  The colors go well together and it looks pretty.  So that is good.  With that said, I think that it needs more contrast for the tan window blocks to really stand out.  Next time, instead of the long green rectangles underneath the gray triangles, I think I would have a darker color -- maybe even more gray.  That would make the tan window frames pop.



I look at the quilt top and think windows, window frames, architectural detail.  Green center window panes are for the trees reflected from Grosvenor Square.  Tan window frames are for the color of the building.  And gray triangles are for the darker architectural details that appear recessed in between the larger windows. It is representational for me.  But I think I could make it up in totally different colors and still like the design.

I found a picture that I had taken to capture the horizontal nature of the building.  That was the jumping off part for my second quilt.  I wanted to try something less patchwork-y and more abstract. Since the Green Bay and Washington game got so lopsided and not so fun to watch, I went back to my sewing room and got started on the new project.



I couldn't totally give up blocks of color, because I used four shades of white when I could have used just one.  I used Bone and Snow from Robert Kaufman's Kona Solids.  The other two fabrics were in my stash.  Strips of Kona in Ochre separate the blocks of white.  Using bigger blocks of fabric certainly speeds up the process!  Before I went to bed, I had sewed the top white rows together.

Selim, working on his homework while keeping me company.


I got the idea of using 1" strips in random order from the quilt pattern Jalousie from Alethea Ballard's Maverick Quilts.  I have had visions of making this quilt with a big Hawaiian print.  I've used up the majority of Hawaiian prints that I got from Rosie's in San Diego.  Next time I go back, I'll have to get more.  I digress.  Anyway, this might have been the first time where my cutting and sewing skills were spot on.  All the rows finished at exactly 44" wide and the golden strips look straight and even.  Uuuuuunreal, as my nephew would say.

Because I'm not used to editing and editing down my ideas and I'm still a bit literal minded, I designed this quilt to have a dark base, akin to the Embassy itself.  In retrospect, that might not have been my best idea.  The top is so light and the base is so heavy.  The contrast might be too extreme.  I could have made the same size quilt with just the white blocks and gold strips and been happy.

Finished top rows, design notebook with cutting instructions, browns, my needlepoint pillows in the back.


On Tuesday I managed to be homework parent, and dinner chef, and still had time to steal some time in my hideaway room and finish the more abstract top.  It was too late in the day to take outdoor pictures.  I'm finding that the combination of my cell phone and the florescent lights at night do not good photos make.  I really miss my good camera.



I had hoped to put both quilt tops on the clothes line this afternoon for a side by side view.  But it was so windy that I couldn't get off a good shot.  I ended up putting them down in the fresh snow.  The corners flipped up, but I managed a half way decent shot of the two tops.  I think they look really cool next to each other.  They represent the same building, but in two totally different ways.  That excites me.  I have a few other buildings that I want to explore in these two different ways.

They look a little blue in the snow, but otherwise, they are unfinished pieces, ready for the next phase of long arm quilting.


Hopefully the wind will die down in the next day or so and I can take a nicer picture. Shooting light colored fabric on top of new snow does not set off the quilts very well.  But I didn't want to wait for the good weather.  I wanted to link this up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced and have something to show.  They are works in progress, and I can't wait to send them off to a quilter to finish!