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Monday, May 17, 2010

Experimenting

I've been experimenting with this idea. It's not ready for a reveal though. I love to experiment.
The 'urban garden' quilt was an experiment too and now it's one of my favs. For that quilt I pulled handfuls of scraps from three scrap buckets and challenged myself to make a quilt. The inspiration was an urban community garden. I'd like to do something similar again, but this time I'd like to involve you. I'd like you to create a challenge for me.

Simply leave a comment telling me what color scrap buckets I should choose from. It could be one bucket or more than one. I have scrap buckets for red, pink, yellow/orange, blue, green and neutrals. In addition to what fabric I should choose, I'd like you to give me an inspiration for the quilt...a place to start, or something to think about as I work. I get to add a solid or maybe a background fabric. I'll choose one of the comments and then go for it. What do you think? Want to help?

65 comments:

  1. Oh Yeah! I can't wait to see what you come up with. I think you should choose yellow/orange, blue, and green. Something that I would be inspired by are they feilds of flowers at the Tulip growersnear my home. It looks like a huge quilt spread across the countryside. (Yes, believe it or not there is still some countryside in California :) )

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  2. I'm doing flowers in red-orange, peach/salmon, and yellow. So those are the scraps I'd recommend

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  3. How about pineapples in scraps of yellow/orange with bits of green?

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  4. I LOVE your quilts! I was thinking along the lines of using ALL the colors and doing an under-the-sea quilt. GOOD LUCK!

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  5. I think you should use all colors and be inspired by your favorite vacation!

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  6. Do you have any family china? A grandmother's tea cup she always drank out of? I love your mod interpretations of traditional things...perhaps a modern quilt inspired by a treasured family heirloom in your warm scraps: red, pink, yellow/orange.

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  7. Purple, chartreuse, and green--makes me think of a summer garden but those colors can also look very modern.

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  8. Well- I don't know about which scraps to pick from, but the B kind of reminds me of the reverse paintings on glass that my mother in law collects... they're usually silhouettes and pretty fantastic... so that is where I'd go for inspiration. Make the center of all the blocks a dark or black silhouette. The rest could be any color combo.

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  9. pink/orange/lime green .... beachball colors for beachball weather!

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  10. An ocean sunset? You could use scraps from all your baskets!
    Look forward to seeing your choices!
    Chris x

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  11. For your inspiration..."Strawberry Lemonade" Using red,pink, yellow and maybe a splash of orange.

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  12. I think a great summer project would be using your red/pink/green scraps to make a quilt with watermelons as your inspiration. That is such a fun summer fruit and you could tweak the spiderweb block and make it work.

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  13. I would like to see neutrals with red. Inspiration? How about professional bicycle riders (the Tour of California is going on right now) speeding down toward the finish line?

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  14. When I saw this the first thing in my mind was baby. Could be cause I'm going to be a gramma soon so I've got baby on the brain. Pinks and neutrals sound good to me.

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  15. Purple, orange and lime - I love this color combination and use it in my flower beds!

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  16. Have you seen the free patterns over at Sentimental Stitches. They have one that has 92 blocks each one only 5 inches unfinished. I would love to see a modern take on this small sampler. Making wonky stars and modern colored hexagons. Use all your sraps and have fun.

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  17. Cool idea! I would suggest yellow/orange - maybe green - with the inspiration being 'flight'. And no adding blue :)

    I can't wait to see what you choose and then how you execute it!

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  18. Hi Jacquie,

    A friend on our Facebook Fan Page listed your blog as her favorite quilting blog so we had to come for a visit. You have great projects and a lovely blog, keep up the good work- we hope to see more from you in the future!

    www.aqsquiltnews.blogspot.com

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  19. I think you should use blue and neutrals and go for a flow-y, ocean-y feel.

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  20. I just visited "So You Think You're Crafty" and one of the craft submissions this week used the periodic table as inspiration. Your B had me leaning in that direction too --- greens and blues make me think science.

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  21. I've spent all morning cutting up strawberries for jam and they are the most beautiful color. Anyway I ran out and needed to run back to the Farmers Market and I was struck by the colors of the tomatoes and the greens. Even the sweet potatoes looked all golden and pretty. So that's my idea Farmer's Market with all your colored scraps. I may need to do one of these myself one day.

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  22. hmm...let's see - How about the oranges and reds and a beautiful sunset (we've been having amazing ones here) :-)

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  23. Jacquie, here in Nashville (TN) we are cleaning up from a huge flood two weeks ago. On the news we see amazing pictures of enormous mounds of trash (furniture, clothing, drywall, paneling, appliances, etc.) covering the front yards of every house in a subdivision (I'm talking 8-10 feet high!). How about using all the colors in your stash and doing a quilt inspired by "Order Out Of Chaos"?

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  24. I vote for pinks and blues. As for a starting point, I would choose a bunch of words or phrases, write them on little slips of paper, and then mix them up and draw one out, and take off from there. And I'll grant you one solid or background addition . . . how's that? You're making me want to issue myself a challenge, and I don't need one right now!

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  25. I'm going to say blue and green and maybe some neutrals and the beach is the inspiration.

    and are we halfway yet on spring to finish?

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  26. Jacquie, I recommend choosing two colors directly opposite of one another on the color wheel, and the third color being equidistant between the first two choices.

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  27. Yellow/orange. I have a bunch of Icelandic poppies in my yard and they on their way out of bloom while the California poppies are just starting. I always miss the yellow when they orange takes over my yard.

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  28. Fun! How about orange, blue and neutrals? Sort of a summer at the beach with orange crush?

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  29. I keep getting the word "impetus" stuck in my mind. I think it is because there are only a couple more weeks of school left before summer vacation and there is so much to do. Maybe it is because I am trying to finish so many projects... I think a lot of your quilts show motion already so how could you embody a whirlwind of motion? That makes me think of reds, oranges, and yellows so maybe it would be harder with cool colors that embody sleeping and slumbering?

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  30. I just went to a bluegrass/barbecue picnic festival, and now I want to do a quilt that is reminiscent of the Mississippi delta in spring time. My colors would be stormy blue/gray, greens, rich browns, yellows (for the mustard flowers).

    How about you pick a place from your childhood, or a special place to you as an adult and imagine the colors and forms you see in that landscape?

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  31. Maybe since it's springtime, thinking of Christmas might be a stretch... You could use reds and greens to create a special quilt that you'd easily be able to finish by Christmas time as a gift for yourself!

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  32. I'm thinking "Summertime Sun". That would be yellow and oranges, and just a little green and blue around the edges.

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  33. You never cease to amaze me. I would love to see something come from your blue and orange bins. I think that with your creativity it would be something amazing like a happy marriage between proposal moon and the community garden quilts but with a happy blue and orange twist.

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  34. What a fun idea! I have been on a pink and green or orange and green kick for a little while now. Not that I have made anything from these shades yet, but everything I've seen with these colors has been striking.

    Can't wait to see what the final project looks like.

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  35. I've spent the last week opening our pool (and now have swimming on the brain...), so maybe something inspired by aqua water, gray pebbles, cement decking, and dark blue tiles?

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  36. I have twin boys who are old 10 weeks old now, so the only things on my mind these days are doubles (two of everything) and trying to find restful moments. That says blue and green to me. Sounds like a fun project.

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  37. You know how when you're laying on yourback int eh grass looking up through the leaves of a tree it's all dappled greens and yellows with peeks of brilliant blue? I think that would make a cool jumping off point for a quilt. Dappled summer days...

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  38. I had an idea for a quilt the other day. Something that represents a fabric stash, like stacks of fabric, you know? I think you'd need to take fabrics from all the bins, except maybe not the neutrals (use them for shelving maybe?) I love seeing your creative ideas and whichever idea you choose to go with will be very cool.

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  39. Citrus, that is it... lime green, yellow, and orange. Then add either black or natural. I think that would be a hit!

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  40. reds, oranges and yellows...the hot colors of summer!

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  41. I love pink & red together or pink & green together. Can't wait to see what happens!

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  42. I have been seriously into planting veggies lately and can't stop thinking of all different green tones along with a neutral linen type simulating new growth in all different stages. (P.S. I love, love, love that quilt in the previous post, it's very striking)

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  43. I'm thinking Oregon Coast with blues, greens and neutrals. Ahhhh....

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  44. How about something gradiating (is that a word???) the color wheel - start at the top with red, then orange, yellow, etc...or start cool at the top. Or you can go left to right. Liberally toss in a mix of neutrals (either whites/cream/tans or gray/blacks). Shape - I'm not sure....try something you want to learn better - curves, waves, circles - oh wait that is what I want to learn :).

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  45. Red and yellow/orange Mexican holiday.

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  46. What a cool idea!!! I think the green with the yellow/orange. For inspiration I think you should think of the view from the air. I am fascinated by the shapes and lines I see when I get to fly...

    I look forward to seeing what you do!

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  47. I love reading all of these great suggestions!

    Do you remember the art pieces hanging from the trees outside where our quild meets? I've been thinking for a while about how to incorporate those into a quilt. The pieces are vertical slices of a tree trunk so one side is very organically shaped. There are about three different geometric shapes carved out of each one. You could be literal and choose greens and neutrals. Or use a variety of primary colors for a cool baby quilt.

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  48. red, always red...just because it's my favourite colour, and you can never have enough red. even if it's just an accent to give the eye something to follow.

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  49. I'm voting for neutral. Why? because I've been thinking about race and humanity lately. Neutrals range in all colours, as do humans. And no one is more beautiful than another.

    PS Great challenge!

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  50. Reds & Greens for a mod Christmas! I see lots of traditional Reds & Greens but never anything modern. I know YOU can do it!!!!

    Can hardly wait to see what you choose, I know it will be magnificient!

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  51. How about some dresden plates in red, blue and neutral, quick and easy and ready for Forth of July!!! Good luck with whatever you choose.

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  52. Jacquie, how about the color purple? Maybe it's hard to find good purples. For an inspiration frase: "Purple Rain"
    Good luck, this is a fun challenge!

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  53. Love the look of the selvedge spiderweb tutorial

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  54. Fun challenge!

    How about darkness vs. light? But NO using black or white!

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  55. Fun! The first thing I thought about were the red and yellow/orange buckets and Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire. I would love to see what you'd do with the idea.

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  56. I am thinking of my last Caribbean vacation and snorkeling under the sea...the environment is gray...light gray, the water is turquoise blue...bluer than you can imagine and then the fish...they are VIVID, blues, yellows, orange, purple with black. It is fantastic. Wish I was there!!

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  57. Jacquie! Wow! Can you believe all these great ideas? Fabulous. What a great post to read and I still haven't left because I'm still reading all the comments! (which I rarely do) Very cool. I love Susan's idea of Strawberry Lemonade and I also would love to see a modern take on a traditional pattern that perhaps we haven't seen before. mmmm... Good Luck! Can't wait to see what you do.

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  58. i'd like to challenge you to make a scrap quilt that uses no sashing or additional colors...if you are up for that. because at least i know for me that sashing or adding neutrals is a comfort thing to me...it's easy to fall back on those. without them, it becomes a challenge. (ok, so maybe this should be MY challenge...)

    i would like to echo some of the other commenters, what a great idea for a fun challenge. it will be fun to see what you come up with!

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  59. Oh boy do you have some super ideas here already
    Though I'm currently concentrating on wedding outfit colours (black, white and turquoise) I want to suggest greens, with lots of citron/acid greens and neutrals
    and as for a 'theme' leaves (abstract, small, large, doodles, ferns) well any sort really

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  60. My suggestion for a quilt theme is "small towns in America" or "houses in country towns" as a contrast to your marvelous urban community garden quilt. I grew up in a small town in NE and volunteer in the library of the same town (I live in a small city of 30,000 pop.). My color choices: green and neutrals. Thanks for the opportunity to be part of this process; this has aided me in thinking about my own projects.

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  61. Keeping on the urban theme, I suggest a quilt with no greenery at all -- just your interpretation of the "urban jungle" of cement, concrete, bricks, glass and metal (though maybe a few green things might poke through the cracks in the sidewalk ....)
    Sarah in Canada

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  62. I pick all the colors except for pink. And for inspiration I suggest "new beginnings". Just finished a divorce, getting ready to move and rebuild a life for myself and my daughter who is 2 yrs old. So I've got new beginnings on my mind. Love your quilts!

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  63. O.K. - choose your busiest (most colors) print & pair it with something that you ordinarily would not put with it.

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  64. HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAA

    do you really need to ask???


    how bout I mail you some scraps and an idea and you use them?? cuz I know you don't have what I'd like to see you use!!! ;-)

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  65. This time of year I'm always thinking about the Pungo Strawberry Festival in Virginia Beach. Funnel cakes. Fair foods. Pot bellied pig races. Antique cars. And most importantly Strawberries.

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So, what are you thinking? (please don't put links in your comments...the spam police like to grab them and hide them away! if you want to share a link, feel free to email me.