Happy Monday! I have a treat for you quilters and sewers out there today. I received a copy of Malka's second book last week, Fresh* Quilting: Fearless Color, Design, and Inspiration, and have been pouring through it daily ever since. It's full of her signature use of bold color, as well as innovative patterns. I can't wait till the holiday craziness is behind me and I can jump in and get started on one of these projects.
Here's a peek of what's inside-
The simplicity of this quilt is what I love about it, the colors really make the design. Upon closer inspection, there are some tiny patterns on some of those fabrics-
Doesn't this picnic blanket just sing Spring!? -
And I think this may be on my project list, Malka's modern take on the traditional hexagon makes a shape like this in a large quilt seem much less intimidating-
And, because I am nosy, I asked Malka a couple of questions about her color and quilting process.
Blair: How would a crafter who's a planner by nature, start to "let go" and play with the bold colors and patterns of your quilt designs? Do you sketch quilt patterns with bold in mind? Do you gather and play with fabrics and never plan or sketch a thing? Do you put a stack of fabrics under your pillow before bed and judge their compatibility on how great your sleep was (what?)? How can someone who is new to this world of color and pattern best jump in?
Seriously though, I think the first step in terms of being bolder with colors is to throw away notions of what "goes together". I don't know who invented these rules, but I'm pretty sure they don't live at my house or yours, so we can do what we want. Everyone has an intuitive sense of the colors that speak to them. They just need to listen to that sense and develop it by taking note of their reaction to different colors. When I'm looking for color or pattern inspiration I often flip through magazines and tear out anything that I find interesting. My personal rule about what I tear out is that if something catches my eye, even for a second, I tear out that page. I can be pretty strict about that rule and when I hesitate and think, " should I really bother to keep this image," I remind myself that the rule applies to anything that I notice. I can't tell you how many times the image that I didn't think I should bother to tear out turns out to be the one that sparks an idea.
Malka: Sometimes quilting the top is the best part because that's when you get to give it some dimensionality. I never mark my quilts for quilting. I really like to let either the piecing or fabric dictate the quilting. I often will make some kind of loose plan for how I'm going to quilt a top, but I feel free to amend that plan as I'm working. I also do all my quilting, even lines and geometric shapes free motion. I like the way free motion let's me change my mind as well as direction. Of the 6 quilts in the book, 3 were quilted on my home machine and 3 were quilted on a rented long arm. I only use a long arm for larger quilts as the quilting time is so much less and the basting is not so arduous.
I am giving away one copy to one lucky commenter on this post, just leave a comment and I'll randomly pick a name on Friday. In the meantime, to learn more about the book visit the list of blogs below, Malka has visited all of us on her virtual blog tour. And visit Malka's blog, A Stitch In Dye, for a constant flow of color and pattern inspiration of all kinds.
12/6 Film In The Fridge
12/7 The Silly BooDilly
12/8 J Casa handmade
12/9 House On Hill Road
12/10 Tallgrass Prairie Studio
12/13 (me)
12/14 Pink Chalk Studio
Edited to add- Comments have been closed and winner has been chosen. Thanks to everyone who commented!
