So, the top’s halfway pieced.
All the wide strips from the bottom of the logo panel up have been assembled and just need to be joined.
The logo looks better like this, I think, less lonely and apologetic. My original plan was to mitre the corners, but my brain is simply not up to the mental gymnastics it would take to get the chevrons to line up! I think the cornerstones look fine.
When I was selecting the fabrics for this quilt, it was a challenge to find prints which were a) the right colour; b) the right scale; and c) not too girly. As the quilt is for a bloke, it needed to be, well, masculine. While I felt OK about the large scale chevron and other patterns for the feature squares, too much of that would have made the quilt horribly busy. Conversely, small pieces of those fabrics will be very interesting when used as scraps.
Cutting the 5″ squares for this quilt threw up another interesting and not altogether helpful aspect of printed fabrics. Cheaper, no-name prints are not always printed square to the straight grain of the fabric. I have two examples of this in the quilt, the first being the dark blue on white chevron stripe & dot, which was badly off, and the other being the small diamond mesh print in dark blue on white, which is only slightly wonky. A decision had to be made: do I cut off the straight grain and get the pattern as straight as possible, or do I have wonky lines? I went for the former, but even then, I know the pattern ‘wanders’ a bit. The designer/named fabrics, on the other hand, are beautifully straight.
You can see how the pattern does not align with either selvedge
So if you see wonkiness, now you know why. I could have chosen not to use the cheap prints, but I like them, and they work well in the layout, so I’ll accept the consequences. It’s really only an issue with designs that have a strong linear aspect, and the other filler prints, cheap or dearer, are fine. But when buying fabric, it’s worth unrolling a length from the bolt to see if the design deviates along the selvedge.
And finally, today is my second anniversary of blogging. I’ve loved almost every moment of it! I’m grateful for the friendships I’ve made, the variety of people I’ve encountered, the creativity it’s encouraged in me, and the new interests it has helped me develop. So to everyone out there who enjoys visiting Chiconia, a huge THANK YOU 🙂
And now, onwards! The deadline looms….
