Sunday 28 August 2011

A self-imposed exercise in restraint

In my head I am a modicum of restraint.
In reality I'm not ;-)
In my head I think I would like to live in an all white house, spending my days making monochromatic quilts.
In reality our dining room is red and another room is a smouldering green.

I admire hugely others who can achieve this, as my natural inclination is to add in every colour going and some.


So, this is my small attempt at a limited colour palette quilt.


I took the same fabric for each square and started off by adding either a grey or a white narrow border.
I kept adding rows completely randomly until I squared each block to 12".

I struggled to keep it muted. I had to start adding little pops of yellow and mustard because it was looking just too controlled for my taste.


With all blocks sewn together, I added a simple backing.

And then got to my favourite bit of the whole process...hand-quilting the life out of it.

I enjoyed making it but I feel an injection of colour coming on in my next quilt.

24 comments:

  1. I really like it, the hand quilting is wonderful on it! I too have trouble sticking with neutrals, you have done very well with it.

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  2. I think that the quilt is wonderful, but ultimately it is the little shots of yellow and mustard that help make it so great. I'm not a monochromatic person either though.

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  3. When did you change your Header?? Nice!

    And the quilt - so cool, so Gustavian, with a hint of French mustard!

    Normally a colour girl but love this! So graphic with all your quilting!

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  4. Really love your limited palate, and that yellow is perfect! Just enough :-) Love it.

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  5. The quilting is wonderful and really 'makes' the quilt. Love the subtle pallette too!

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  6. this is so lovely! the yellow is great, i agree that the rest of the quilt needs that pop! love it!

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  7. Wow, I can only imagine your restraint here, especially compared to your spider web color explosion! But it is lovely, and I think the yellow bits are just the right touch. And you and your hand quilting...amazing!

    I started by buying a white couch....but it is usually buried in colorful quilts, so not sure that counts as a move to the monochrome!

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  8. I love it, it's not my usual taste (I'm not restrained, either and would find this difficult to make!) but I really, really like it - the mustard is a perfect addition and I love the hand quilting!

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  9. You can see that you used great restraint, but couldn't keep the color lover down completely. It's an exercise, and a really nice quilt. I do appreciate the colors, but I can't wait for the next - will it be restrained, or will the explosion come out?
    Hugs,

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  10. It's so gorgeous! I really love the little bits of yellow. It adds so much to the quilt without adding too much color. And your quilting is very nice. Applause!

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  11. Very cool and calm, I love it. The little colour pops really give it character :)
    Hats off to the hand quilting!

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  12. I'm like you, I love colour but this is really interesting. The simple colours really let the quilting shine (am still in awe of all your hand quilting). I would be worried about getting chocolat or wine on this if it were mine (says a lot about how I spend time!!!)

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  13. I think you`ve done an amazing job - you hand quilt like me so that there is lots of texture. Love the subtle injection of colour - it lifts the quilt so that your eye dances over it.

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  14. I LOVE it! I've been loving all white homes lately or mostly white, and I'm in a very simplify stage of my life, this quilt is perfect! It just looks so fresh and clean and I love everything about it. Nice job!

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  15. Yes, I admire neat, white, minimalist, modern interiors (on television) but in reality I love colour too much! I love your little pops of yellow - but I would, wouldn't I?

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  16. It is so gorgeous. Those little bits of yellow is marvelous. It adds so much to the quilt without adding too much color. And your quilting is very attractive.
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  17. How soothing and snuggly this looks! I think the wee bit of mustard is perfect - grey & yellow - right on trend! Jxo

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  18. oMG I can't believe the hand quilting! Your hands must be aching but it looks incredible!

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  19. I really like these colours - one day, some day I´ll do one monochromatic too (i´m more the colour girl) and I was sooo astzonoshed to read that you handquilted this beauty - wow!! I´m handquilting my spiederweb quilt - it will take me FOREVER...

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  20. Oh so nice....just the right blend of all your blends!

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  21. gee whiz you hand quilted all of that!! you have such patience. i love the muted and understated colours you chose in this quilt. it looks very modern-minimalist meets ikeaanthropologiecrateandbarrel ish. One day I'll know what to say.

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  22. Ohhhhh, it's beautiful! I love the neutrals, but I have to disagree with your statement that you were "hand-quilting the life out of it." You hand-quilted the life INTO it!!! And you did so marvelously!

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  23. Te ha quedado precioso. Saludos

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  24. you make that quilt your own? that's beautiful!

    http://mylovely-home.blogspot.com/

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