Sunday, November 13, 2011

A Lottsa White!

This quilt is made by a client for whom I have quilted several quilts in the last year or so. She is making it for her mom in Florida. It has 64 of the hexagon blocks, and bohemoth white borders - nearly 10 inches on two sides, and 16" on the other two! The mere thought of single borders of this width scares me, but when they are white it is like culture shock.
The end client "Mom", is completely into the modern look. Though she did not really know what she wanted, she did comment that she didn't want the feathers or pebbles. Ahh...sigh...two great quilting standby's out of the picture. She selected the Razorgrass panto, and initially suggested it for the entire quilt. Having the massive borders with a single and very edgy pattern did not seem like it had enough interest, so I dared to try to suggest other options (knowing that the things I love to quilt and think would look fantastic were not designs she wanted!).

I sketched up the border above. It's graphic and combined the two elements she liked - the watery look and the Razorgrass pattern. The zig-zaggy boxes will drape down the sides of the bed and help to break up the other 2 designs. The client loved the design and so we went with it.

Razorgrass gives an abundance of texture. It will look fantastic when the quilt is washed (which it would be a zillion times if a white quilt were in my house!).

The back is largely white as well. I think that this is a sheet, rather than the Kona or Bella solid that is on the front of the quilt. The back has scraps pieced into it , but is mostly white, showing off the patterns well. Regarding the sheet...I have used sheets before without any trouble whatsoever. I caution people that if you use a sheet, select one that is NOT a close weave. This was rather tightly woven, appearing like a batik fabric. Though I personally use batiks on the backs of quilts, I would not suggest a backing that is part regular quilting cottons and part tightly woven fabric.

All in all, this job is great. It allows me to do what I love to do almost any day. And it forces me outside of my comfort box now and then to try things I might not personally choose as well.

3 comments:

Desley said...

Great idea for the border!

Becky (My Fabric Obsession) said...

I think it turned out fantastic! thanks for your creativity and hard work! Can't wait to see it in person.

Shanley said...

Very nice! I like what you did with the border!