I am out of hand work - oh no! I don't have a new pattern drawn but I have plans to work on a book on color so I let the fabric talk to me for this project. This is where I started, and this is the direction the background will take.
I added more fabric...
and then I added more fabric...
The original fabric is less prominent in this photo but I knew at this point that the other fabrics would be used in small doses. My thought was that the browns would be prominently used in the applique.
Then I started constructing the blocks. I am using the same technique that we wrote about in Applique Outside the Lines. I cut with a rotary cutter but I didn't touch a ruler. The clock fabric is the dominant fabric - as was my plan - no matter if it is used in large or small amounts in each block.
A few hours later I had several blocks in progress, on my design wall...
At this point I had to decide how big this quilt might be, and what sort of shape it will be — square? rectangle? Did I want it to be lighter or darker overall? Notice that where the fabric shapes are bigger, the blocks are easier to look at. As pieced areas get smaller and denser it has an effect on the look of all the blocks.
I made backgrounds for 9 blocks but I can't show them all online because of that whole 'it might be in a book thing'. But I do plan to put together a tutorial on how to do this sort of piecing that should be helpful if you haven't done this before. I hope to have it up next week, it might be the one after that. I should be able to share smaller areas of this quilt as I work on it.
PS - How many of you would buy that fabric with the big clocks? I'll bet not many because quilters tend to shy away from big prints. I've said it before and I'll say it again - you really need some of these amazing prints in your stash. They will surprise you!
