I do love the name – probably more than the work I’ve done. But thought I’d do an update on what I’ve done and where I’m going with this.So–from the beginning: I used Karen Stone’s pattern for Delirious and did fused raw edge applique with an applique stitch and with free motion applique stitches. I also created the same design with Shiva Paintstiks using freezer paper as the stencil. The pieces I liked the most were the free motion applique blocks. However, a little voice inside told me that the painted blocks were ‘neater’ and more orderly. I looked at them and wanted some contrast between the motif and the background, so I cut them out and appliqued them onto different colors. They’re definitely neat and orderly now. I’m not throwing away the free motion applique blocks – they go in my orphan block stash – and I will stifle that little voice when I’m ready to use them.
I worked on this in EQ7 and this is the color scheme that looked good on the computer screen.
Then I put the blocks on my design wall. The only blues in my stash with enough yardage were just too light. I was using a light red orange batik for the red blocks. I tried different red-orange fabrics. I kept walking away, taking off my glasses, and looking at it and nothing worked. Finally out of frustration –I was not going to the quilt store on Friday afternoon — I grabbed the color wheel (which I never do) from the wall and started turning it. It told me that I had a triadic red-orange, yellow-green, blue-violet color scheme. So, I went back to my stash and found just enough of a brighter red-orange to exactly make the backgrounds and sashing. I also found a Fossil Fern in blue-violet that worked. So here are the colors. Between the computer screen and the flash the colors are off a bit:
I’m supposed to wait seven days for the paint to set and then heat set it. What I’m really going to do is to heat-set it today and put them in water to dissolve the applique stabilizer, dry them, and put this baby together.
In the meantime, this is a quilt of Norma’s that I have on the frame. Have finally decided on a quilting design. This has taken a lot of doodling, but will show you as I go along. This has a lot of white space, but also lots of straight lines. I love to feather things, but that just isn’t right for this one. It needs ferns or palms I think. Have been doing the SID and stabilizing it and will start on the background next.
