I love working with printed fabric and find it far more difficult than working with plains, yet it doesn't seem to be recognised for the challenging process it is. Does anyone else think this?
Of course sewing together and quilting plain fabric is another matter as it is considerably less forgiving than patterned fabric and shows up bad stitching mercilessly. Maybe this is why it is considered more difficult?
Here is a quilt I made in 1981 which people seem to remember -
I suppose I should be flattered that they do, but instead I can't help feeling a bit irritated that it is remembered while other much more complex quilts with a myriad mixture of prints are not. It's probably because it makes a bolder statement but is was not typical of my work at the time.
Though I admire quilts that make an impact, I much prefer quilts that bring me back time after time and find something new to look at - quilts that I see a little bit of unusual fabric in. Of course the perfect quilt would be if it was bold from a distance but subtle in close-up and this is what I should be aiming for?
I used the Ruby McKim pansy pattern from her classic book. It was made of Laura Ashley plains and some hand dyed ones bought from Valerie Campbell Harding and was inspired by a face flannel (wash cloth to the rest of the world) which I also painted on canvas and worked as a cushion -
This was in the era before I did Welsh quilting so I just outlined the flowers and did a pattern of straight lines at the corners as I wanted it to be art deco-ish like the pattern. It was one of the easiest quilts I have ever made - bah humbug - why struggle with prints?
Of course sewing together and quilting plain fabric is another matter as it is considerably less forgiving than patterned fabric and shows up bad stitching mercilessly. Maybe this is why it is considered more difficult?
Here is a quilt I made in 1981 which people seem to remember -
I suppose I should be flattered that they do, but instead I can't help feeling a bit irritated that it is remembered while other much more complex quilts with a myriad mixture of prints are not. It's probably because it makes a bolder statement but is was not typical of my work at the time.
Though I admire quilts that make an impact, I much prefer quilts that bring me back time after time and find something new to look at - quilts that I see a little bit of unusual fabric in. Of course the perfect quilt would be if it was bold from a distance but subtle in close-up and this is what I should be aiming for?
I used the Ruby McKim pansy pattern from her classic book. It was made of Laura Ashley plains and some hand dyed ones bought from Valerie Campbell Harding and was inspired by a face flannel (wash cloth to the rest of the world) which I also painted on canvas and worked as a cushion -
This was in the era before I did Welsh quilting so I just outlined the flowers and did a pattern of straight lines at the corners as I wanted it to be art deco-ish like the pattern. It was one of the easiest quilts I have ever made - bah humbug - why struggle with prints?
4 comments:
I have a soft spot for pansies...
I too love to work with printed fabrics. There is so much more variety and I love the challenge of finding just the right combination to piece together to get the effect I want.
Where can i purchase the book with this pansy quilt pattern in it please.I live in Queensland Australia and have loved pansies all my life. Pamela
Hi Pamela, I used the pansy pattern from this book -
http://sewlycrafts.com/101-patchwork-quilt-patterns-quilting-techniques-and-instructions.html
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