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Sunday 23 September 2012

What would you do?

Normally, I know where I'm going with the layout of a quilt.
It all seems to go together as I go along.

This time I am stuck.

I want the layout like you can see.
However, I need it to end up as a rectangular shape.

If I add half blocks to the sides, that doesn't work at the top and bottom; you can't get a section of the block in there without slicing into it and I don't think that looks right.

And if I just have half blocks at the side, what do I have at the bottom?

So then I thought maybe I should just add a plain fabric all the way around.

But really, for the first time ever, I think I am stuck.

What would you do?


Oh...and as an added incentive to wade in with your thoughts, I am overflowing with scraps again so if you're interested say so and one of you will get a big squwagy (spell check thinks I just made that word up and I may well have done) envelope of scraps.

Thank you.

56 comments:

  1. Think I might go along the plain fabric route - where it indents more down the sides you could maybe applique odd hexies.
    And I would never say no to scraps, it would be rude!

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  2. Hmmmmm, it's tricky for sure. Maybe you could piece in a whole load of white to fill in the gaps at the top and bottom. If you EPP it in the same shapes I think that would look really nice (rather than just using great big wodges of white). BTW, spellcheck thinks that wodges isn't a word either, so it is clearly totally wrong on all counts! Half blocks on the sides would look nice.

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  3. Similar problem resolved this way
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrssewandsow/6927779628/in/set-72157629476282913

    Though you will no doubt want something quieter!

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  4. Hello!
    Love your blocks. This is a pattern that I want to try ever since I saw the "Material Obsession 2" book. Here are the two different quilts from the book:
    http://thelastpiece.typepad.com/.a/6a010536f8e72a970c0115723b345e970b-800wi
    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aZ4jL9N4m5M/SrG23QUm8BI/AAAAAAAAIBE/I6D82aLWxpU/s400/Material+Obsession+Two+008.JPG
    Maybe one of these settings would suit you?

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  5. Um, yeah, I'm not nearly qualified enough to answer that yet, haha! It certainly is beautiful though!

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  6. hi,i would add some white around,and then hexies all around,and a white binding,and i would never say no to scraps,haave a nice sunday,susi

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  7. It looks beautiful! I think I would go for a light coloured background, maybe dots or a small light coloured print to make it rectangular. Then I would use perle thread to hand quilt it, and I would quilt 6 pointed star shapes in the background in colours that tie in with those beautiful blocks. Whatever you decide to do will be gorgeous! I really like some of the suggestions above too :)
    oh and I would love some scraps!

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  8. Hi from a next door Islander, your rose blocks are gorgeous love all the colour combinations :) I think I would go with half blocks down the sides, white triangles top & bottom & maybe play around with the shape template to make a design to fit then applique on? I'm sure you'll fiqure out something that looks great & I would never say no to some of your lovely scraps!

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  9. I think I'd put half blocks down the long edges, then white triangles top and bottom, with smaller coloured triangles and even smaller white ones to give a chevron effect. Does that make sense?

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  10. oh wow - stunning, im starting my quilt liek this hopefully on the way to SS - seriously, who would say no to scraps?? :)

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  11. I would go with white background fabric all around, in order not to distract from the beautiful blocks you've got. By adding a wider white area than just "filling the holes" you could achieve a "floating" effect that would look lovely. You could even emphasize it with some intricate quilting in the white areas.

    Maybe then add a scrappy border made from the fabrics you used in the blocks? I would then add a smaller white border between the scrappy one and the binding.

    Or just do a colorful binding, either pieced or a faux piped binding.

    I'm looking forward to seeing what you choose to do and would of course not say no to some scraps. :-)

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  12. Loads of lovely ideas, and I like the combination of Charlotte, Fiona and Andreaf - how about making some blocks pieced all in white and hand quilting them with perle to match the colours in the main quilt, so that you can still see the rose star design? The scrappy and white borders as suggested by Andreaf would then really set it off. Not that I'm anywhere near qualified to suggest anything! :-) Good luck with your choice....

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  13. Fabulous! I'd add in half blocks at the sides, and just leave the top and bottom with a zigzag binding. (not that I'd actually have a clue how to do that mind you...)

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  14. What about appliqueing it to a larger piece of cloth like the Fat Quarterly Hexy MF quilt http://www.fatquarterly.com/category/hexymf
    I never say no to scraps ;-)

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  15. I like the idea of half blocks on the sides and then plain on top and bottom. It looks lovely!

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  16. +1 on the idea of half blocks on the side and white triangles at the bottom. That's what I'm going to do with mine.

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  17. Well, I can show you how I edged my Hexagon quilt. http://runtomomma.blogspot.com/2011/06/edging-quilt.html It was to sort of do another hexagon and fold it back stitch it over at the cut of point and cut it off. However I was not doing pieced hexagons. I was doing full pieces. I hope the pictures, and my attempt at something else in the pictures helps you NOT do the other option.

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  18. That's a real problem. I would prefer to add something in the corners, but don't know what and how. I'm not being really helpful, am I, sorry about that :-)

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  19. I think you should treat it like an 'on point' quilt and square it up using white. Then you can border it however you'd like (hexies for fun maybe?) and go from there :)

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  20. Half blocks on the side and white triangles top and bottom?

    I'd take your offer of scraps but I doubt either of us wants to pay postage to Australia!

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  21. I would fill in the spaces with the background fabric and then add a colored border as a frame. Your center blocks are amazing and I think having them in a rectangle of white, vs adding busyness with half blocks, will set teem of and emphasize the layout. Yes to scraps!!! :)

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  22. i love these blocks. I would be inclined to just piece in some of the same background if you need it to be rectangular and as Fiona suggested use those areas for some interesting quilting too. Whatever you decide it is going to be beautiful.

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  23. I agree with the floating in white idea! It is really gorgeous!

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  24. As some some others have said, white to fill in and then a white border would be fantastic and really how off your amazing blocks. Would love your scraps if you are willing to ship here again. ;)

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  25. I would do what Andreaf suggested.... floating on white all the way around, that way you dont lose the hexagon shapes and it actually highlights them :). If it were me at that point i would applique little hexies ata a diagonal angle down to the corners ...maybe :) This is lovely... dont get yourself tied in knots!

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  26. wow, heaps of help for you! There are some really great ideas mentioned! (There's a definite consensus growing) If none of them are hitting you quite right then perhaps you can rethink your layout--does it HAVE to be rectangular? Or, would separating the tiles and adding a cornerstone be an option? (like the camelot quilt--I loved those secondary-design squares alongside the circles.) let's see....what about a smaller border (2-3 inch) around all the hexagons as you have them laid out and then it will feel "framed" to put on a larger piece of fabric? (I've never seen anything like that so I have no idea if it will work but I'm hoping it at least gives your brain a jolt to come up with something spectacular.) You have such a keen eye for this so I'm looking forward to the finished product!

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  27. I would do what Andreaf suggested.... floating on white all the way around, that way you dont lose the hexagon shapes and it actually highlights them :). If it were me at that point i would applique little hexies ata a diagonal angle down to the corners ...maybe :) This is lovely... dont get yourself tied in knots!

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  28. Baste it to white, maybe add some hand quilting in perle. Love the EPP you've done. And, I wouldn't say no to scraps.

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  29. I would definitely fill the bits in with the neutral fabric so that the hexies stand out properly. Then I would do some of your brilliant hand quilting. And then I would send me some of your scraps. ;-)

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  30. Maybe add some sashing and then add some half hexes around the outside that match the sashing? That would make the hexes stand out well.

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  31. My two cents would be to continue with the neutral to the edges of the quilt so that it appears the blocks are floating within the quilt. This area could be accented with some interesting quilting so it's not "dead" space on the edges. No matter what, I'm excited to see this finished, it's beautiful and your blocks are pieced so nicely.... and if you need somewhere to send off scraps I'll never refuse :) Happy Quilting

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  32. Gorgeous. I would use the plain fabric to fill in.
    And of course, scraps are always welcome in my home.

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  33. Like several others who have responded already, I like the idea of filling out with plain white but also sashing between the rose stars so they can breathe a bit in their sea of white. But I have complete faith in your design sense...clarity will come (perhaps it has already?) and this will be stunning!!

    I really should do a scrap giveaway myself...so none for me...but thanks for the idea :)

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  34. I love the blocks, they are great. I think if it were me I would float all the blocks on the same white as you have used in the pattern blocks. That does mean of course that you have to make the 'fill in' even if they are odd shapes.

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  35. I think that squaring it up with the background fabric, then a very narrow border then a wide border would look nice. The blocks look great!!!

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  36. I always like black. I'd go with black all around it.

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  37. Beautiful blocks! I think filling it in with the half blocks to square it off then set it in a dark contrasting colored border. Those beautiful blocks would just pop! :)

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  38. I can't offer any useful suggestions at all, but I really look forward to seeing what you do. The blocks are lovely.

    I would be hugely grateful for any spare scraps which would go to use immediately.

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  39. I would add some plain fabric around the edges to make those beautiful blocks stand out!

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  40. As much as it pains me to say it (more work for you) I would probably go with adding in half blocks along the sides and then fill in white on top and bottom. Then, because I love borders, I would frame it with a great fabric, then add in more white in a wider border to possibly applique on. Your blocks look great though and any spare scraps would be loads of fun.:)

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  41. Plain fabric all around. Let the blocks shine and not compete with half or quarter blocks on the edges.

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  42. Really beautiful! I think it would look nice filled in on the sides with a white fabric that had a small dot on it. I might lay some pink fabric underneath to see how that looked too! You never know until you try some different things. Scraps always welcome here!

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  43. I am sure someone might have suggested it and I missed it, but, if it were me I would add the half blocks to the side and bind it with a zig zag edge on the top and bottom.

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  44. I might be tempted to sew half flowers for the spots that need filling. A lot more work but it would pull it all together. Or just go with the background fabric in the missing spots. (I love scraps!)

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  45. I think I would appliqué down to a background. Perhaps half blocks on the sides, but the top and bottom don't need anything ; )
    I would love your scraps by the way

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  46. I love scraps. I'm with Carla (above)- applique it to a background. Maybe half blocks on the side but not on the top and bottom. Lovely dilemma.

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  47. I like the plain fabric all the way around. I like the geometric edges. I have just started my first spiderweb quilt and would love some scraps.

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  48. What beautiful work! Yes, send me some scraps so I can make some!

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  49. I am new to your blog and loving your work. I would add a half block to sides of middles row then appliqué (machine in my case) onto a background. I am doing something along same lines on a much smaller scale and am appliqueing onto a white with small red dots. I would love to work with some of your scraps. Good luck with it

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  50. How about (and sorry if I'm repeating a suggestion!) piecing partial blocks in a plain fabric (i.e. using the RS templates) so that you get the outline of the block? You could use several different plains (or muted prints) if you didn't fancy lots of shapes in the same fabric. (I hope I'm making sense!) Lucy is doing a similar thing between her RS blocks http://www.charmaboutyou.com/2012/09/winning.html and Fiona recently showed a cushion (made for her in a swap) where the maker had mixed plain (background) hexagons with print hexagons and the seam lines really added to the design. I'd fill in the sides first and then see if the top and bottom need squaring off or whether they look good as they are. Whatever you decide will look fabulous and I can't wait to see it!
    P.S. Scraps?! Yes, please!

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  51. I love this quilt and have been pondering your dilemma for a couple of days. I wondered whether you could piece some "leaf" wedges from green fabrics with white as the background and use these on the top and bottom and sides if you liked. It would involve a bit of "hard sums" but I think you could do it and it would give a leafy frame to the piece.

    Did you use a pattern for the flowers or did you draft it yourself?

    I would love a bag of your scraps, but couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't send you some of mine in return!

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  52. Your blocks are very pretty. There are some great suggestions already. I had a couple of other thoughts that might possibly be useful.

    1. You could sash the hexagon blocks with plain fabric so that they end up square and then you could put them together like this hexagon/chevron quilt from a crafty fox http://www.acraftyfox.net/tutorial/festival-of-hexagons-seaside-chevron-tutorial/ Looks like you still might need to make some half hexagon blocks though.

    2. You could appliqué each hexagon block onto a huge piece of background fabric so that they are really floating randomly in space.

    3. You could add equilateral triangles between the hexagon blocks like this suggested layout from Jaybird Quilts http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/2010/04/hexagon-quilt-along-block-1.html

    I'm sure my scraps would welcome any new arrivals with open arms!

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  53. Your blocks look beautiful. No new suggestions but have enjoyed reading everyone elses.

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  54. Love this quilt! I think I would do 1/2 blocks on the sides and background fabric on the ends.

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  55. Your blocks look fabulous! Have you decided on how to finish it off yet? I am setting my with triangles on each side to make each like a star.

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