Dead Simple Quilt Along - Angela's Crazy Take on Things!

Hello all, I'm Angela and I blog over at Cut To Pieces .  I here today on Lynne's blog because she was naive enough to let me say what I'd like.  Hahaha! (insert evil voice and mustache twirl).  I've been waiting for a chance to take over her blog.  In all seriousness...well at least in only moderate silliness, I'm here to blog about my experience so far the Dead Simple Quilt Along.  Only, even with that, I'm pretty silly.  Because you see, I'm not making a quilt at all.  Too darn busy and too many quilts already!  But I loved Lynne's idea of challenging yourself to find fabrics that match a palette that you choose.  I wanted to make it even more interesting for myself and pick a palette that would a little out of my normal range (ie NOT blue and green...I'm sort of a one note wonder when it comes to putting those colors together).  So I quickly found one of my favorite non-me palettes over at Design Seeds (love that site!!).


The plums and pomegranate color in particular are a bit unusual for  me.  So I wanted to challenge myself with those but at the same time still end up with a project that I love.  Although you really can't go wrong with any of those palettes over at Design Seeds.  Gorgeous!  Instead of a quilt, I plan on making some patchwork baskets from the sweet Ayumi's pattern over at Pink Penguin.  It's just darling and I need some more organization in my life (you can never have enough you know!)


I haven't made the basket yet, so I don't have a finished product to show you.  But I wanted to share my fabric selection process with you.  Ayumi uses a neutral linen base for her basket, but I'm challenging myself right?  So I needed to mix things up a bit. ;)  So the first thing I did was pull this out of print decorator print sample.  This color blue is acting like my neutral.  I'm very comfortable with that color, so using it this way makes a lot of sense to me.

dead simple quilt/basket

Then I started to layer on fabrics mainly from my scrap bins that fit in with the palette.  I was looking for interesting prints that "read" as a single color. Next I looked at the Pomegranate color.  I thought that this might be the trickiest to match from my stash.  I chose different scale prints with variable amounts of the pomegranate color in them.  I laid them with the main blue fabric to see the effect of the fabrics with one another.

dead simple quilt

I like some of those more than others, but a little tip...always keep a fabric in there that sort of bugs you a bit. I guarantee that it will be the one that makes your whole project stand out in the end.  It will the unexpected bit that makes your project completely unique!  Next I went to work on those plums.  I just pulled from my scraps and came up with a decent selection in the two shades.  Again, I'm looking for prints of different scale and this time in a couple of shades.  I'm still using all prints...no solids!

dead simple quilt

As you can see, I'm also able to start making the fabrics blend together a bit by selecting plums with a bit of the pomegranate color in there.  And you can start to trick your eye.  That bottom fabric on the plums is actually a purple and ORANGE fabric.  But your eye sees it as a bit more coral because that is what it is surrounded by.  And yet, it also stands out a bit...that's what we want!  Interesting....remember?  Onto the neutrals...they are the easy fillers.  And I even went with some solids to tone down all those busy prints.  And remember, I'm treating my blue like it is a neutral.

Dead Simple Quilt/Basket

And there is my fabric selection!  There are lots of different prints, but I think it should make for some fun patchwork baskets...which are super simple...just not quilts. ;)  I have all of my supplies now, so I should get these baskets together soon.  I hope to share those when I'm done.  Thanks for having me Lynne!  And I hope you all enjoyed the method to my madness of choosing fabrics!

Comments

  1. Thanks Angela! That was great - I need to check out that palette site!

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  2. Great post, Angela - I'm looking forward to seeing the baskets!

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  3. lovely post ... great colour inspiration too :)

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  4. Great idea Angela! I'm having a difficult time sticking with my chosen colour palette for the Dead Simple Quilt. I'm trying very hard NOT to buy any new fabric, but Design Seeds has me going in a hundred different directions! Love them though!

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  5. Good post, think it's a good chance to try different colours.

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  6. Hi Angela! I like your challenge and can't wait to see how your baskets come out. Good luck!

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  7. Angela I need to make those baskets!!! Love your fabric picking method...I am especially digging your plum choices. Going to check out your blog now!

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  8. I need to keep that tip about keeping that fabric that is bugging my eyes - brilliant and funny post. I totally get why you and Kynne a buddies - I follow both of your blogs, talented ladies!

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  9. I love Design Seeds too, so inspiring. This palette looks great, can't wait to see how you put it all together in the final product!

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  10. I love Design Seeds - and I love the idea of challenging oneself to step outside the "norm"! Thanks, Angela!

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  11. That was fun, Angela. Nice to "hear" your brain at work =)

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  12. That is going to be a great basket! I love that you are using larger scales prints where possible. I think that really makes a more interesting visual in the end. Thanks for the great post.

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  13. Pretty!!! I made that little basket and someone immediately had to have it - like many things I make I didn't take a picture... oh well. It is VERY small. I guess that should be obvious but it took me a little aback. LOVE your palette and inspiration!
    www.happydancequilting.wordpress.com

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