Sunday, March 12, 2017

Things to do and think about

We have been having absolutely disgusting weather the last few days... or is that weeks... so it has been very conducive to sewing shed activities.

After work I like to piece... and piece... and piece... I finished another Starburst Cross block



I also finished up one of the Block P's from my March RSC project... 1" squares.


And since I'm two months behind with starting the RSC, I figured I should try to catch up with those months, because they are pretty important colours.  Somewhere between blue and green is the Feburary colour selection.  These squares are cut 4 3/4".



And I've got plenty of smaller scraps for one of the blocks with smaller pieces.  When I say it is a scrap challenge... it really is scraps!


January was purple, and look... purple scraps!


For my dedicated weekend sewing, I figured I should concentrate on the blanket stitch for My Tweets before it got out of hand and I found myself three years down the track with nothing done [like that's ever happened before :o)].

Block 10 had those pesky little circles to get finished.  DONE!



And Block 11 needed the works.  DONE!


I'm already thinking about sashing and setting designs... but more about that later.

Now that there are only THREE blocks left to piece on the Starburst Cross quilt, I have laid out all the completed blocks and started to consider placement and setting.  The pattern has the blocks set with no sashing.  So first I tried alternating dark and light.  Lets call this Version A.


My black and white version shows that really, there is not a huge amount of contrast in a lot of these blocks.

Then I tried graduating the background colour from a light/light in the top right, through to a dark/dark in the bottom left.  Lets call this Version B.


Again, the black and white version throws up some booboos, but it is an interesting experiment.


Then I just tried mixing them up so that the yellow and dark blocks were spread out... and the florals given a bit of space to breath.  I'm still not sure whether there is any improvement.  Lets call this Version C.


Another setting option would be to use grey sashing between the blocks.  This would allow the fabrics a bit of space, and emphasize the "cross" part of the design.  Unfortunately, without cutting all the sashing strips, there is a bit of creative visualization required!

So what do you think?  Version A, B or C... or grey sashing?

8 comments:

Susan said...

You do have a bit of a conundrum on your hands with the Starburst Cross blocks, don't you!? The red is very strong compared to the rest of the colour palette you used. Maybe try the grey sashing with red corners? Or use red in the last three blocks to balance it all out?

Sally Trude said...

I love the low contrast of your Starburst Cross blocks. I have such a hard time with "quiet." I prefer Version A, no sashing. And your applique is gorgeous.

The Joyful Quilter said...

Version C makes for a good balance of lights and darks. I'm not sure that the pale sashing does anything for the quilt. Congrats! on getting some RED sewing done for the RSC.

Monika said...

I'm with Suz, I would go with grey sashing. I can see a secondary pattern of arrows form, just not sure yet what the corners would have to look like to make that happeb (cornerstones, pluses?).
Very impressive progress! Only thing I got done was my little bag but that looks great - will post pics soon :)

sunny said...

Your applique project is gorgeous!!!!

Nell's Quilts said...

Love the applique on the checked background. Selecting the right setting for your blocks is definitely a challenge.

Lynette said...

I see by the newer post that you've tackled the problem of the stars quilt - but I just have to say how much I love your My Tweets blocks. The fabrics are so nice together! Can't wait to see it assembled.

Charlotte Scott said...

What about using a red binding to take that little touch of red right through the quilt? I like setting A. Random, but I see you've made changes in a later post. Might get to see this in person?