Tone it Down

I love the idea of toning things down and simplifying so I am going to try to play along with making these quilt blocks from the APQ quilt-along.  This is my trial block and I’m not sure if this is the color scheme I will stick with.  The green seems too light and doesn’t show much with my beige background, but it is always fun to do a trial block then go from there.  I found this block fun to put together and there are lots of strip sets to make it quick.  If I had my color scheme finalized I could whip out a lot more blocks after spending a good evening getting all the cutting done.  I love to chain piece and using long strips would really help to get me moving right along.  Right now my favorite color way (Plum Sweet by Blackbird Designs) that I am seeing on the internet is the one that Anne Sutton from Bunny Hill Designs is using.  If I made this quilt for my bed though it needs to have a blue and/or green color scheme so I’d better do a bit more research.

There is even a Pinterest page which is full of inspiration for color schemes and showing the progress that people are already making.  Camille Roskelley is really making progress and working with her new fabric line which is giving it a fresh, clean look.

Thanks go out to Lissa Alexander for the design of this fun quilt and the Fat Quarter shop ladies for all ideas and enthusiasm they have put into this project.  I always look for one block of the month to participate in each year.  I rarely get them finished, but the process is fun and I always learn new things.  Two years ago I decided that I really wanted to practice my FMQ and followed Sew Cal Gal’s wonderful line up of teachers that each offered some new tips and techniques on free motion quilting, I really got a lot out of that.  One year I really wanted to learn to needle turn appliqué and followed Anne Suttons basket quilt, I love that one, but I didn’t get it finished because we moved somewhere in there and I got so behind I didn’t ever get caught up, but I have it all printed out and love stumbling upon the blocks I did finish.  Last year I followed Lori Holt’s Quilty Fun row along and never finished that either, but now she has a book to go along with it and lots of projects that I could do something totally different with the blocks I did finish.  It all makes me wonder what I would be doing now without all this inspiration from such talented quilters and the internet to help spread it around.

Back to quilting!  I am making my sewing machine a little dust cover (as if I ever give it a chance to collect dust).

Ferne