Friday, July 14, 2017

Poor Little Crow - Baskets of Plenty #6

It's a good thing this poor little crow is made of fabric and has no awareness of himself.  Otherwise, he might notice that his beak looks more like a dolphin's nose and that his tail feathers are permanently  ruffled.  I continue to struggle with the points of turned-edge applique:  they tend to curve, as the tips of the right and left hearts do, or not be very pointed at all.  I'm hoping the adage "practice makes perfect" is true.

Baskets of Plenty #6 of Cheri Payne's sew-along

This is basket #6 of Cheri Payne's Facebook sew-along, Baskets of Plenty.  Her blocks are always so full and rich with plenty of leaves and berries.  Her version of this basket has two small crows facing each other with a heart between.  Of course, we don't know her layout until after we've had four weeks to decide and stitch down our own.

Cheri used a charcoal background for her block but thinking that charcoal would not settle well with the colors in my other blocks, I chose this brown fabric.  At one time it was a shirt.  I used the back because the front had tiny, small, light leaves and tiny pink buds.  The color was right but the print was too busy.  The reverse seemed fine.

I like the colors of the flowers in this block a lot and I especially like them against the brown background.  Perhaps a peach/pink/coral and brown quilt is in my future.

Baskets of Plenty #6 of Cheri Payne's sew-along

I backed myself into a corner with this block.  I appliqued everything but the centers of the flowers on the right and then couldn't find fabric I thought worked.  I tried several blues, a brown or two, and a couple in the red range.  All of them weighed down the right side and drew the eye directly to them.  I opted to stay in the same color range as the other flowers.

I envisioned one little heart in the center of the basket but it nearly disappeared laying there by itself.  I imagined a string of hearts across the top of the basket but those hearts are so small and hard to make that I stopped with three.  Wednesday morning I laid all three where they are now and thought them perfect.  They, too, were cut from recycled shirts.

I call this block finished and I'm satisfied with it but I know that as it hangs on the wall it may insist on leaves or some other addition.

The top photo was taken in natural light without a flash, the bottom with a flash.  They're really close in color but the bottom one is slightly truer to the colors of the fabric than the first.  If you want to see details click on either photo.  I'm not using Blogger's Lightbox so they'll enlarge several times.


I'm linking this post to
> Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework
> Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
> finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts
> TGIFF at Janda Bend Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.


16 comments:

  1. Very pretty basket! (Piece O'Cake Designs, has some very good applique tutorials on YouTube, I learned a lot from them.)

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    1. Thanks, Rebecca. I'll have to take a look at Piece O'Cake's videos. I have borrowed several of their books from the library and found them helpful. It happens, though, that I don't have them on hand when a difficult bit of applique comes along. I should buy them or try to keep them on permanent loan!

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  2. It turned out terrific. I really like the 3 little hearts. Hearts are always hard for me. One side is always higher or rounder than the other side. I think your hearts look great

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    1. Thank you, Robin! Yes, the hearts were hard for me, too, mostly because they are so small. But, Cheri drew these so that one side was higher than the other so at least I didn't have to worry about that!

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  3. This is adorable. And don't worry about the little wobbles in the appliqué. I think that's what makes this kind of work endearing. Funny you talked about the pink/coral/brown color scheme. I have been setting aside fabrics for just such a quilt. No idea yet what the design will be. I like how you make use of shirts--and use whichever side works best.

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    1. Thanks so much, JanineMarie, for both the kind words about the block and for the encouragement to not worry about the wobbles. I'm learning to notice them but leave them. When they get too bad I have to talk myself into leaving them or make changes. I think these will stay.

      I'm looking forward to seeing your coral and brown quilt, whatever you decide to do. It's interesting to know one wants to use several colors and/or fabrics together but not know what block to use them in. It always takes me a while to figure that out.

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  4. I really like the soft coraly (that's a word, right?) colors of the flowers in your block, Nancy. I like the three heart effect.
    I don't do applique well, so I mostly just don't do it. You are much better than I ever hope to be.

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    1. Thanks, Janet. I keep looking at that basket and wondering if it should be a separate little quilt with borders around it. I love the colors but I'm not sure they go with the colors in the other blocks. I'll have to look at the blocks together for a while and see.

      I've seen your applique and I think you do a fine job of it. It may not be turned-edge but any kind of applique requires skill.

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  5. Another nice little basket. Your appliqué and balance of colors look fine to me. I honestly didn't even realize there were no leaves until you mentioned it, but a bit of green might be a nice addition.

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    1. Thank you for the nice compliments, Jennie. I suspect that I will add leaves. I have 4 baskets with leaves and 2 without and I think the two without look a little bare. I'll probably add them after all 8 baskets are finished, though. I'm struggling to keep up with this sew-along, even though it's just one basket a month. I don't understand how I take so long to decide and stitch!

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  6. I love the colours of the flowers in this basket. Those three hearts are perfect where they are, imo. And I agree with Jennie, if you have the time and energy a few leaves would be nice.
    Read your messy versus tidy post and I'm somewhere in the middle. My room is messy when I'm working but I usually tidy it at the end of the day if I have time. I prefer stepping back into an orderly space. But I don't think I'm creative so...

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    1. Thanks for the kind compliments, Jocelyn. As I told her, I'll probably add leaves but not until after all eight of the basket blocks are done.

      I like to begin with some amount of order every day, too. I think you are creative!

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  7. Very pretty, your fabric choices work so well!

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    1. Thanks so much, Judy. I appreciate the compliment.

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  8. Nancy tus cestas son preciosas.
    ¡¡¡ me encantan !!!

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I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.

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