The Sewing Place

By the Sea

Acorn

By the Sea
« on: April 19, 2018, 15:56:21 PM »
I am about to start making a quilt for our caravan.  It's actually going to be a quillow, a quilt which will fold up into a pocket on the back to make a pillow, thanks to Elnnina  :loveit: who has sent me a lovely pattern.

Anyway, I have been collecting fabric for this quilt for a very long time, and I think I have finally found a pattern that may suit it (and me, it not being too complicated). 

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I would really love any advice or comment - I can choose fabrics I love, and I can see when things clash, but I don't have the skill with colours that a lot of you do.

The idea is that where the pattern has a blue patterned strip and a white plain strip, mine will have a stripe in the sea/sky fabrics, and the next in the sandy fabrics.  (I probably have more fabrics for each section, but these pictures give a good idea of the range).

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What do you think?  Will that work?  Anything else I should add?  Should I put a white stripe in between the coloured stripes?
« Last Edit: April 19, 2018, 16:01:46 PM by Acorn »
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

Efemera

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #1 on: April 19, 2018, 15:58:42 PM »
I’d put in the white stripes.... it will make the other colours sing.

Acorn

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #2 on: April 19, 2018, 16:03:06 PM »
Eventually I'm going to make two quillows - I could always do one in blue and white and one yellow and white.  Mmmm. 
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

BrendaP

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2018, 16:09:45 PM »
It's lights and darks which make the chevron pattern work.

Looking at the fabrics you have, the sandy colours are all light and most of the blues are darkish, but there are three of them which are light (the plain one and the two with boats on).  I would take them out and maybe look for a couple more blues.  Otherwise I think that the colours are all OK together.
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

Efemera

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2018, 16:17:37 PM »
Eventually I'm going to make two quillows - I could always do one in blue and white and one yellow and white.  Mmmm.
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I was thinking a row of sandy chevrons, a row of white and then a row of blue and so on....

Elnnina

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #5 on: April 19, 2018, 16:18:43 PM »
My Quillow has a patterned front think poppies on a black background and a plain black backing.  The pocket part made up the same way but when sewn on to the back it has the poppy side down so when it is all folded up and the pocket is turned out the right way I see the poppies again.

Lovely colours Acorn, now why stop at just two quillows?????

Iminei

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #6 on: April 19, 2018, 16:27:07 PM »
I agree with Brenda, after all she is the Goddess of Colour,

You could do a blue stripe, white stripe, sandy stripe, white stripe, blue stripe etc

The White highlights the colour ... and you must use small prints, blenders, tone on tones, batiks .... fabrics that read as the colour... anything too pictorial will detract from the overall effect.

Also if going with Blues, make sure they are of one hue ... blue blue or turquoise blue (unless you want to morph from blue into turquoise).

Its not clear in the pic but I think, as B suggests, that the chevrons are going dark to light (and probably back again) ... which is fab, giving an undulating effect, so more FQs required methinks!

When I started the HSTathon I thought 6 fabrics in each colourway would suffice ... the poor sweet fool ...
many, many, many more were required.

The Imperfect Perfectionist sews again

Acorn

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #7 on: April 19, 2018, 17:00:22 PM »
I've just had a quick forage and have pretty much doubled the number of blues - but they are a mixture of blue blue and green blue.  Maybe stick to one or the other in each stripe?

The pattern does grade from dark to light, but my fabrics are almost all at the darker end of the spectrum.  I might conceivably be able to go from blue blue at one end to green blue at the other, but it wouldn't be a very gradual change.  I think I would be a lot easier to alternate, given the fabrics I have.  If I'm going to do that maybe I should keep the sandy ones for another quilt - might it get a bit confused otherwise?  (That could just be me!)

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« Last Edit: April 19, 2018, 17:03:16 PM by Acorn »
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

BrendaP

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #8 on: April 19, 2018, 17:03:47 PM »
and you must use small prints, blenders, tone on tones, batiks .... fabrics that read as the colour... anything too pictorial will detract from the overall effect.

I agree, use those boats and deck chair prints as borders and keep the patches to small prints/blenders etc.

You don't necessarily have to blend from, say, turquise to blue, you could mix them all up, but you do need to take notice of the lights and darks.
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

Marniesews

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #9 on: April 19, 2018, 17:08:38 PM »
Not a P&Qer but the effect of the white really stands out to me. The thing that I particularly liked is that you can see the quilting so much more strongly on the white and I'm thinking without it you won't get that lovely textural contrast along with the colour/pattern.
Hopefully back more regularly! Ballroom sewing may be permanently paused but bag making is the current focus.

Ploshkin

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #10 on: April 19, 2018, 18:24:59 PM »
Could you use the boat and / or deckchair fabrics for the pillow bag bit - I'm not sure how a quillow works.
Life's too short for ironing.

Elnnina

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #11 on: April 19, 2018, 20:43:11 PM »
A Quillow is like a throw, it is very lightweight, and can be folded down into an attached pocket and then it looks like a cushion.  I am not very good at photos and attaching them, I am sure they could be a lot better, but here is what my Quillow looks like,  It has poppies on one side, the underside is totally black, and there is a separate pocket sewn on at the bottom of the Quillow which gets turned inside out over the folded Quillow.  I tried folding back the edge of the pocket so you can see there is something there poppies and black stripes.  These Quillows are extremely warm yet light, and before anyone asks no I did not make mine, my sister did and she lives in Canada.  She has used a very light thin batting as the filling.   [ You are not allowed to view attachments ]  

Elnnina

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #12 on: April 19, 2018, 20:44:36 PM »
Something has gone wrong with trying to attach the photos, can this possibly wait until next Thursday when I will be seeing Twopence, and then perhaps she can take me through the process of attaching photos again.  Sorry.




« Last Edit: April 20, 2018, 17:05:57 PM by Iminei »

Renegade Sewist

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #13 on: April 19, 2018, 21:08:54 PM »
Here's an image of a "Magic Quilt" pattern McCall's did years ago of a quillow. Simply a light weight throw sized quilt that folds into a pillow when not needed. Note the optional carrying strap on theirs. I thought of making a pair for the car, bought the pattern and hmmm.

Sorry about the size. Normally in a SMF forum you can edit the size of images in the post but it's not allowed here for some reason.

Hey Bill! Read the manual!  Hehehe.

wrenkins

Re: By the Sea
« Reply #14 on: April 19, 2018, 21:14:12 PM »
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!