Often, as I go about my day, I say to myself "I can make that." This happens a lot when I am at a store, a show, a festival, or a museum. Usually, I continue on and never actually do that. There isn't enough time to make everything I know I can make.
One of those moments happened when we were at the Islamic Museum in Canada a couple of months ago. And this time, I am actually following through. There was a tile wall - simple squares, and I decided to replicate it.
I started making this quilt with fabric I had at home, but I just wasn't feeling it, and I hadn't thought through the size I wanted and wound up with not enough fabric to make it. This meant a few trips to the store to find the right fabric. This background fabric was one that I rejected originally, because it has a design that looks manmade. I wanted a more mottled look that would look natural. But it is hard to find the right shade of beige with a mottled look, at least at that store and on my budget. I rejected this fabric a couple of times I went there, but the last time I went, I decided it would work after all. So what if it looked man-made? The quilt will be made out of fabric, so it already has that man-made look.
I like the design on the fabric now. I think it does add to the variability and doesn't look too man-made. But by the time I finally decided to get the fabric, someone else had gotten to it first, and it was cut into three pieces. I was okay with that; after all, I am going to cut it into even more, but after I washed it, I realized that someone had cut off the selvages too. I guess that is okay too, since I would have done that too. I think it was returned because it is not a regular cotton fabric. It is more like brushed cotton. It is a little more stretchy than regular fabric, like flannel, but thinner. I think it will be just fine in this quilt, and the soft fabric is nice to touch.
The design has a lot of squares next to each other that are the same color. I decided for this quilt to cut everything into squares and sew together instead of leaving them in long rows. I wanted to have that variability of tile. Mmm, this looks like my tile bathroom. I didn't need to go all the way to Canada for this design!
Don't worry. The tile design at the museum had other colors in it too. Or should I say colours? Mostly red with a few green pieces in it. This red is so much better than my original red. I am keeping my original green since I don't need a lot of pieces of it. I am happy with all the fabric selection now, and this quilt is coming along quite nicely now.
It is just a matter of finding time to sew. The weather is very nice, and I want to get as much work done outside as possible. We managed to demolish two of the flower beds completely, and just need to demolish a few more. The yard looks so much bigger now, and I am very happy with my decision to reduce the number of flower beds I have. The driveway is looking much better now too.
There are still lots of unfinished projects to do, but progress is being made on them.
1 comment:
Looks like you are well on your way with this tile quilt now, Shasta. Looking forward to seeing how the red and green tiles come into play. I hear you about the weather and getting things done outside while we still can. It won't be long and the winter will be here!
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