Balancing busy-ness in a quilt?

Okay, the first part of my other thread has gotten plenty of answers
(the favorite color to use in a quilt part) but the second part hasn't
so I'm going to try it here on a different thread since it really is a
different topic basically. So here goes:

On the topic of my "wedding quilt" which will actually be done in the
log cabin block format -- I've got a lot of variety of starred fabrics
in several colors -- now, what do I use to off set them so it's not so
busy that I get vertigo looking at it? I'm leaning toward the Moda
Marbles but don't know if I *should* have something else as well, like
something more solid or whatnot. Any ideas?


I may not be able to afford to get the fabric and actually create just
yet (should in a few months or so if I get the job I just applied for),

but I can certainly dream and plan ...


Tricia

I use Moda marbles a lot, Tricia; but they do have a 'noticeable'
non-solidness. So, if you are trying to counteract 'busy-ness', I would
move towards a solid.

In message . com,
Tricia writes
Okay, the first part of my other thread has gotten plenty of answers
(the favorite color to use in a quilt part) but the second part hasn't
so I'm going to try it here on a different thread since it really is a
different topic basically. So here goes:

On the topic of my "wedding quilt" which will actually be done in the
log cabin block format -- I've got a lot of variety of starred fabrics
in several colors -- now, what do I use to off set them so it's not so
busy that I get vertigo looking at it? I'm leaning toward the Moda
Marbles but don't know if I *should* have something else as well, like
something more solid or whatnot. Any ideas?


I may not be able to afford to get the fabric and actually create just
yet (should in a few months or so if I get the job I just applied for),

but I can certainly dream and plan ...


Tricia


--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

I hate to give an obscure answer but here goes. A lot is going to depend on
how your starry fabrics feel about one that's supposed to give them a "calm
down" message.
Let's try it this way. If you lay red beside white, the red becomes
quite dazzling. If you lay red beside neon orange, the red will sulk and
slink off into the shadow. This is how it will be with starry logs.
One time I was trying to quiet down a purple quilt. Really. It turned
out that soft, gentle peach tones did the deed. Not brilliant Georgia
peach, we're talking about quiet ones such as the tones of fair skin make-up
base. The peaches turned down the volume of the purples and made them
soothing.
You may be forced to shop. How about putting some of your starrys in a
zip bag and audition colors and prints every now and then? HTH Polly

"Patti" wrote in message
news
I use Moda marbles a lot, Tricia; but they do have a 'noticeable'
non-solidness. So, if you are trying to counteract 'busy-ness', I would
move towards a solid.

In message . com, Tricia
writes
Okay, the first part of my other thread has gotten plenty of answers
(the favorite color to use in a quilt part) but the second part hasn't
so I'm going to try it here on a different thread since it really is a
different topic basically. So here goes:

On the topic of my "wedding quilt" which will actually be done in the
log cabin block format -- I've got a lot of variety of starred fabrics
in several colors -- now, what do I use to off set them so it's not so
busy that I get vertigo looking at it? I'm leaning toward the Moda
Marbles but don't know if I *should* have something else as well, like
something more solid or whatnot. Any ideas?


I may not be able to afford to get the fabric and actually create just
yet (should in a few months or so if I get the job I just applied for),

but I can certainly dream and plan ...


Tricia


--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

How would all of those look as the darks, with wow or coc as the lights? You
could use all the same white or cream, or mix them.
Roberta in D

"Tricia" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
ups.com...
Okay, the first part of my other thread has gotten plenty of answers
(the favorite color to use in a quilt part) but the second part hasn't
so I'm going to try it here on a different thread since it really is a
different topic basically. So here goes:

On the topic of my "wedding quilt" which will actually be done in the
log cabin block format -- I've got a lot of variety of starred fabrics
in several colors -- now, what do I use to off set them so it's not so
busy that I get vertigo looking at it? I'm leaning toward the Moda
Marbles but don't know if I *should* have something else as well, like
something more solid or whatnot. Any ideas?


I may not be able to afford to get the fabric and actually create just
yet (should in a few months or so if I get the job I just applied for),

but I can certainly dream and plan ...


Tricia

Tricia:
I like lots of different fabric in a quilt top. I also like a
wide variety of print size. Are the starry pieces of various size
motif? Various colors? Take that into consideration.

If your pieces are all similar in size/value/color, you will want
to off set those with contrasting fabric. Go to LQS with your
fabric and audition new fabric. Marble or any 'reads solid'
fabric will be fine. How about some simple stripes? How about
something with curves? Have fun!!
PAT in VA/USA

Tricia wrote:

Okay, the first part of my other thread has gotten plenty of answers
(the favorite color to use in a quilt part) but the second part hasn't
so I'm going to try it here on a different thread since it really is a
different topic basically. So here goes:

On the topic of my "wedding quilt" which will actually be done in the
log cabin block format -- I've got a lot of variety of starred fabrics
in several colors -- now, what do I use to off set them so it's not so
busy that I get vertigo looking at it? I'm leaning toward the Moda
Marbles but don't know if I *should* have something else as well, like
something more solid or whatnot. Any ideas?


I may not be able to afford to get the fabric and actually create just
yet (should in a few months or so if I get the job I just applied for),

but I can certainly dream and plan ...


Tricia

Tricia wrote:

On the topic of my "wedding quilt" which will actually be done in the
log cabin block format -- I've got a lot of variety of starred fabrics
in several colors -- now, what do I use to off set them so it's not so
busy that I get vertigo looking at it? I'm leaning toward the Moda
Marbles but don't know if I *should* have something else as well, like
something more solid or whatnot. Any ideas?

If you have a lot of starry fabrics for the logs, I'd go for something
that reads solid for the center squares and for sashings and border(s).
Some of the Moda Marbles read as solids, but some of the Marble Mates
read more like prints. You'll have to audition the fabrics, which to my
mind is half the fun...

Monique in TX

Something to consider also is the width of your "logs". Sometimes a
fabric looks really busy on the bolt or even in a FQ but once you cut it
down to 1.5" or 2" or whatever, it calms down. Maybe you could cut one
strip of each of your busy stars and use those to audition the companion
fabrics.


Anne in CA
annerudolph AT comcast DOT net
"It's not having what you want; it's wanting what you've got." -- Sheryl
Crow
http://community.webshots.com/user/annerudolph3



Tricia wrote:
Okay, the first part of my other thread has gotten plenty of answers
(the favorite color to use in a quilt part) but the second part hasn't
so I'm going to try it here on a different thread since it really is a
different topic basically. So here goes:

On the topic of my "wedding quilt" which will actually be done in the
log cabin block format -- I've got a lot of variety of starred fabrics
in several colors -- now, what do I use to off set them so it's not so
busy that I get vertigo looking at it? I'm leaning toward the Moda
Marbles but don't know if I *should* have something else as well, like
something more solid or whatnot. Any ideas?


I may not be able to afford to get the fabric and actually create just
yet (should in a few months or so if I get the job I just applied for),

but I can certainly dream and plan ...


Tricia

On 20 Oct 2005 20:50:43 -0700, "Tricia"
wrote:

Okay, the first part of my other thread has gotten plenty of answers
(the favorite color to use in a quilt part) but the second part hasn't
so I'm going to try it here on a different thread since it really is a
different topic basically. So here goes:

On the topic of my "wedding quilt" which will actually be done in the
log cabin block format -- I've got a lot of variety of starred fabrics
in several colors -- now, what do I use to off set them so it's not so
busy that I get vertigo looking at it? I'm leaning toward the Moda
Marbles but don't know if I *should* have something else as well, like
something more solid or whatnot. Any ideas?


I may not be able to afford to get the fabric and actually create just
yet (should in a few months or so if I get the job I just applied for),

but I can certainly dream and plan ...


Tricia

I have found that sometimes marbled fabrics work like a solid, and
other times like a print. It depends greatly on the fabric it is put
beside, and how it is used. Are you planning to put the marble or
solid in the blocks, or as border fabric? If it's to be border you
could make some blocks and audition the other fabrics against the
blocks rather than against the yet uncut prints you have.

I think you are going to find you need some solids.
Debra in VA
See my quilts at
http://community.webshots.com/user/debplayshere

In article . com,
"Tricia" wrote:

Okay, the first part of my other thread has gotten plenty of answers
(the favorite color to use in a quilt part) but the second part hasn't
so I'm going to try it here on a different thread since it really is a
different topic basically. So here goes:

On the topic of my "wedding quilt" which will actually be done in the
log cabin block format -- I've got a lot of variety of starred fabrics
in several colors -- now, what do I use to off set them so it's not so
busy that I get vertigo looking at it? I'm leaning toward the Moda
Marbles but don't know if I *should* have something else as well, like
something more solid or whatnot. Any ideas?


I may not be able to afford to get the fabric and actually create just
yet (should in a few months or so if I get the job I just applied for),

but I can certainly dream and plan ...


Tricia


Tricia, I'd go ahead and make a sort of strip set of several of your
starry fabrics. Then take that strip set to the LQS and lay it on top of
various fabrics to see what happens. Usually the fabrics will tell you
whether they like what they're on.
--
Sandy in Henderson, near Las Vegas
my ISP is earthlink.net -- put sfoster1(at) in front
http://home.earthlink.net/~sfoster1

AKA Dame Sandy, Minister of Education

Thanks for the advice ladies --

My (current) idea for the quilt design is to have the log cabins placed
so that they form expanding hearts -- preferably with each expansion
being the next shade in line for a rainbow effect. How to make that
happen exactly, I haven' t a clue at the moment. I have some basic
starred fabrics, I'd guess you'd say the design size was the smaller
end of medium. In a two inch square, I've got anywhere from 10-20
stars depending on which of the fabrics I'm measuring. Most of the
fabrics to date have come from JoAnns although some did come from the
LQS back in the Ypsi area when I was living there. 1/4 yards is all I
have of them, except for one or two which may have much as 1/2 yard.
Anyway, the ones from JAs are colored background with cream/white stars
on them. Some have metallic rainbowed stars (they match the flannel
line I've seen there). At least one is a black with stars on it and
the stars have rainbows painted in them -- one of my newer acquasitions
(I can't spell worth beans today) and may have come from my new LQS
although I don't remember. The colored backgrounds on the ones from
JAs aren't solid themselves -- they are kind of textured or marbled
looking, which is why I was considering the moda marbles to go with
them. I know Black would make them all pop but I'm not sure I want
Black as the only other fabric to balance out the stars with. Perhaps
a navy blue though -- hmmm. But I dont' have enough starred fabric to
have that be the only colored fabric in the quilt and I'm not sure I'd
want that to be the case anyway.

One idea that came to me was to find a "matching" color, be it solid or
with some print/texture, as a starred fabric and use strips of both
colors to make the "color" side of the log cabin so I wasn't getting
stars right next to stars right next to stars. I don't know. I am
finding it difficult to describe in words. Too bad I don't have a
drawing capability on here to share what I am talking about.

All my questions here have been about what to use in the log cabin
blocks -- I've not even dared think about the borders or backing yet.
auditioning fabrics is a good idea, I'm just hoping for some direction
to start in.

Any and all advice welcome (Except suggesting I use a spell checker
*snicker*)

Feeling a tad frustrated,
Tricia