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Wednesday, June 29, 2016

All Good Things Must End ~ For The Moment!

I get tunnel vision when it comes to some things.  Like my hand dyed fabrics!  I tend to dye a big old stack of every color in the rainbow, cut them in to squares and make a ginormous pile of half square triangles.  There's something about the texture, the subtle variation in colors that never seem to bore me.  Which always leads me to make a quilt, or two or three, until every HST has been carefully sewn in to one big (or small) quilt!  (Here is Quilt #1)


33" x 45"
One of my all time favorite designs, my 'go to' baby quilt, is this one.  I arrange and rearrange the blocks until I get just the right combination.  Pink, yellow, purple, green, blue and orange.  



The key is to pick four different shades of one color for each block.  The half square triangles were trimmed to 7 1/2" and the center squares are 2".  I layout the HST's into color groupings, pick four 2" squares for the centers, mark a diagonal line, sew and trim. 

The block itself is pretty simple, pretty basic.  Maybe its the colors, or the hand dyed fabric, perhaps the borders or quilting?!  I'm going with all of the above...it can pack a punch when it's all said and done!  

I often add an inside border, usually 1 1/2" to 2" and finish it with a 3"  wide border in grey. Quilting is another way to add some punch!  My favorite quilting is straight lines in a geometric design.




This was the first time I used 'wild colors'!  By wild I mean, pink, green and aqua.  I thought it would be a fun twist and something different for a change.  

Once I have divided the quilt into sections, I grab my 24" ruler, my trusty Hera marker and proceed marking 1/2" to 1" lines in each section.  Marking the lines gives me a guide to follow while I'm quilting.  They are rarely perfectly perfect!  I can only imagine how they would look if I didn't mark first!  


   
I like the effect, especially when they converge and make a grid!


The cherry on top is always the magic of a 'wash & dry'!  



That was quilt #2...this is quilt #3:


53" x 77"
This baby is all HST's!  Not randomly placed, there was actually order involved!  

And this is quilt #4:

54" x 79"
When I say I get tunnel vision...I'm seriously not kidding!  I used every single HST I had! And when that wasn't enough, I added grey to the corners.  It made for a nice frame and also, different from my usual!  

Maybe I'm afraid if I don't use all the fabric or HST's all at once, I'll never use them?!  I don't exactly know, I can't figure myself out either!  What's done is done! 

What is your 'go to' 'fail safe' design or block?

LINKING:

28 comments:

  1. These are awesome! I need to get my hand dyes out and cut into them! I tend to save them for some reason.

    BTW, I wanted you to know that I nominated you for the One Lovely Blog award! I always enjoy reading your blog and keeping up with your projects. Details are here: https://katyquilts.net/2016/06/28/one-lovely-blog-award/

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    1. When I first started dyeing my own fabric, I hoarded it for months and months! I guess it was too pretty to cut up! Eventually I got over that and waste very little time cutting every last piece! Thank you so much for the Blog Award!!!

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  2. Do you like to use a particular batting? The quilts seem soft and have a nice drape even with all the quilting....

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    1. It's true! Even with the dense quilting there is still a wonderful drape. I use Warm & Natural batting for everything, I have never been disappointed!

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  3. Very nice! I like your careful color placement and your geometric quilting.

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    1. It's always a fun quilt design and always fun to play around with the geometric quilting!

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  4. Wow--I'm a huge fan of lots of colour and your quilts are real show stoppers! Great idea for a baby quilt.

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    1. I love to throw every single color in HST's quilts…and use every single piece on hand!

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  5. These are beautiful and the gray really makes the colors pop.

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    1. It's very rare that I use anything other than grey when using my hand dyed fabrics! Maybe one day I'll blow everyones mind and try something different!

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  6. Hi Jayne! I love your latest triangle design! also no 3 is my favourite! I like mostly triangle blocks. x Teje

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    1. I have a hard time holding back on these designs. I think the more color the better!

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  7. Beautiful colours....beautiful quilts!

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  8. I love all these projects!! I am desperate to start dyeing my own fabric but realise how addictive it can become. What is the grey fabric you used in Quilt #4?

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    1. I think the grey is Kona Iron. Dyeing fabric can be addicting. It's also very time consuming! But I have so much fun playing with the colors that it's hard to stop!!

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  9. I love them all! What beautiful quilts you make!

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  10. These are gorgeous I guess I haven't been following you long enough to know you also dye your own fabric sometimes - what won't quilters do to play with fabric - LOL. These are all gorgeous projects from your fabrics.

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  11. first of all kudos for using your hand dyes. Second, how dynamic and lovely these are!
    LeeAnna

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    1. I kinda feel if I don't use them all right away, they will sit in a stack and never be used! Which is what I use to do at the beginning of my hand dyeing beginning!

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  12. HSTs and hourglass blocks are current favorites, but a good log cabin always tugs on my heart, too. How awesome that you were able to get 3 beautiful quilts out of your hand dying and kudos to you for seeing them all the way through!

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    1. Hst's are the perfect block, IMO! There are so many possibilities! My tunnel vision was loud and clear when I started cutting in to that stack of hand dyed fabrics! Every last piece was use and at that time…I could finally move on!

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  13. Three lovely quilts! and great photos too! My favourite 'go-to' are HST's, scattered value layout or rhythmic pattern, prints or solids, very versatile!

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  14. Each of these quilts are beautiful. Your hand dyed fabrics are so rich and I am amazed how you can take a pile of HST's and have them all wind up in perfect order. Love the grey framing and the quilting is the icing on the cake!

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  15. These pack such a visual punch! I tend to forget how versatile HSTs can be. This really is a great project to do without needing an actual pattern. I don't have a go-to project but I think I might need to do this with some fabrics that have been sitting in my stash for a while.

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  16. Those are great quilts! I love your hand dyed fabrics. Gorgeous color. Do you have any colorfast issues with fabrics that you dye yourself?

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  17. What beautiful quilts!! I love your colors and the designs. The quilting sets them off perfectly!
    Susie

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  18. The criss cross quilting on the the bright coloured blocks look wonderful!! Hand dyed fabrics too! A great finish, Jayne!

    -Soma

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