Colour

I like colour.

A lot.

If it's random colour I love it.

I'd had this pattern by Chris Jurd for a while and was keen to finally make it. Chris makes some absolutely stunning paper pieced quilts and I don't think it will be my last quilt of hers.

Now I know my style isn't to everyone because I think I muddy the waters when it comes to playing with values. So many times I see a quilt pattern that says (and this one didn't btw) 'take a dark, medium, light' or 'avoid big prints' 'for the best effect.

I disagree.

If you do that, you reveal the quilt pattern immediately and I find it's quite harsh on the eye.
If you soften the boundaries between colour values and sometimes merge those boundaries, you get a pattern that the eye searches to find and it slowly emerges.

And the whole time I am doing this, although it looks random, I am keeping an eye open for how the colours play within the values - and sometimes I get it wrong.

In the central flying geese block below, I had the idea to edge the block in a thin strip of lime green. I did it but it looked all wrong, stopped the flow of the quilt, so unpicked it and put a strip in of the same background fabric.

And I'm also actually thinking about the fabrics themselves.
My default is mad, large prints but a quilt with all those types of fabrics would look out of control.
So I've tried to use the big prints but mixed them in with tonal, quieter prints, just to give the eye somewhere to rest.

I also try to repeat some of the fabrics so there is some semblance of continuity within the pattern.

I just want to try and create quilts that have energy, are exciting to look, that hold interest and above all, have a feeling of fun and warmth.

All fabric is good fabric, including this kiwi.

And I still think the use of brown is key to the warmth I think appears in the quilts I make.
I wish more quilters embraced their inner brown.

Not sure how I'm going to quilt this one yet but it will get done as this is my new favourite 'for me' quilt.