Last week I posted an in-progress picture of a commission quilt I’m working on. Some of you liked the pink cornerstones, but others agreed with me that it wasn’t working.
And so: I took it all apart yesterday and started over.
But I didn’t really start over, I just did what I wanted to do all along.
See, what happened was I went to the quilt store with the blocks in hand, just looking for something, anything that vaguely looked like it went with the blocks. What I stumbled across was some fabric that had a black background — with pink roses and white daisies. I think there were 3 prints in the collection — one with large rose bouquets and 2 smaller scale prints. It struck me that this might be interesting as the sashing. So I pulled it out and then set to looking for some tone-on-tone prints to maybe use as a border (i.e. a border that would actually show some quilting).
What ended up happening in the process is that I let the ladies that were working in the store talk me out of the black print as the sashing. They pulled the pink and green (that do match the embroidery) and we decided that I’d just use the floral print as the outer border.
The problem (in my opinion) is that the pink and the green were really too bright, even though they do MATCH, MATCHING isn’t necessarily the right thing.
In the post that I linked to above, one of the commenters (Deb, I think?) suggested I ditch the green and pink and use black for the sashing.
Hmm, great minds think alike?
Nothing is sewn together, it is just placed up on my design wall:
I happened to have chunk of a mottled pink in my stash that is just big enough for me to cut 1 inch strips to make the inner (narrow) border — and the green is an old print that I’ve used a ton of over the years — I have just enough for the 2nd border. It’s a nice leafy print from P&B Textiles from more than a few years ago.
I’m much happier with how this is going to look. The pink isn’t quite a match for the pink of the embroidery floss, but it’s going to be such a narrow bit of it, and it’s not right next to it — I think that’s OK. I tried using the Moda Marble green for the green border, but again, it was just too much.
Of course, the fabric won’t show a bit of quilting, but that’s OK: it’s supposed to be about the embroidery, and not about ME.
So the moral of the story for me is this: I’ve got enough experience under my belt that I shouldn’t be listening to the well-meaning ladies at the quilt store. I should be listening to what I know to be true about my own design and color sense.
And if you don’t agree with me and liked it better the other way, that’s OK too: the world would be a very boring place if we all liked the same things, right?
Almost time for a piano lesson, more of me catching up later!
Suzanne
I love this layout and fabrics!
I didn’t like the other one at all, but could tell you why other than it was to bright.
Beautiful!
You have a winner!
That looks so much better!!!!!!!!! I love it!!
Definitely much better with the black sashing. What you say about listening to yourself is a good point; we’d all do well to remember it. Which isn’t to say that quilt shop ladies can’t be very helpful, but if your instinct goes one way, follow it…
Good point, Kate — I was trying to be careful not to imply that the quilt shop ladies shouldn’t be listened to at all — because quite often they are an invaluable resource and can be very helpful.
Boy, that was a horrible sentence. Hopefully you can disentangle it without too much trouble. LOL
Love it! Going with your gut is almost always the right choice, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time. The important thing is that you are happy with the end result, whatever that turns out to be.
I actually had to go back and look at your other post but I agree, this one looks much better.
Oh Suzanne, I learned along time ago to trust that “little voice”. I has kept me many a time from screwing up (and yes that “voice” has sometimes shouted to keep me from really screwing up). I like this layout much better.
Karen L
I always listen to what others say and then I do what I want to do :). I found a long time ago that I need to listen to my own inner voice first and then just use other people to see if it is working.
I looked at both sashing and the green and pink solids are ok but do not really do much for the quilt. The black fabric really adds to the look of the embroidery and make the blocks really pop.
The black sashing really works better — I usually ask for opinions and go with my gut as well. Love the way this one is going to turn out!