Watercolor Quilting
Watercolor blocks and piecing
is great for beginners, as you are only dealing with
Squares.
When I first started doing
watercolor quilts, I purchased the 2-inch fusible grid to make the
process easier and faster.
I soon learned that I did not
like the added bulk from the fusible. I found that if I just
cut my 2-inch squares and sewed them together, I could get a much
smoother finish on the top of the fabric.
Also, I found that when I did
my horizontal seams with such small squares, I needed to press
them open.
The difference between the two
methods of construction is major. It is well worth the time to
forget the fusible.
In
the block to the left, (with the pieces laid out but not yet sewn
together) I used the three sunflower prints pictured
below.
The most important print is the
one in the middle.
You need to have a fabric with
a lot of "empty space" between the flowers in a solid color for the
edges. This is called the "edge print".
The center can be filled with
all kinds of different prints. Above I was being very specific
with sunflowers, but the picture below shows a scanned portion of a
Basket of Flowers wall hanging I made where I used several prints.
Notice on the Sunflower Block
how the Edge print goes around the sides. Notice also how you
place the flowers in the print, so that they look like they are
attached to the other flowers, and hanging off the side.
Cut your fabric into 2-inch
squares, and play with them until you get the look you want.
When you are done with your
block, you can find a solid fabric in the same color as the
background of the Edging Fabric to make the flower area larger, or
you can just add borders.
Here
is a picture of the squares sewn together.
There are many things you can
do with this block. You can make potholders, placemats or pillows,
or you can make additional blocks and make larger projects.
When you use the fusible, the
fabric is too stiff to make a good quilt. However, if you just
sew the squares together, you get a supple piece of fabric that
would make a great lap quilt or larger.
Below is an art quilt made with
these fabrics:
I am not happy with this
project, because it was made with fusible, and is not flat on the
top. Unless you are making a potholder, again, I would forget
the fusible.
Also, when you go to quilt it,
do not quilt it by sewing in the ditch (like above). It did
some freehand motion stitching also, but sewing the vertical and
horizontal seams only emphasized the squares instead of letting them
all run together visually.
Note: If you
are planning on pressing your horizontal seams open, be sure and
clip the joining threads (from strip piecing) before you sew the
seams.
Start small, but give
watercolor quilting a try. It is a lot of fun. Just be
sure to pick out your edge fabric first, as it is the most difficult
to find.
