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Post by Lexxi on Jun 6, 2014 5:02:33 GMT
Hi all, I've been thinking about entering a quilt for this contest: www.callforentriesamericanmadebrand.com/It's an American based fabric manufacturer. They grow the cotton and turn it into fabric here, rather than overseas (actually in Seattle, where I live... small world). They're doing a contest where you submit entries about what it means to have fabric manufacturing back in the US (using their (beautiful) solids). I was hoping for some thoughts/discussion on what I could make. The cliche thing would be doing a US flag, but I don't want to do that... I was thinking maybe doing some Amish quilt blocks but with a (to be determined) twist to make it modern while going back to quilting's roots... I don't know. Any thoughts/ideas??? |
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eliste
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Post by eliste on Jun 6, 2014 9:32:06 GMT
Have you though about Putting a story into it? You could move from traditional to modern blocks that tell a story somehow that would be really cool and stories a always more compelling. Mind you, not sure what your story is.
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Post by Toni on Jun 6, 2014 11:31:08 GMT
I have lots of ideas! I know you can do applique, but did you want to do an applique quilt, pieced quilt, or would a combination be ok? Did you want to do a quilt with different blocks in it? Like a mish mash quilt?
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Post by Lexxi on Jun 6, 2014 18:47:35 GMT
I have lots of ideas! I know you can do applique, but did you want to do an applique quilt, pieced quilt, or would a combination be ok? Did you want to do a quilt with different blocks in it? Like a mish mash quilt? I prefer to piece. I do some fusible applique, but I'd rather stick with piecing here. Though I'm not opposed to it. I'm fine with different blocks and such. My sort of current idea is a large center block with 12 smaller blocks around it. |
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Post by Lexxi on Jun 6, 2014 18:50:12 GMT
Have you though about Putting a story into it? You could move from traditional to modern blocks that tell a story somehow that would be really cool and stories a always more compelling. Mind you, not sure what your story is. That's a great idea. I like the idea of moving from traditional to modern blocks - any idea on how that's defined? I googled "Amish quilt blocks" last night and there doesn't seem to be a huge consensus on what constitutes an Amish quilt or Amish quilt blocks... one site was saying "resembles Amish/Mennonite quilts" (makes sense). Another said "blocks in dark colors". Traditional and modern is easier to define but I still think a little murky. Which I guess gives me more flexibility. I really like the story idea... now just to figure out what my story is  |
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Post by Lexxi on Jun 6, 2014 19:11:41 GMT
The current idea is to do a 24" block in the center and then have 12 12" blocks around it, sortttttttttt of like this (different blocks, colors, etc)  I'm thinking to have one side of the quilt have blocks with traditional color/background layouts (left picture) and the other side have inversed ones (left side), inspired by this BOM I'm doing where you make each block twice. Though for this quilt there would be 13 unique blocks, no repeats.  The switch between would be diagonal. This is what I've been playing with for the center 24" block. Then the 2 12" blocks in the corners would also be half and half. The other 10 12" blocks would be regular or inversed, depending on which side they're on.  I'm definitely open to hearing other suggestions since this is just the current idea  Attachments:
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Post by Toni on Jun 6, 2014 19:58:33 GMT
I was thinking about having a "farm to fabric" theme overall. Like some of the traditional "farm wives" blocks from old. Amish is just who makes it and hand quilted. The amish don't have any distinctive look to them at all. For blocks, I was thinking more of stuff like this: starwoodquilter.blogspot.com/2011/08/country-farm-quilt-block.htmland www.blockcrazy.com/pattern_sale/traditional_quilt_block_patterns.htmFrom the last link the bears paw, bird in the air, broken dishes, churn dash, clay's choice, corn and beans, indian hatchets, log cabin, rail fence, rod to oklahoma, and shoo fly are all traditional quilt blocks that originated on the farm. So yes, I love your idea of a big block surrounded by smaller blocks. If you can paper piece, maybe do a farm house in the middle? |
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Post by Lexxi on Jun 6, 2014 21:35:23 GMT
I was thinking about having a "farm to fabric" theme overall. Like some of the traditional "farm wives" blocks from old. Amish is just who makes it and hand quilted. The amish don't have any distinctive look to them at all. For blocks, I was thinking more of stuff like this: starwoodquilter.blogspot.com/2011/08/country-farm-quilt-block.htmland www.blockcrazy.com/pattern_sale/traditional_quilt_block_patterns.htmFrom the last link the bears paw, bird in the air, broken dishes, churn dash, clay's choice, corn and beans, indian hatchets, log cabin, rail fence, rod to oklahoma, and shoo fly are all traditional quilt blocks that originated on the farm. So yes, I love your idea of a big block surrounded by smaller blocks. If you can paper piece, maybe do a farm house in the middle? Ooh, thank you for the links and the suggestions. I like the idea of the farmhouse in the center and I think it would work so well for this challenge, and I really dislike farmhouses on quilts (them and Sunbonnet Sue  ), so it would be a struggle to make myself do that. Which might be a good exercise, but I'd rather avoid that if I can I meant to include in an earlier post: the idea behind the quilt is that I would take the more traditional blocks (I like the ones that originated on the farm) and modernize half of them as discussed above. Thinking about traditional quilting, I imagine the women on farms using up old clothes to keep warm, the quilting bees (even though I've read some articles that those were mostly for upper class women), wedding quilts, those kinds of thoughts/feelings come up. And then manufacturing and to an extent quilting moved overseas and it felt more industrialized. You walk into WalMart and pay $20 for a quilt made in a sweatshop in China, and it's so different than a homemade quilt. So by bringing manufacturing back to the states, it feels like reclaiming quilting as something home-centric and gives it a warmer feel, but it's not exactly the same. Most quilters use machines now, and pay a longarmer to finish them, hence the other half of the quilt being the inverse, more modern color layout. |
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Post by Toni on Jun 7, 2014 11:39:02 GMT
Yeah, I forgot to mention I love the idea of using more modern colors with the basic squares. Like maybe a modern loghouse like this one? www.quiltwoman.com/patterns/modern-two-sided-log-cabin-quilt-pattern-sew-150/. The only thing I don't like about a single repeating block like that is I don't think it would have a chance of winning. Your idea of different blocks is awesome. Good luck! I would love to see progress shots. |
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eliste
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Post by eliste on Jun 9, 2014 17:33:45 GMT
What if you let the fabric do more of the talking to you? Like go with more traditional small prints in one corner and move to crisp new modern look in the other corner? I'm not sure if its possible, but it might bring the idea of old to new in a different way. Or the fabrics could change from outside in or vice versa? Like, the outside being older printed fabrics, moving towards the big center block that is a modern "what this means to you" kind of thing. You could do anything in the center then.
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Post by Lexxi on Jun 9, 2014 17:40:26 GMT
What if you let the fabric do more of the talking to you? Like go with more traditional small prints in one corner and move to crisp new modern look in the other corner? I'm not sure if its possible, but it might bring the idea of old to new in a different way. Or the fabrics could change from outside in or vice versa? Like, the outside being older printed fabrics, moving towards the big center block that is a modern "what this means to you" kind of thing. You could do anything in the center then. I'm limited to just their fabrics, which are all solids. Since, yeah, I would have a much easier time if I could do something with prints. americanmadebrand.com/the-fabric/ |
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eliste
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Post by eliste on Jun 9, 2014 17:47:28 GMT
Ah, ok. I suppose that makes sense. I completely understand what you're saying about bringing a warmer, home-y feel, and I'd love to see how you represent it, but I've no idea how to do so. I'll go away and think on it though!
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), so it would be a struggle to make myself do that. Which might be a good exercise, but I'd rather avoid that if I can