Deep in the Land of H!

When one gets tired of sitting, one stands!

When one stands, she may as well be cutting and kitting up something – after all, that takes little to no effort, right?

Besides, color and texture is extremely good for the eyes, the spirit and the soul.

So cut out, I did.

A LOT.

Boxes of gifted scraps have gone a long way into making their path into recent quilts, and it is so fun to find a place for each piece.

I have received some questions when working with small blocks and choosing fabrics…

“How do you pair fabrics so the design isn’t lost or looks muddy?”

It’s a viable question!  Something I’m not sure I do consciously, but there is a method to my choosing in what goes next to what.

H in Progress!

In this example the H itself is a busy little print, which means I need high contrast between it and what goes up next to it. 

The neutral I used has BARELY a pattern and it is a geometric rather than another scattered floral print.

I’ve paired it with a nearly solid marble.

In this one example you can see I’ve got three things going on ---contrast in color, contrast in scale, and contrast in pattern ((nearly solid, busy print, geometric))

Very rarely would I put two florals together because they kind of run amok and blur the edges, especially with tiny patchwork.

If something is a busy big print – I would use it only ONCE in the block, and pair it with something more solid so I have a defining edge of where the block design stops and the background starts.

Trimming this one!

Square in a square units are ALWAYS sewn with a bit larger triangle than is required for me.  There is a lot of take-up in the overlap where corners of triangles cross other corners and they tend to fall short if I do them “mathematically correct.”  I am using the 1/4” line on my Easy Square Jr to sliver trim the excess.

In this block, I’ve used a busy Kaffe fabric as the H –so the surrounding triangles are once again more of a solid in this case a melon colored fossil fern.  I used a white backgrounded star print as my neutral.  it’s more geometric and scattered.  Again, 3 different things:  Color, Scale, Pattern.

If your blocks are muddy, give this a try!  Too much printy printy printy will give a mushed up effect.

Yesterday’s trimmed samples again:

These all have very BUSY H’s so the surrounding parts are not.

Design wall!

Some of these H’s are NOT so busy, so their surrounding parts are a bit busier and bolder.  I just am careful to not put a big and busy with another big and busy.

And so I cut sets – All Afternoon!

Baggied and ready to fly!

I didn’t even count how many are in here, but I am sure that there are more than enough to keep me busy while I am in Oklahoma!

This morning Sadie and I are packing up and heading home.  But first….a lovely Buck Mountain Sunrise walk:

Good Morning, Mountain!

Let’s go, big girl!

Hurry up, Mom!

We’ll be home before noon with any luck.

I’ve got packing to do.

Tomorrow?  TULSA!

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