Last Bits

Finally the last borders!
I had no fabric in my stash that was a near enough colour match.....so I made it myself!

White and red is very hard to match unless you work from exactly the same dye batch....and who can do that?

No, I haven't even thought about how i'm going to quilt this piece...it's going to be a surprise. At the moment, I refuse to go there....simply because I know myself - whatever I plan, I change my mind as soon as I sit down to quilt. All I know is that it will most likely be traditional (well, free hand traditional anyway). I dare not even consider marking that white / white fabric! And here is the last bit. All done. Tomorrow is assembly time.

Stencilling away

The peeling off stage is always exciting, it's when the blob of paint above becomes the crisp and vibrant image you've planned on !
When I started this quilt, I decided to stay firmly on the 'correct' colour usage track.....before changing my mind and then changing it back again.

Now that I've stencilled the blocks, I've taken a liking to this triadic colour blend. I put the blocks up on my wall and the colours just seem to 'fit' really well....is it just me? or have I discovered the power of the triadic colour merge?

Right now, I'm having a love relationship with this quilt, we're at the honeymoon phase where it looks so new and fresh, its exciting to work on it every day....but I know full well that I may end up changing my mind again...I usually have a love / hate relationship with my quilts and it's usually over what colours or prints I've selected, I'm hoping that as I get more adept at following the rules, these relationship problems will just disappear....

Esther's Ocassional Quote for the Day

Still going

Starting early on a cold winter's morning.....

My travelling iron is handy to take around the house as I often move

my quilting into the sunniest room

Some peonies drying

When I have time, I like to wait 48 hours before I heat set as I've found this proves a truer colour

My layers are nearly done, one more colour to go

It sure is a New Day....Every Day

I was just flicking through my email inbox when I noticed one of my quilts flicking before me.....

I was happily suprised to open my latest newsletter from The Quilt Show....and notice that my quilt, PEACE, is shown on the Gallery Tour page!

I was delighted! I love The Quilt Show newsletter....now I REALLY feel like a quilter! Love it...Love it...Love it

Visit The Quilt Show via my side link on the left of this page, or just click the link below...

http://www.thequiltshow.com

Peonie Pride progress

The joy of beginning the journey of a stencil quilt....

Cutting out my stencil designs....

Pressing the fabric after the prewash.....

Laying the stencil on top of the wrinkle free fabric....

Positioning....positioning...positioning....until perfectly placed. It can take time!

I like to iron on the entire block, then when I stencil, it's like a jigsaw puzzle falling into place, as I remove piece by piece

More pieces.....

Peonie Pride...a sneak preview

After Sydney Showcase, and the learning curve of Manor House, I set myself the challenge of making a quilt according to 'correct' colour blending (rather than colours based on a whim which is pretty much what I was relying on...) I studied the charts and discovered two very interesting things:

1.
A quilt I made in 2005, Not Quite Shabby Chic, is perfectly colour matched (quite randomly, but still I'm impressed)

and

2.
That Red, Blue and Green is a perfect triadic colour composition. So that's the challenge I set myself for my next quilt. I was pleased to discover that actually, we quilter's have a pretty good eye for colour, so mostly, my quilts are complimentarily hued....however, there have been a few misses....and dissapointments, so it was high time to brush up on the basics.

I have had a good play with the swatch chart and next on my list is advancing to the book.....

What better time to start my new regime than with Peonie Pride, my newest stencil quilt? I had already started sketching the stencil designs a while back and I have a few ideas about colour, but this time....for once...I decided I would follow the 'rules'.

I have had a few moments of near rebellion, but I have stayed the course and this quilt will definitely be triadic.

Here goes.......