Picking "random" pieces

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10-13-2010, 04:31 PM

#21

aborning

Super Member

Join Date: Jun 2010

Location: SW Minnesota

Posts: 1,120

I am no good at 'random" or "srappy" quilts either. I like teh scrappy quilts but mine are "coordinated scrappy"! I have to have color coordination in my things.

10-13-2010, 05:08 PM

#22

dkabasketlady

Super Member

Join Date: Jan 2010

Location: Lakeland, Florida

Posts: 9,856

I love scrappy quilts. The first one I made, I tried to match blues together, reds together, greens together, but by the time I had all the blocks done, you couldn't tell what was the primary color. Just keep going and it'll be fine.

10-14-2010, 02:15 AM

#23

teacherbailey

Super Member

Join Date: Feb 2010

Location: Tucker, GA

Posts: 2,042

Make the worst matches possible, except for not putting two of the same together. When made, it will look perfect!!!! (You are trying too hard....)

10-14-2010, 04:13 AM

#24

lass

Super Member

Join Date: Apr 2007

Location: North Carolina

Posts: 1,172

Don't get caught up on individual blocks. The quilt as a whole will look great. I also liked both blocks. This is a scrappy quilt. Let it fly and have fun!!!

10-14-2010, 04:16 AM

#25

finch

Super Member

Join Date: Apr 2010

Location: in hiding

Posts: 1,320

I don't do well with randoms either,but I think if you put a solid divider between them,then that might work better.

10-14-2010, 06:59 AM

#26

RST

Senior Member

Join Date: May 2010

Posts: 947

I love doing random, improv quilts, but I often have 2 or 3 "rules" I set for myself, depending on the pattern and fabric possibilites. Often I say "no like fabrics touching" or "no repeats in the same block" and I will also often have my pieces sorted by value -- lights and darks.

After that, turn off the inner critic and have at it.

RST

10-14-2010, 07:03 AM

#27

RST

Senior Member

Join Date: May 2010

Posts: 947

Oh -- another thought on random and improv. It's those "off" blocks that give the completed quilt its spark. Everything matchy and coordinated and planned ends up looking very canned and predictable, while a little dissonance keeps your eyes coming back.

If you're having a hard time dealing with the clash effect, work with smaller pieces. The quilt in my siggie has a lot of really "off" fabrics side by side, but because the individual pieces are small and all is contained in rows, with lots of white and black to rest the eye, it ends up looking luminous and interesting -- far more so than if I had lined up each color range in a pattern or by ascending value.

RST

10-14-2010, 07:09 AM

#28

SNUGQUILT

Senior Member

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: Illinois

Posts: 424

I LOVE scrappy, so I don't have too much issue with randomness....I did one of those pick from the brown bag things...my friends were all more 'scared' about it than I was (they tend to be my 'matchy, matchy' friends :)....but...the quilt turned out really cute! They even liked it!