Friday, April 20, 2012

Ellie's Blocks



Avocado block: 
Hi all! I'm a late joiner to the group but had so much fun putting my first two blocks together (I still need to go back and do mauve.) Having the luxury of seeing how other people started, I am using one design for all the blocks and a common solid fabric for the rest of the block, beyond the made, color-specific fabric areas. 
Here we go:
I found my avocado fabric pretty near the top of my green bin. When I pulled it out, it fell onto an orangey-pink batik I had on the floor, which immediately intrigued me. I ended up using mostly batiks in this block. I pulled out the purple mottled and two additional batiks with purple because I liked how they made the green pop. I rounded out the group with a dark orange/white dot and a darker avocado green. While I was looking for that darker green, I came across the butterfly fabric you see in the photo. I thought that the fact that the colors in it so closely mirrored mine was a bit of a validation of my color choices, which was fun. I actually love these fabrics together so much (the avocados, purples, oranges, etc.) that I'm going to keep them in mind for a future quilt project! 
 
Ochre block:
Not only was this my first block for this color challenge, it was also my first time playing with made fabric. So if it seems like there's not alot of ochre in my made fabric, that's why--I didn't have a real good feel for how much needed to be in my made fabric so that it would show up plenty after I cut it and used it in a block! Anyway, about the ochre. When I saw the color choice, my mind immediately went to this fabric. It's a print that I have a love/hate relationship with. I used it in a big block quilt full of Kaffe fabrics, but the entire time I was using it, I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. But it worked with the other fabrics, so I just tried to ignore that little voice in my head. I can't pinpoint if it was the color I didn't like, or the pattern, but happy for the scraps to have another purpose! This was an easy one to start with because I used the colors in the print as a guide for choosing other scraps to go with. I'm not nuts about the celery green, particularly where it touches the ochre, but I love the fuchsia/ochre combination!
Thanks!
Ellie

5 comments:

Helen said...

Funny how your avocado fell into your orangey-pink. Love it when that happens! Your background color is a great choice for this project. Looking forward to your mauve block and story...

janequiltsslowly said...

Great color play in both blocks. I especially like the orange/pink batik with the avocado and the blue, too which is not an obvious choice. Your block design is really interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing how you set them together.

The Thimblemouse of Country Crossroads said...

Ellie...we're so glad you came to play with us - super blocks - I love that you're using all your 'made' fabric for the color in your blocks!

Ellie Q said...

Thanks--happy to be here--this is lots of fun, and you all are so creative!

Willa said...

Lovely colors!