Saturday, July 26, 2008

Orange and Cherry Jubilee

I got to spend a day at the sewing machine and managed to finish Step 5 of the Orange Crush. It was a big step and took most of the day! But my blocks are all made, the half blocks are made, the corner blocks are made and Step 6 will be putting them all together. If I want to make the pieced border there is still fabric that needs to be cut and pieced but I'll worry about that later.

Very interesting about how fabrics change the "flavor" of a quilt. Bonnie had made some suggestions about color schemes when she presented this mystery; orange, red, black and blue were her choices. The orange in Orange Crush sounded refreshing to me and for some reason I wanted pink in there too. I bought the pink and the orange fabric while I was in the States. Once back in Japan I put the pink together with a tropical blue (still going for refreshing) and made my spinning stars. Yesterday was the first time to work with the orange but I still hadn't decided what to do for my final color. Purple? Green? Yellow? Nothing vibrant enough in my drawers but I came across a piece of this cherry fabric. Do I want cherries? Do I like cherries? Someone had given me this fabric and though the color was pretty I couldn't see me ever using it in any of my quilts (I tend towards somber) so there it has sat for a few years. Well, vibrant it is and with all that orange and pink the Orange Crush was a lot more playful than anything I've ever made before.

Gulp. Use the cherries. My blocks are finished and I'm not sure what to think. From a distance the colors are beautiful... Up close? Cherries. I'm thinking if I change the name to Orange and Cherry Jubilee that this might grow on me.

You know, if nothing else, blogging has gotten me out of my rut of similar looking quilts. Because of Roberta I made a fantasy village quilt. Because of Tonya, I've fallen in love and delight in making Wonky quilts. Because of Colleen and Anne my contributions to the bazaar quilts are fun and cheery. Because of Bonnie I've got this vibrant Jubilee growing before me.

Back to the problem of having nowhere to spread this out. I've moved the furniture and stacked tables on top of each other just to get this laid out this much. I must have a masochistic thread in me that I keep making large bed sized quilts when there is no place to spread out and see how they will come together, and in a few months I'll be trying to figure out how to quilt this thing. I already have two bed-sized flimsies with no quilting end in sight, and another one stashed in a box somewhere... I think I'll go back to making luggage tags and other small things for awhile.

6 comments:

Lynne in Hawaii said...

Oh Tanya, I really, really like the colors you chose. It is so cheery and bright! I concur with the name change too!

Maya Madhavan said...

It does look pretty and vibrant! Love the new name! I have enjoyed seeing various versions of Bonnie's OC. Though it seemed to be on the edges of their comfort zones for several quilters as they got the colours together, it came out looking great at the end. Bonnie sure has an eye for patterns. Mine is in the earliest of stages! I haven't finished step 1 and have started cutting step 2!

BethanyQuilt said...

I LOVE the cherries! And I agree about learning/growing from following the blogs - it's like a great big classroom - opens up a whole new world.

Amanda said...

Wow, that's bright! I like the colours though, the cherry really changes the whole look of the thing. Where will you use it? I'm with you on making smaller things for a while now. I still haven't made a Happy Village quilt, so that must be on the list. Blogging is fascinating isn't it, one of the best things I have discovered in my retirement.

artfilstitch said...

Life is a bowl of Cherries, or is it as Forest Gump says, Life is a Chair of Bowlies. Your quilt has certainly come to life with the cherries in the center of the blocks. I love the colors! Great job...

Kathy Wagner said...

Love your Orange cherry/cheery quilt! It's very happy looking!
I am going to sew on my borders this weekend...the only quilting step I don't like!
And then, like you, I think I'll work on a few smaller things!