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Friday, September 9, 2011

From the Blue Chair color wheel quilt...

Okay, this is just awesome! Kati from "from the blue chair" made this amazing color wheel quilt. I am just in awe! I can't imagine how much time that would take me. It hurts my  head to think about.  Kati has an awesome blog, just check out her 2011 finishes, or 2010 finishesSeriously! I want to steal them! One productive girl, and she has baby twins keeping her busy too, not to mention a preschooler! Make sure to go visit her blog...


My first step in the design process for my Color Wheel Quilt was to cut a lot of little squares.  I used my AccuQuilt Go Baby 2" square die for this.  I ordered this die specifically with this project in mind.  I admit I'm not super happy with the results.  I cut a total of about 250 pieces of fabric or probably 75 cuts (stacking 3-4 pieces at a time).  After cutting just the first charm pack, I started to notice my cutting mat was warping a bit.  By the 4th charm pack my cutting mat was quite warped, and I realized I was having significant distortion in my cuts.  Rather than having perfect 2" squares, they were short--some almost 1/8" short.  Some of the edges were also a bit wavy.  After realizing this I started placing a piece of white copy paper on top of each stack of fabric to be cut.  This helped a lot, but they are still not perfect 2" squares.  I probably won't be using this die much in the future.  I consulted AccuQuilt on this and was told the cutting mat should last 100's of cuts and the problem is likely a result of not cutting with the lengthwise grain.  I did more more experimenting and still had the exact same problems even when cutting with the grain as directed.  For some reason this die seemed to wear out my cutting mat far too quickly.  I had to alter my seam allowances to make everything fit due to the shorter squares.  Some of my seams don't meet due this this.  Frustrated is a nice way to say how I felt.  I had a few choice words in mind when I realized how off my squares were.  Luckily it all worked out in the end.

So, on to better things.  The following pictures show my design process.



I sorted everything by the six main colors.

I then sorted them even more specifically and arranged each stack from light to dark.

I began the layout process with four white squares and worked out in all directions with other basic colors.


My overall goal was to make it look like a photograph that is zoomed all the way in to the point you see the individual pixels.  If you've ever done this, you've seen that some pixels seem to be the wrong color or in the wrong place.  Some of the squares don't fit perfectly where they are located at in the design, and that's one of the things I love about the quilt.



This stack didn't make the cut.  It's mostly the Dusty palette that didn't fit in well with the other colors.  They were just too muted for the look I was going for.

The final design was 29x29 squares.  I pieced it in rows of 9 or 10 depending on the section.

I don't have any pictures of the quilting process, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.  I simply started in the middle of the white squares and went around and around and around.  I wouldn't recommend this with a quilt much larger than this.  The inner 6" or so were quite difficult, but as I worked my way out toward the edges of the circle, it wasn't a problem at all to turn the quilt. 

I admit this is one of my favorite quilts, but I always have more love for my quilts that are uniquely mine rather than one starting from a pattern or other design.  It makes me happy to have it on our wall. Although I still think it's a little weird to hang quilts for some reason.  I think it just makes me feel old to hang quilts on my wall.  I feel like I will become the crazy quilt lady.  Oh wait, I probably already am.


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19 comments:

FabricandFlowers said...

I love it! I've been wanting to play with the color wheel in some way. I'm not sure how. I like how you just arranged on the design wall. There isn't a wrong answer there. Your quilt is lovely. The quilting amazing.

Peach Rainbow said...

Lovely quilt!
I love the quilting on it, beautiful :D

Heidi Grohs said...

VERY cool! It couldn't look any more pixelated!! Well done :)!

Teje Karjalainen said...

I love This! The most enjoyable quilt I have seen and so beautiful!

Deanna said...

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing the process as well as the finish. So, what are you going to make with those other squares?

Jennifer Mathis of Ellison Lane said...

This is one of my most favorite quilts. Thanks Kati for sharing the process!

Joanna @ ShapeMoth said...

You did something, which I was dreaming about... (cause I also have all the charm packs which wait to be used). Cool quilt! (and impresive size of a design wall).

KellyS said...

I saw this on Kati's blog and fell in love! Someday I will try this, it is amazing!

Jenn at The Little Shop of Stitches said...

I am speechless. That is simply gorgeous. A very talented lady, for sure.

Belinda said...

I am in awe of this! I sooo much want to do something similar, but 2 inch squares??? Oh my. What a labor of love!

Pamela said...

Stunning! I must be the model crazy quilt lady because there are quilts on almost every wall of my house :)

felicity said...

Absolutely stunning. I LOVE LOVE all of Kati's work and I think she's outdone herself here.

CaroleM said...

I love this quilt! I think I would also go a bit nutty working with non-perfect squares and things not being precise. But I would also see this going seriously off on me. Beautiful though!!

jednoiglec said...

I love this quilt from the first time I saw it on Flickr.
PS. My charm packs are also waiting to be cut:)

Jackie said...

I follow her too and was amazed at this
project.

pinsandneedles said...

Beautifully done! Love it! Thanks for sharing...

cinzia said...

your quilt is stunning! i would hang that on a wall, too! great job on the quilting too!

Lisa said...

STUNNING! I LOVE IT!!

Lisa said...

I LOVE that you showed the entire process!!!!