I started a new quilt now that Emmy Blue’s Quilt is completed. Since the Baton Rouge MQG is working on a book/quilt challenge for CASA, I chose to include my novel, This World So Fierce. I love the description of the duckweed in the lake that Mike wades through as he’s running from the police, so this quilt is inspired by that description.
Not that duckweed is easy to mimic in a quilt. It turns out, indeed, that it is far from easy. But I’m a persistent kind of gal, so greens, grays, browns, a bit of black, some yellows, and even red are going into this scrap quilt. To figure out what I needed, I actually walked out to the small lake on our property, sat with Mother Nature, and asked her opinion. She said (and I quote), “Just have fun with it.”
These pictures from 2023 show the duckweed with other foliage growing through it.
I started March 6th by sewing scraps together, pressing, and sewing some more. And pressing more.
The following day I started sewing the pieces together to make blocks.
After another day of piecing blocks gave me enough to pin on the design wall.
I left it on the third day with two bits of good news: There are six or so blocks, and
While digging through the basket of green scraps, I discovered these already sewn small pieces!
Yay! Small pieces already ready to make blocks!
So, when I return to the studio, I have a jump start on the day. I toyed with the idea of taking out the bright parts, but Mother Nature did say to have fun. Besides, there are colors other than green and brown because leaves, feathers, and flower petals drop in. The duckweed is thick enough to hold those items. My one concern is contrast. If there are too many medium tones, the top becomes muddy. Interestingly, in this case, the inspiration is murky with a big ick factor.
Here’s a tip to answer that question: change one of your photos into black and white, then analyze whether the colors are balanced. I’ll include a few more darks to this top, but otherwise, I’m satisfied for now. I’ll check again before sewing the final chunks together. Adding a strip of black or light green is an easy fix, if I feel something more is needed.
Finally, in case you haven’t noticed, I’ve added my quilt portfolio (or see tab above). It’s still a work in progress as I’m trying to include at minimum the following information on each quilt: title, size, and completion year. Thanks for visiting!
