After the long cold winter with my quilting room closed off to save energy costs, I am
dee-LIGHTED to have it back again! And I have a quilt in progress, too! I made most of the blocks a year or two ago, and I get to do the exciting creative part now, arranging and sewing them together. Here is a picture of a few of them with my lovely little quilting apprentice:
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I have some rules for this quilt, what good is a quilt without rules?
Rule 1: Every block must include a solid fabric. However, they must NOT contain two solids, I tried it here and every time I look at this block I get this sick bored feeling in the pit of my stomach... I may have to applique some circles on it.
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And on this one I used four solids! I am definitely going to sew this circle on top. I love the way the colors work together! And I am not sewing the circle on top because my points don't match, they match very well thank you. It is just to relieve my boredom.
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For our purposes here, the polka dot fabrics also count as solids. After all, they are just solids with dots printed on top. So it is really FIVE solids!
Rule 2: Every block must contain a polka dot fabric. Polka dots make me happy. And hey, you've got to have some sort of continuity, right? I love the green polka dot in this one!
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Rule 3: Every block must contain a floral fabric. This block appears to contain two florals (three if you count the appliqued dot). However, if you walk down the road a mile and a half I will hold it up and you will see it is a polka dot and a solid. I swear.
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When I realized this block was a plain and boring 9-patch I had to pep it up with a circle!
Rule 4: Add some blocks that don't meet any of the rules, but make me smile. For example:
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Or this one:
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Rule 5: Be spontaneous. Be brave. Be daring. Don't
overthink things.
Rule 6: Sew circles on top whenever I want to. Circles make me happy, just like polka dots do. See the nine patch and the card trick blocks above.
Rule 7: Use lots of stripes. I love the way they lead your eye around the quilt!
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Also, if the stripes are thin enough they can count as a solid, too! Again, walk down the road to check...
Rule 8: Don't worry if other people think my blocks are too "busy". I like busy. Busy is better than boring!
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This block is busy but I find it visually stimulating. It is not too busy for me. Neither is this one:
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Rule 9: Make this quilt mostly green. It will be my green quilt. So where did all that pink and purple come from??
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This block is a rule-breaker and a winner!
Rule 10: Have fun. Most of all, have fun making this quilt.
So those are my quilt rules for making these blocks and a free preview of my next quilt. I welcome any comments!