August 30, 2016

Snowball Quilt; the Diamonds

My design wall is bursting into full bloom.

I'm well on my way to making a snowball quilt. My wall is covered with squares of Kaffe, Amy Butler and several older traditional prints from my stash. Lots and lots of cutting from lots and lots of different fabrics. Putting them up on the wall is like watching a fabric garden bloom. Love it!

Kaffe Fassett, snowball quilt, Springleaf Studios

Before I cut any fabric, I cut white paper squares to represent the diamonds. Then I fussy cut the blooms. See this blog post for my fussy cutting method. As more and more fabric blooms went up on the wall, I ran out of paper squares and decided not to bother with any more.

It's interesting to see the difference in the layout with and without the white diamonds. My first reaction was that the section without the white diamonds looked flat. The floral squares alone seemed incomplete. However as more and more squares went up I liked the look better and better.

Here's a section with the diamonds.

Kaffe Fassett, snowball quilt, Springleaf Studios

And here's a section without. Which do you prefer?


I don't really think one is better than the other. It's more a matter of what you're after in a design. I actually think a really large quilt of simple squares would be quite stunning. Especially one that included several of those big blooms with the dark background. They add depth and a focal point that helps to break up the overall surface. At this point in the process I have not played with fabric placement. Only cutting squares and throwing them up on the wall. Distribution of color and fabrics will come later.

My original plan was to use white for the diamonds but before committing I tried another fabric from my stash. A small black and white dot. This quilt will be used in my guest room where I've used a lot of black and white decor. At first I didn't like the dot. The white paper stood out so much that the dot looked flat. But the more dotted squares I added, the more I liked it. It's more subtle than the white which allows the blooms to really stand out. Plus, the little tiny touch of black is just right for the room.

Kaffe Fassett, snowball quilt, Springleaf Studios

Even though I grew to like the idea of all squares, perhaps that's another quilt for another time. Right now I'm making a snowball quilt.  A snowball quilt with black and white dot diamonds. This process reminded me of how important it is to continue to fine tune and work through design issues as you go along. If I hadn't bothered with the paper diamonds I wouldn't have had a good idea what the final quilt would look like. It's good to see all the parts come together. It's also good to be flexible if those parts aren't working the way you envisioned. Be open to making changes along the way. You just might discover a whole new concept that's even better. Or at least different and equally worthy of being made into another lovely quilt.

I'll be back soon with a post on how I decided on the size of the corner squares plus how I sew them.

Love gardening with fabric. Just wish my design wall was bigger so it could hold even more
beautiful flowers.   : )

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13 comments:

  1. I like the white diamonds. But them I'm a white sashing person! Love how this is coming together.

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  2. This is the start of a quilt which makes the heart sing!!! I prefer the tiny black and white dot, the white seems to grab the attention a little too much for me.

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  3. I would love to see a bigger photo with the dotted squares, as I think that would be my preference. Going to be beautiful!

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  4. I would love to see a bigger photo with the dotted squares, as I think that would be my preference. Going to be beautiful!

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  5. The dotted squares seem to push the florals into the foreground, I like it! So educational to see your processes.

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  6. Hello! I just found your blog because Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework listed you as one of her favorite blogs. I AGREE! I love the wonderfully bright and rich colors you are using in your latest quilt and really enjoyed reading your thought process on it. So glad to have found another color lover!

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  7. I'm so glad I visited today...this burst of floral abundance is just what I needed! I'm enjoying watching this quilt come together.

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  8. I think both quilts would be awesome Anne! But I agree, work on the original concept, perfect that and come back to the patchwork squares another time! The little black dot, from a greater distance, will probably look more like grey, which softens the bright flowers, I guess! Lovely work Anne!

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  9. So pretty. I actually like it with the combination of the flowers AND the squares - maybe without the sharp demarcation between the two.

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  10. What a difference a grey makes! I too love this, very pretty and the B&W dot does looks like a grey to me from a distance... and is perfect!

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  11. I like the snowball version the best, I feel like it frames each fabric and gives it room to shine. And yay for auditioning fabric! I love it when I give something a try and learn from it.

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  12. As usual Anne another beautiful quilt. It would be perfect for Sydney as it is our first day day of Spring today. It also reminded me a little of an art exhibition I saw recently of the Chinese artist Ai WeiWei which was images of hundreds of flowers:) Have you succumbed to Kaffe Fassett's latest book Bold Blooms yest?
    Lois

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  13. Beautiful, as always. And I like the dots--the white was too stark for me. I agree with you on the squares: also beautiful, but another quilt for another day. So true.

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