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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Black and White


 
I have been playing around with my hand dyes again. If you have been over to visit MamaCJT , you know where my inspiration came from. I went crazy when I saw the one she did over at her blog, and knew I had to sit down and made one just like it for myself. She is the Queen of inspiration to me and uses predominantly white fabrics with her quilts. I have hardly ever gone that route, so I gave it a whirl. As I was stitching together my top, I kept thinking about the black that I normally use. So just to see, I put together another top just like it only with the black. It was really a fun little personal challenge for me. The jury is out as to which I like best. I think the colors pop more on the black background, but then I do like the white.

There were a few ugly moments, when I decided to add a mini 3/4" strip inner border. What was I thinking??? The white one being the first top I made took the brunt of the mistakes, and I gave up and left it alone finally.After all there is only so many times you can rip out something before everything starts to fall apart. Once I got to the black top, I got a little smarter and cut my strip 1 1/2" wide and folded it in half, to stitch it in. Much easier. When you are working with such a small strip it is hard to control it and stitch at the same time. While the second one is nowhere close to perfect, it was a far cry better than the white quilt. I think a few more try's at this and I might actually get something close to pretty good!! :-) That's my highest goal for this technique I think!! Next time it's a piping and call it good! Gotta challenge myself from time to time just to see if I am still able to completely un-nerve "me". LOL
For these guys, I think some kind of camouflage on the corners, will be my only salvation! :-) Or I could just consider them character flaws...
So which of these do you like best????

 
 

8 comments:

  1. I love how the black makes the colors pop. The white one is okay.

    Hint on sewing in a small border: Cut it larger to start - an extra half inch or so, then after the first seam is sewn and pressed flat, trim the seam just sewn to exactly 1/4" .Press the seam towards the border - then trim the remaining edge to whatever size you want,but at least 1/2". When you sew the second seam, your presser foot will glide flush to the seam allowance, and give you a straight seam. Hope this helps. I used to do flanges until I became a long-arm quilter. Hate the suckers now!!

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  2. Joan, I like them both, but being an Amish quilt fan, I would opt for the black background, but I do like the while b/g as well.
    When doing very small strips I do as your previous commenter Becky suggested, cut wider, smooth it down and trim! Don't worry too much about the slight wonkyness of your first attempt! LOL, we are our own worst critic because we know what secrets our quilts hide! and rest assured, most people don't admire them with a magnifying glass!!! Enjoy your week!!!

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  3. These look stunning! I love them both but must admit to leaning toward the white one. The colours are great and I like the idea that you dyed them!!
    I agree that mamacjt is quite inspirational. She does so much and is always trying somehting new. Just love it.

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  4. I love your quilts. Mamacjt is my inspiration too. I originally thought I would like the white background, but i think I like the one with the black background best. I really want to try one of these. I'm glad I'm getting tips on how to do that small border. I'm afraid to try that. You are my inspiration!

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  5. These are both stunning quilts... very striking
    Thanks for your kind comments on my post on Sew We Quilt.. I'd love to have you over to sew/snack!! Hugz

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  6. Wow....I didn't know what I started! I LOVE the black....idiot me never even thought of black. Another little hint on a tiny border is do a flange instead. Much easier! Thank you and your wonderful readers for the lovely compliments!

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  7. The black looks more elegant, and the white looks more cheerful. I like them both. I came over to your blog after you mentioned in the comments section of mamacjt blog that you had made a quilt similar to hers. I'm glad I stopped by! Your readers keep mentioning a "flang" what is that? I will do a google and hopefully find the answer.
    Brenda

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Thanks for stopping by today. Your comments really do make me day!
;-)