Thursday, July 9, 2015

Keeping It Simple--Dandelion Block

Our local theater group recently asked our quilt guild if we would help recreate the blocks needed for the musical Quilters they will be performing in early August.  When our president then asked for volunteers, I immediately jumped thinking this would be a fun project to help with.  Plus I'll admit I thought it would be neat to see something I created on stage.

When the email deciding who would do what block went out, I was not quick enough to get in on the conversation and by the time I did most of the blocks within my skill level where taken.  After speaking to the lady in charge, I thought I might just quilt several of the blocks after they were pieced since that is something that I might enjoy more than some.  However, she made a comment in the email that keeps replaying in my head.  She said I didn't have to quilt them as elaborate as my usual beautiful work.  That was a 100% a complement (and I appreciated it) but it made me start thinking.  Can I quilt something that isn't sort of over the top and elaborate?  I have gotten into the habit of wanting to cover my quilts (especially my smaller quilts) with as much thread bling I as I possibly can.  I LOVE texture and I love quilting that stands out.  Can I tone this down?  With these pieces being time period specific, they would have been hand quilted not machine quilted and would probably not been covered in head to toe dense quilting.

After going to the meeting, I still ended up agreeing to help quilt anything that needs completed but they also found an unclaimed block that was within my skill levels.  I am in charge of the Dandelion block.  They would like the blocks to be 30 inches with a 3 inch boarder around them.  One of the ladies in our group is a EQ7 pro (she even teaches classes--note to self sign up for them) and she was kind enough to print patterns for us.

My block is pretty straight forward, rectangles, squares and half square triangles.  The cutting instructions for my block are in 16ths and not exactly how I would do it, so that has lead me to rely on my math skills.  Thank goodness I paid attention in school.


I also had to search for fabrics in my stash that might pass for the time period.  Sadly, I had to shy away from lime green and hot pinks.  But I think I didn't do a to shabby job.



So after some calculating and recalculating, I am about 1/2 finished piecing it together.  I think the top part will go much quicker than the bottom half has.


Hopefully by the weekend I will be ready to quilt it...that's the goal anyway.  So my thoughts are doing simple continuous curves in the flower and possibly the leaves.  Matchstick/straight lines in the background and then something in the ground section.  I thought about pebbling, but wasn't sure if that would be too wild.  Oh, I almost forgot the boarders.  Maybe just some cross hatching in them?  I am completely open to suggestions...please feel free to comment and give me some advice.  









2 comments:

Rebecca Grace said...

Wait, there's a musical called QUILTERS and no one ever told me about it before?!!! I am SO curious now! Your dandelion block is fantastic. I love dandelions, and fondly remember playing with them and blowing the seeds everywhere when I was a kid, but my husband is very "into his landscaping" and he won't let a dandelion anywhere near our yard. He would freak out if he saw me blowing seeds all over his precious grass -- hah! :-)

Stitchin At Home said...

Your dandelion block is coming together beautifully. Your quilting plan sounds good, I think I would avoid the pebbling. What happens to all the blocks after the show?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...