Hi,
Sorry for the lay-out, i'm not a computercapable person.
The lollipops with the yellow leaves is my first block so far. The blue leaves i managed to prepare to take with me to Birmingham. To my disppointment, no quilts from Kim McLean, a lot of Kaffe Fassett though : quilts, fabric and even the person : tall, smiling, relaxed.
The dark red leaves are my third block. Now i would like very much to have your honest opinion because i am doubting myself very much at this point.
Meanwhile i am stewing over Kims heart quilt in the romance book. I found those background fabrics : 4 almost identical kaki background with pink spots. The layout of the spots is different in each one. With a Kaffe border (once finished), the right hand one probably, and i am thinking with repro's and japanese taupe.And maybe tht at kind of soft orange for the heart. But for the moment just stewing, to much other things going on.
About a week ago i read an entry on the blog from someone (couldn't find it back) who was talking about doing the circles from lollipop without the precut circles preparations. I just want to say i totally agree with her that it is more suitable for this pattern to do them without the templates, because then you have more of the oval shape as on the original pattern. I also think it takes a lot of the possible boredom of sewing that many circles away. I trace my circles from the pattern and then just crease the sewing line between thumb and index. I also crease the sharp points of the leaves.
I do have a question though : how do you put your shapes on the place where they belong, do you eyeball it or is there a method to get them on the right spot?Could i also ask you, since i have the impression lots of you are using the blue watersoluble pen, to watch out with that : 2 of my quilts i made years ago, after rinsing them in the washing machine, show yellowish lines instead of the former blue ones. So i don't use that pen anymore, unless i can wash the lines out the same day i put them on.
Sorry for the layout again, have no patience now for searching everything out, but i do want to tell you how much i really love this blog.
Love your background selection!!
ReplyDeleteYou asked about the red leaves. I think there is not as much contrast as with your other blocks. But, sometimes a blocks has to stand back so the other blocks can shine forth. As far as the blue pen goes, you have to wash it out with cold water or it will sometimes leave a yellow shadow. Hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteI love the red background, first off. I really like the two blocks that you have a bit further along. The dark red one..IMO needs a little something else..another color thrown in maybe? As Robin said..sometimes a quieter block lets the others shine better though?
ReplyDeleteFor the Romance quilt..it's hard for me to give an opinion since I don't know what other fabrics you're using. I sure do like that peachy one though. I say trust your instincts..you're doing fine.
Those blue wash out markers..I only use the fine tip one. It allows you to make a finer line so less ink to rinse out. I also remove it as I get an area done. When I've had problems in the past it was with the thicker pen and it had sat for a while. Also..NEVER apply heat to the blue ink. :)
I love the red background, it's going to be stunning. I think if you add a couple of other colours to the blocks they'll be singing. I have used a vinyl overlay with the pattern drawn on it with a sharpie to place pieces. I use long handled tweezers to place the pieces under it.
ReplyDeleteI think the red background is beautifull. Using different coloured leaves on each block will look fabulous! I had a few pics sitting on my computer about how I use the blue pen, so I have put them up in a post to show how I use them. I have had a lot of emails about the blue pens lately, so i was going to do a post on them anyway!! tracing the pattern onto the fabric with blue pen is how I line up my pieces, however there are other great methods, this is just the way i do it. Hopefully other people will post how they do it. That is what I love about this blog, all of us learning from each other. I had never heard of front or back basting til Liza mentioned it!!
ReplyDeleteHi Francoise,
ReplyDeleteI love your color choices but what I would like to see is some larger scale prints. Many of your pieces look nearly solid and I think that one of the things that make Kim's designs so interesting is the fussy cut larger scale prints. She lets the fabric do a lot of the design work.
I think you should stick with your very interesting palette but maybe branch out a bit with some bigger prints. I hope you give it a try. I may be wrong, but I think it is worth exploring.
Liza
Hello Francoise! I am still loving your RED background!!! It's fabulous and bold. : )
ReplyDeleteI like the darker Lolly, but think a few punches of color would be quite nice. Lime green, orange, gold, teal...?! What do you think? Maybe even a pink or magenta.
I believe Liza made a good point about trying some larger scale prints. It would add interest, movement and perhaps give a sense of vibrance.
Hi Francoise,
ReplyDeleteThey're looking lovely, yes as Liza suggested, perhaps some larger scale prints for the bigger shapes? Some wavy stripes or something like that?
Stripes and large scale prints give movement to the block. One's eyes tend to pick up those sort of fabrics because the eyes automatically scan for something that is different. With the smaller shapes, I usually pick part of the fabric that has a small interest, such as the centre of the flower - look at the fabric carefully and you'll soon see some wonderful things.
I trace the applique design onto the background fabric with pencil 2B. If you can't see it & don't have a light box, try this. Buy a sheet of glass from the picture framing store, cover the the edges with masking tape. Put the glass sheet on top of 2 equal piles of telephone books and slide a lamp under it. Or use glass top coffee table!
If you need to get rid of the pencil marks, grab your old white T -shirt and use that to rub the pencil mark off - it works really well. But use OLD - often washed T-Shirt - not new ones.
Cheers, Kim McL