Anyway, I had purchased this bundle because the outer fabric was part of a collection I was using on a quilt and I had hoped it would have other pieces of the same collection inside. No such luck! but the fabrics were nice enough...just not part of the collection I had hoped for.
So I began looking at these fabrics...sorting and putting them in order. I noticed a bunch of oranges. Hmmmmm... Didn't I also have another bundle of orange strips that had been given to me? Yep. I pulled them out too and began cutting the strips into wedges.
I had purchased a box of wax paper sheets at my local Sam's Club...these are for wrapping deli sandwiches, but to me, they seemed perfect for paper/foundation piecing! I began sewing the wedges to the wax paper sheets, starting with the one pink fabric and moving to the more red colors before using the oranges.
Once completed, the first row looked like this:
For the second row, I decided to make it a bit scrappier, and intentionally mixed up the wedges so that I would NOT end up with a row of a single fabric across the 6 blocks (this later turned out to be a mistake, but I didn't now it then).
I pulled other fabrics out of my stash to be used also, transitioning from orange to browns then greens then blues.
After completion of the 3rd row, it looked like this:
As you can see, the blocks are not sewn together, but are just pinned to a cardboard cutting mat...I don't yet have a real design wall.I wasn't exactly thrilled with the way this was looking....the browns were all jumbled up where they met the oranges... there was no smooth transition.
I rearranged some of the blocks in that second row. Hmmm.... ok, better, but still not great.
I decided to rip and rearrange some of the wedges on the lower portion of the second row...the browns...to make a better transition. So much for the 'scrappy' look that I had intentionally done! No, I was much more satisfied with the look when the pieces were placed according to choice (as opposed to randomly).Now, this was better.
I began sewing the blues, although at this point, I kinda liked it 'as is'...without any blue... but I continued making blocks.
Once the entire 4th row was finished, I was glad I had continued...the blues looked good.
I began sewing the blues, although at this point, I kinda liked it 'as is'...without any blue... but I continued making blocks.
Once the entire 4th row was finished, I was glad I had continued...the blues looked good.
Now on to row 5! As I layed these out, again, I was tempted NOT to sew them, thinking it was good enough already. But the wedges were cut and layed out in order...I might as well sew them.
Once the 5th row was added, I was ok with the blues, but the 2nd row was still bothering me!
I finally decided to rip and rearrange several of those random oranges in that second row. Here you can see the before and after...not a huge difference, but I was more pleased. There was one particular orange fabric that seemed out of place, and it appeared in every blockk in the row. it was removed entirely.
I finally decided to rip and rearrange several of those random oranges in that second row. Here you can see the before and after...not a huge difference, but I was more pleased. There was one particular orange fabric that seemed out of place, and it appeared in every blockk in the row. it was removed entirely.
The blocks on the left haven't been joined together yet, but the blocks on the right have, so that does make a little difference in how they look as well!
PLUS, on the right, you might notice that I added another pink as well as a pale lilac to the upper edge. The pink on the top really bothered me and I considered cutting it off, but then I decided what it really needed was MORE pink! I wish I had had a large piece of that lilac, but that was all I had. Perhaps I'll find more.
Once I was pleased with the blocks, I began joining them into columns. My original plan was to cut each block to the same size, and there would be horizontal as well as vertical seams between each block---but I ended up joining the blocks (vertically) using the wedge angles so the horizontal seams are not really visible... they look just like all the other wedge seams! The vertical seams that join each column will be visible, however.
Once the blocks were joined, the strips were trimmed along the edges to make each column the same width.
I joined the strips ONLY as far down as the 'horizon'...where the green fabric met the blue.
I joined the strips ONLY as far down as the 'horizon'...where the green fabric met the blue.
I wanted the blue area to have a straight horizontal seam, like the surface of the water, so I sewed the upper blocks together using the wedge angles UNTIL I came to the bottom of the green fabric. Then I squared off the lower edge.
The lower (blue) blocks were also joined to each other using the wedge angles. But I squared off the upper edge of the blue sections so that when the upper strip was sewn to the lower (blue) strip, each column would have a horizontal seam there. Then, when each completed column was sewn to the next, the horizontal seams created a 'water level'. Or at least, that was my plan!
Stay tuned for part two.
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About Me
- Trish
- I pretty much color inside the lines. Sometimes I even make the lines bolder, so as to emphasize the lines when coloring. I'm trying to get over that.
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