Tags
alethea ballard, border as you go, bright colored quilts, In Between Stitches classes, Maverick Quilts, Quilt Sampler Magazine, Snowball's Chance Quilt, Stitchin' Post, Using Large-scale fabrics
Purple and citrus yellow – yummy!
There are quilts I made “before” and quilts I made “after.”
Before and after what you ask? The explosion of colored fabric into my life.
Before: Doll Quilt, by Alethea Ballard
My earliest quilts are white, light blue and pink.
Before: Bear Paw Quilt, by Alethea Ballard; 1995
Then there was a plain white with blue quilt!
Once fabric companies started making large-scale prints in quilting-weight fabrics my quilting really changed. It seemed as though I couldn’t get prints bright enough or large enough!
I love to play with COLOR! When I look at my body of work as a whole, I see bright, bold color. Lots of it!
Cut Flowers, by Stitchin’ Post Staff, 2011
On my Sisters, Oregon trip this summer, I saw this snowball quilt on the wall at the Stitchin’ Post fabric store. (A Snowball block is a square with triangles on the corners.) The label states that it is the “Cut Flowers” quilt pattern from the Fall/Winter 2011 Quilt Sampler Magazine. This version was made by the Stitchin’ Post staff and was quilted by Terri. It looks like it’s made from 5″ or 6″ charm squares and each color-collection block has similar solid-color triangles surrounding it. It includes a bright raspberry-red shashing, green posts between the blocks, and a single fabric border. And it’s altogether quite smashing in person!
I was really drawn to the concentrated color use in the blocks.
It’s sunny with a Chance of Snowballs in progress
When I got home from the trip, my dear friend Ashley came to visit and we set out to make our own version of the quilt. We decided to skip the sashing and make the color intensity even brighter!
We absolutely had a ball pulling out every fabric I own so that each and every block (almost) is made from a different fabric. We chose to use medium or small scale prints on the corners.
Purple and citrus block
We kept the colors as bright and clear as possible and matched up each hue with a contrasting or complementary color. We made piles for 11 of the blocks and chose the last color (coral) when all of the other blocks were assembled. That gave us the opportunity to add JUST the right color to finish off the palette. In the end we left out red. Hmmm…
Snowball’s Chance, upper right corner, Lime & Teal
I created strips for the border that were the length of the blocks and squares for the corners, so I could just sew the quilt blocks once, border and all, and be done! I call it border-as-you-go. I really like when I can do this, as I HATE adding borders more than just about anything!
I used more large-scale florals and moved the color around the edges to complement the blocks.
One of these things is not like the other…
As soon at the binding was on, I shlepped it down to the In Between Stitches preview party! It looked a little odd in a room full of fall-colored quilts. I do worry when my quilts don’t look like any one else’s.
I’m teaching the quilt as a class in LIvermore on September 30 & October 21! Contact In Between Stitches to sign up for this fun two-session class.
I am in LOVE with the finished quilt!
Snowball’s Chance, by Alethea Ballard; 2012
Aren’t you? Write and tell me about your color passion!
I love that quilt so much! I need to work on mine some more!
Yes, You DO! Get that going and then I can show it to everyone – AND you can put it on YOUR cool blog http://www.spotteddogquiltingblog.blogspot.com/
I love bright color quilts! It seems like I am always the “odd man out” with my quilts but I love them! Your snowball quilt is magnificent !
I know what you mean – I will go somewhere and not see any quilts that look like mine. Then I wonder – are my quilts bad?
I’m glad I’m not the only oddball!
I love color – the more the merrier! I really like the Stitchin’ Post quilt, and yours is delicious too. I’ve never made a snowball quilt… maybe I should try one – looks like a great way to use up scraps.
When are you going to teach your Chair quilt again??? I’m dying to take that class. I have the pattern, and I suppose I could do it on my own, but I’m a class junkie and especially love classes like the chair, because everyone’s work is so totally different and it’s fun to see the pieces develop. I want to make a Frida chair… so I can keep up with Margaret!
Hi Francie,
Yes, Snowball’s Chance is a great way to use scraps – see the latest blog post – I’m going to cook up an I-Spy version one of these days!
I’ve got the chair class coming up soon. I’ll be up in Paradise, California At Morning Star Quilts this Saturday, October 6 and then again at the Amador Valley Quilt guild in November on the 11th.
If those dates don’t work, I’ll try to start listing my classes on the blog!
Thanks for the comment!