Saturday, February 2, 2019

NOT a Mystery Begins



This is the quilt from Unconventional and Unexpected
that Sujata suggested for our quilt along.

I knew from the beginning that I would not
be making mine in the style of the original,
so I've been waiting to see which direction
my version would take.




In the meantime, I ran across this vintage beauty
photographed by Ann Champion and shared on Flickr.

And my brain immediately leaped to a quilt design
I've made twice before.




This version was named Happy Happy Joy Joy 
(or HHJJ for short) was made 
during the 2016 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.




And this version, named Girly Girl,
 was made shortly thereafter
to celebrate our great niece's birth.

In HHJJ, I used strings to fill in the side triangles.

In Girly Girl, I used half square triangles.

So with the design method settled,
I moved on to my waiting fabric pulls.




I had pulled these scrappy pieces
shortly after Bonnie Hunter introduced
her 2018 Good Fortune mystery quilt.

I never planned to make her mystery quilt
but I was drawn to the colors and her inspiration.




This photo was taken by our DIL in the Forbidden City 
during one of her Asian business trips.

It captures Bonnie's inspirational color palette perfectly.

(I even used this photo as my desktop wallpaper 
back when I was working at the law firm)




I also had this fabric pull set aside
for the current AHIQ Red challenge.

Once I started looking, the overlap between the two
was obvious and they quickly became one project
that suits both the UandU QAL 
and the AHIQ Red challenge.




With the intensity of my colors,
it was clear the low volume prints
needed an upgrade.

This long-stashed Marblehead was my choice.


  
I pulled these four fabrics from the stash
to use for the quilt's pieced back.




Initially I was not going to add the narrow strips
along the sides of the center insert.

But when I cut one WOF strip of a well-aged red batik
and laid it alongside the first pieced center segment 
you can see the results -- Those rich red 1" strips 
simply HAD to be part of this quilt.

I'm planning a layout 5 blocks wide x 7 blocks long
for a top that will measure 50" x 70" 

8 blocks made, 27 more to go.




And when I trim the center strips to 4.5" wide,
these marvelous lengths are the cutaways.

I already have a plan to use them 
in another small quilt!

Hooray for the UandUQAL 
and the AHIQ Red challenge
and for shopping my stash to create this project.


6 comments:

  1. You definitely have a great eye for color. They way you coordinate is just perfect! Love the picture your DIL took! Gorgeous! Definitely matches the inspiration behind the Good Fortune color scheme. I've never heard of AHIQ or UandUQAL. Could there be another project in my future? Time will tell. LOVE the perfect points in HHJJ. It's always a pleasure to visit your blog and find such beautiful projects. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  2. I like those blocks. What a great way to use up scraps.

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  3. This is great Julie! I was hoping we would see many different versions for this quilt. That red insert makes a great separation between scraps and the background. Love it! I also love Ann Champion's antique beauty. I sure miss her blog. It was always filled with vintage inspirations.

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  4. What an interesting telling of your tale to this beautiful project. And covering two challenges at once! I’m looking forward to see the end result and particularly the cutaway project.

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  5. I think I may be doubling up here Julie having left a comment on your blog, but no matter.
    You've picked four glorious fabrics for the back of this quilt, they were made for each other! I'm going to be watching out for the small quilt you intend making in the future with the left over strips. We seem to be walking a similar path with our choice of pattern, at least for my Red.

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  6. I so love many of your projects. I have to look around to be inspired. Thank you.

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