Virtual Quilt Challenge 3

How many ways are there to place colours and contrasts in a block?

If there are only four squares in the block there is a fairly limited variety.

So, go to the Electric Quilt Library, Contemporary Pieced 2, Kaleidoscopes.

Select one block, and not one with just a few pieces … go for lots of pieces! Remember, you do not have to cut them all out and piece them together, just play with colour placement for a while.

This is the sort of block which will give you lots of variety if you try!

When you are adding new fabric you can colour each piece separately as the first one above … or you can colour two pieces side by side with the same fabric. For example, see the long triangles in the centre … add the same colour to all of them … then think about how you would cut it out and piece the block. Can you eliminate some seams?

Do not stop at one … use the same eight or so colours needed for your chosen block, and keep swapping them around!

Have fun!

When you have something to show after having fun, you can now share your results in Virtual Quilt Challenges, a closed Face Book group for members only. You will have to answer three questions so I can decide if you can join.

I had never come across the questions to join a group before, but have found it fun to know a little bit about the few who have joined so far. Knowing a little about your experience as both a virtual and real quilter will also help set challenges.

Now, time for show and tell from me.

I cheated in that I used a block I designed myself, and it was while I was adding fabrics to this that I thought it would be a good way to challenge you to experiment more with colour.

Four colourings of the basic block, just moving the colours around.

Then I kept playing, and started making some pieces disappear into the background, and and also joining a neighboring piece to create new designs.

Wait … there’s more!

Note that some vary only in placement of fabrics, others blur the lines between pieces so that without seam lines showing, the pieces join together to make one. If I was to make one of those versions I would delete some of the seam lines, but it is easier to leave them there, and in some cases it would be easier to leave them there even if the pieces were the same colour!

One thing I didn’t do was to try a different collection of fabrics. I did all of these with my initial selection from the default fabrics in EQ8.