So it’s been almost a full year since I took a class from Jean Wells and learned to “Get Out of the Box.” You can read about the class in my blog post here. I really enjoyed the free-form piecing technique of this project. I recently spent a Saturday morning finishing the top. Here’s where I left off last April:
My work in progress on the design wall
I decided to finish this quilt using neutrals to allow the colors to pop from the background. I found some lovely assorted solid gray fabrics from Marmalade Fabrics. My fabrics were very similar to this bundle currently offered at Marmalade Fabrics:
Impressions Gray 1/2 Yard Batch
Piecing the assorted parts together took some planning ahead. I knew I wanted an irregular shape against the gray background, but since I wasn’t piecing it together in traditional rows, I had to plan ahead a little to know what to piece first. I did end up unsewing a few seams here and there to accommodate having to add in pieces, but overall it went together fairly easily. I started at the top and worked my way down.
Adding random chunks of gray background to the colored shapes.
And adding some more background of various values…
Here it is all pieced and I’m trying to decide how to trim it. I’ve folded under the edges to get a sense of the finished appearance. Except, what I thought was going to be the top I don’t like anymore. The upper left corner looks too squared off.
Hmm, let’s turn it – maybe it needs to be horizontal. No, I don’t like how it looks like something is slicing right through the center.
One more turn. That’s a little better, but it’s still the same issue, just now in the lower right corner. And it just seems like a big stripe of gray across the bottom. Time to unsew!
I decided it needed something else at the bottom to visually break up the space. I free-form pieced another colored section and added it along the bottom. I’m much happier with the final result.
Trying not to overthink and overplan things was a bit of a stretch for me, but I tried hard to “go with the flow” as much as I could. It was exciting to see this quilt develop, not knowing quite what to expect was part of the fun!
Next up quilting. Let’s hope it doesn’t take me another year to get to that!
I love it!! kind of looks like an artist painted a picture! Great fun!
I think you were brave. Sometimes, it is hard to get out of the box, and away from your comfort zone. Makes me think of “Puck’s Peak” on Pogo. Stack those objects anyway you want as long as they balance. Kudos.