Some lessons 1 (of 2)

We booked ourselves a sewing day  at a local hall recently, and invited everyone to bring whatever projects they wanted to work on, community quilts or their own. 

We decided to tap into some of the expertise within our group of very experienced and skilled quilt quilters, asking Nerida and Miriam to spend a little time just talking (and showing) us through how they approach fabric selection for their quilts that are always admired, and have wide appeal.

Nerida brought in four of her recent quilts, and talked about how she shops for fabric (buying small amounts of a very wide range of fabrics across a broad colour spectrum), and about how she chooses 'low volume' or light toned prints rather than a single colour when she uses a light background. She achieves a harmonious scrappy look by choosing prints that relate to each other through colour, scale and style, or contrast as the design dictates. Recognising and becoming confident with tone and colour are key.

'Halo' designed by Jen Kingwell

'Bessie Creek Road' designed by Treehouse Textiles

An adaptation of  'Not the Levens Hall' quilt,
a Margaret Sampson George design.

'Crooked Court House Steps II', designed by Bonnie K Hunter

Nerida then produced a large collection of small scraps, sorted into colour groups and low volumes, and had us make our own Crooked Court House Steps blocks to practice the principles. Some of us were more comfortable with improv piecing and the 'crooked' results than others. We ended up with a good start to another group community quilt, as well as some valuable lessons.