Saturday, October 30, 2010

Inspiration by osmosis

We made a trip to our storage unit yesterday for some of our rugs and I came across one of my vintage quilts. I have a number of other quilts in storage, but this is the only one I was able to liberate yesterday.

This quilt came from my grandmother's house. My mom thinks it was made by one of my great-aunts on my dad's side. We remember a number of the fabrics in the quilt from various things around mamaw's house, such as one of her kitchen aprons. My mom has a baby quilt of mine that's made from many of these same fabrics and has the same backing. That would date this quilt (and me) in the early 1970's.

It's beginning to feel a little like fall around here, so I placed this folded quilt across the foot of the bed last night and used it as an extra blanket when I got in bed. The entire quilt is very random, but this area made me think of a string quilt. I wanted to sleep in today, but I woke up early with an idea to do a simple, wonky diamond quilt inspired by these blocks. Inspiration by osmosis.

In the sewing room, I had stacked my Good Folks in two stacks, warm and cool, and they jumped out at me as perfect for this project. I spent most of my morning turning these strips...

into this. I asked Sean for his opinion and he said "They aren't straight," so now I'm worried that rather than looking wonky, they just look like I didn't know what I was doing.

I've got some sewn together and I love it. I love it so much that I've already decided to hand quilt it and I think the quilting will emphasize the wonkiness even more (see the chalk lines above). I just hope the wonky looks intentional and not accidental. What do you think?

28 comments:

Annette said...

What a fun quilt and a great idea. I really like it a lot.

The WoodLand School said...

I love this new quilt! I think the wonkiness definitely looks intention (it's far too wonky to look like a mistake). Can't wait to see the hand quilting!

Catherine said...

What a lovely scrappy quilt to get inspiration from. I think it does look intentionally wonky and the quilting will emphasize this. My husband has said a similar comment to me about one of my wonky quilts so maybe its a male thing:)

Sarah said...

Definately intentional. I LOVE IT! Liberated quiltmaking is so much fun, I hope you agree. And the fabrics are perfect for the project.

Anonymous said...

Definitely intentional - it's wonky all the way :0)

It will be lovely hand-quilted.

Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts said...

Stunning!

Disregard the Hubs

Crack on!

Charlotte said...

I agree with you - the squareness of the quilt lines make it look deliberately wonky. What colour are you planning to quilt with?

Marit said...

I think this is one of my favorite quilts using Good Folks! The wonkiness makes it "alive". I like those kites floating in the sky...
; )

Mary said...

I love it! Very "liberated"! THe wonkiness really stands out with the dark sashing. I love your grandmas quilt as well. It almost looks like it could have come from the pages of Gwen Marston's books...brilliant!

Gra said...

Hi Melanie! I like it that way. If you want to visit my blog I just posted a couple of days ago a string quilt that I made. It is not as wonky but it is not simetrical either. Forgive my machine quilting. I have been doing patchwork for less than a year and my quilting experience goes back just a few months. I like your work very much (my blog is in spanish, but there is a translator on the right side if you want to read besides taking a look at pictures!)

Marie said...

For some reasons, husbands don't seem to like the wonkies. At least mine doesn't. He wants perfectly straight lines, matched corners, and points that meet. He keeps pointing these things out to me in hopes of them getting better.

Ann Marie said...

The wonkiness was more apparent after you sewed the blocks together. It definitely looks intentional now. I really like it. The color combinations are great. I too am curious what color you will quilt it with. Big stitches or machine quilting?

Unknown said...

oh melanie- i LOVE it. the wonkiness looks wonky and fun, not like you don't know what you are doing! ha. my husband is VERY VERY linear and likes things to be in perfect little rows... he doesn't get wonky either. :)

beth said...

your wonkiness shines through. Keep up the good work.

Pinkadot Quilts said...

I think the wonky looks great. go for it!

Live a Colorful Life said...

I love this quilt! What is the solid color? I have all these fabrics and have been wondering what to do with them. To quote someone I just read, can I "shamelessly copy," I mean, "pay homage" to this quilt and make a similar one?? I love it. And the wonky quilting is a great idea!!

kait. said...

I couldn't really see it until you sewed the pieces together and I really like the wonkiness. I think your quilting plan will totally work, too. Good job!

Haven't seen your hexagon progress bar progress much lately, but who am I to say anything :)

Nifty Quilts said...

I absolutely LOVE your grandmother's quilt! You are so fortunate to have the memories to go along with it. Beautiful quilt you're making with the inspirations too!

Anonymous said...

I love how your blocks have sewn up! I think the chalk lines really help emphasize the wonk & I love it.
Jaclyn

Rachel at Stitched in Color said...

I didn't notice the wonkiness enough when just looking at the laid out blocks. But once you pieced them and added the chalk lines, it jumped out nicely. I think it'll be great!

angie said...

Beautiful as always!

Meghan said...

It looks awesome, Melanie! The straight-line quilting will definitely enhance the intentionally wonky nature of the design.

What type of chalk do you use for marking? I bought a chalk pencil a while back, and it won't show up on anything, so I've resigned myself to just using a herra marker. Chalk would be helpful at times, though :)

myBearpaw said...

Love how bright and colourful both these quilts are! Your quilt looks great - you can never be too wonky!

Carla said...

I think that your AMH quilt is genius! Keep going!!

Holly said...

I think they look wonderful =)

Cheryl Arkison said...

Very intentional. It looks very cool.

Sue said...

It looks great and the first thing I thought of was a Kaleidoscope.

Tamie said...

I love it. Don't listen to your husband.