There's more than one way ....

Bogie's quilt top is ready for quilting and Wonderful GrandDaughter hasn't the time to worry about designing/choosing her quilt as she has just assumed a new position (Director of Nursing) that will keep her occupied for a while; so, I cast about for another quilting project to pursue - Project X.

There is more than one way of designing a quilt. I can come up with three basic ways to start designing a quilt: 1) Duplicating someone else's quilt that one has seen, 2) finding fabrics that one likes then finding/designing a pattern to go with the fabrics, or 3) finding a pattern that one likes then finding fabrics from which to make it. Well...one may always combine two or more of those basic ways, which is what I'm doing for Project X.

Starting Fabric

Years ago, I bought a bunch of Batik fabrics - because I liked them. In fact, in the back of my mind, I thought some of them might appeal to Bogie. I either proved that I'm not always right or I failed to show the fabrics to Bogie. She did beautifully in designing her quilt and I don't care a fig if the Batiks didn't sing to her At any rate, having goodly amounts of those fabrics on hand, I thought that Project X could include one of the following three fabrics.

Being a birdwatcher, I chose the second fabric - the one with only birds in its pattern.

Finding a pattern that will showcase the fabric

Fortunately, in a quilting magazine that was in the "Magazine Sharing" bin at the library, I found a pattern that features large enough pieces of fabric to showcase a large print - such as my bird fabric. Right off the bat, I note that I find the border really lacking in appeal; but, that's a small nit. A larger nit is the basic layout/sewing of the blocks.

A closer look at the image in the magazine proved that the "large print" fabric featured is very similar to the three Batik fabrics shown above.

Filling in with other fabrics

Looking for fabrics to complete the quilt design, I had some Batiks on hand and filled in with two Batiks from my nearest quilting supply store. This (below photo) is the array of fabrics with which I will be working.

The two fabrics of which I've shown larger areas are definitely in my design. How the other fabrics are used is TBD. The blue fabric and the rust-colored one at the upper right corner are the two fabrics that I recently purchased.

Block Design

How slavishly do I wish to pursue the basic block's design? Not very. Whoever designed the quilt is much more apt to deal well with (Liz's) fiddly details than am I. He/she has four pieces of fabric, sewn individually, to make the block. (In my rough version of the block, I intentionally left a bit of space between the two red pieces of fabric to show that it is not cut as a singe piece.)

Trust me when I tell you that I am not going to fiddle with sewing a bitty 1 5/8" right triangle to anything! The design will be modified to allow me to do less fiddly work - or - I will find a different pattern. Who knows? I may use a simple pattern and fussy cut the bird fabric to produce blocks that feature the individual birds. It will take some cogitation.

ADDITION OF 9/6/2019 8:23AM - Who said we need blocks?

Strips of fabric will feature large prints even better than will blocks. Now I'm entertaining the thought of strip piecing - at least part of the quilt top.

ADDITION OF 9/7/2019 4:26pm - And the winner is....

By consensus of the people (all two) living at the CC domicile:

Not that anyone really cares, other than HH and me, there will probably be no yellow in the finished product. That yellow block just happened to be handy for use and I was tired of fiddling around with Paint. Monday, I plan to hit the quilting supply store, again, to buy the fabrics to make the central blocks. Since those blocks were lifted from the first quilt that I made HH, it is obvious that I have those fabrics on hand. However, they are not Batiks. It works better to have the fabrics match in kind, so I must obtain Batiks of appropriate colors to make those blocks for Project X.

FYI to Bogie: Your dad found the original design (from the magazine) and my first cut at strip piecing (not shown in this posting) too "Blah", too "dark". Of course, he understands that he's not seeing true colors. (His first cataract surgery is scheduled for next Thursday.) The final quilt top design, as shown, is about the 8th iteration.

Comments

[bogie]

I don't remember seeing those fabrics before - but I don't remember so many things that it is entirely possible (maybe even probable) that you did show them to me. I like the animals print although the oranges aren't really my preferred colors.

Looking at the first picture of the strips, I agree with HH - too dark for me (of course I have no idea how my cataracts and KC influence how I see it). I like the final design. The yellow does seem to be a bit out of its element, but the colors surrounding the star definitely go with the other fabric.

Hope HH's surgery goes well and he is pleased (and pleasantly surprised) by the results. I know he is nervous, and I can't blame him.

[Cop Car]

Bogie--I don't know why I didn't think to show them to you; but, I think you are just as happy as things turned out.

Yes, I agree that the Batiks make for a dark quilt top; but, I'm not averse to dark ones. You can tell that I do like the brighter ones, though. Your dad's first quilt was started in a class wherein the sample quilt was all blah tans/browns/creams.

Yes, your dad is dithering. He came in a while ago to ask something about the eyedrops he was going to take, today. He walked away a bit happier when I reminded him that the eyedrops start tomorrow.

I know that your dad's vision isn't as bad as was mine when I finally got a surgeon to agree to the surgery. I was eager and found the result life-changing! He'll be fine - as long as he doesn't fall into the 5% of people who have problems with the surgery.

[bogie]

I'm very happy with how the quilt has turned out and wouldn't change it even if I could!

What are the eye drops for?

[Cop Car]

Bogie--The greatest risk to successful cataract surgery is infection. The drops reduce that risk. That is also the big reason most surgeons wait a month between surgeries on the two eyes. If one eye gets infected, the spacing reduces the risk of losing the sight in both eyes through infection. At least, that's what I recall being told 10 years ago.

[Ole Phat Stu]

Indiscreet question :
Is there such a thing as a Braille/textured quilt for those who lose their eyesight?

[Cop Car]

Absolutely, Stu; although, few feature Braille. For instance, you might visit this webpage: https://www.pinterest.com/ricekorban/quilts-for-the-blind/. When I was a child, I knew that people who have little or no vision sewed. See https://archive.nfb.org/Images/nfb/Publications/books/kernel1/kern1406.htm for a first-person account. As an adult, I've learned that some such people extend sewing to quilting. In the above narrative, the writer who was born blind writes, "As I grew older, I came across blind girls and women who had been actively discouraged from doing things I learned as a child. Sewing for me has provided employment, relaxation, challenge, and accomplishment. It has helped me to learn about fabrics, styles, and colors. There are things I never attempted (some because of blindness) but most because of lack of time. Perhaps one day I may still take up some new kinds of sewing such as quilting. I know it would be delightful to do if I ever get to it."