Thursday, April 5, 2012

Red

Red

Meet Red.

Red needs a back and then I plan to heavily quilt her with straightish lines. The background is a putty coloured Essex Linen and the red parts are Oakshott shot cottons from my ColourBox.

Red

A couple of nights ago, after finishing most, but not all, of my quilting homework that is due anytime soon, I just wanted to make something for me. So I pulled all the warm shades from the stack of Oakshotts and cut two strips from each.

Red

That is the first panel I made and that is the best picture I could take of it until this afternoon. I have so wanted to make something just for me using this stacked strip modern art sort of approach since I made the solids quilt last summer and the solids sewing machine cover recently for my secret partners.

Red

Last night I made two more panels, and I picked the background. It was between this putty colour and the lighter creamy colour of Essex Linen. Today was snow day - we had a storm and over 1 foot of snow, although it is now melting and turning to ice - so I skipped work and spent some of the afternoon piecing the top.

Red

It is really hard for my camera to take pictures of these various warm shades together but just the right amount of sun came out. Now you can see the shine on these 100% cotton shot cottons.

Red

In person they are even shinier.

Red

Those three pictures gave you a close up of each of the coloured panels, they can all be called red but one is more purple and one is more orange and the last one is more red.

Red

This picture shows you  the different warp and weft thread colours and now you can look for that in the other pictures. Besides being thinner and shinier than regular quilting cotton, shot cottons have a lot of depth and interest caused by these different coloured threads, and thus the colours blend well in this kind of block.

Red

There is Red with her colours in the sun, although the background is slightly darker in real life, more like the shady side. I wanted to orient this quilt to have the colours at the top right of the rectangle because that is the place my brain least wants those colours, and the focus of the quilt, to be. It is just a bit unbalanced, unpredictable, on the edge, out there, sassy, which is how I feel about Red.

I am so looking forward to several hours of quilting this one, it is about 60" by 75".

Best,

Leanne

37 comments:

Amy's Crafty Shenanigans said...

Oh my goodness this is amazing! I lov ethe off-set panels - and the colours! Yum! I'm asking for Oakshots for my birthday in May. Fingers crossed someoen listens to me!!! Gorgeous gorgeous.

Katy Cameron said...

Love the shimmeriness of the Oakshotts, this looks fab!

Nicky said...

I bought some Oakshott but am just looking at it for now!

Awesome - love the vibrant shots of colour

Kati said...

Absolutely love this quilt! I love how simple yet stunning it is. I need some Oakshott fabrics...

Lori said...

Absolutely gorgeous! I haven't used any Oakshotts but I would love to give them a try sometime. They are so beautiful!

Karen said...

Outstanding. Love those fabrics, love everything about it!

Patti said...

So warm and lovely and...red! Wonderful. I really, really need to open my Colourbox and start using it! I'm such a coward!

Sarah said...

Sensational :-)

Debbie said...

This is very very nice! I love all the 'space', and the shot cottons are lovely. Glad you are enjoying the process so much!

Heather D. said...

I just love your style Leanne. Clean, simple, modern, cozy. And seriously? Snow?? I guess it's not unheard of.

Alix Broadfoot said...

So beautiful! Great inspiration!

Ella said...

Oh that quilt is GORGEOUS. It would go perfectly with the bag that HoosierToni made for me in the FTLOS swap. It makes me happy just to see it, as does this quilt. Yum!

Susan said...

This is SO beautiful! I don't think I have words to describe how wonderful this is! I am also so envious of your stash of Oakshott!

Toni said...

Leanne, this is awesome! It looks like all the best colors in the sunset. So beautiful!

Svetlana said...

Leanne, you're the queen of solids. You do such a wonderful job combining them and turning them into those amazing pieces of art. I can't wait to see the quilting. I'm sure it will be fabulous!

Linz said...

WOW!! That is gorgeous!! I love it!!

Tamie said...

I love this. Thanks for sharing. I can't with to see it quilted.

Andria said...

This is amazing! It reminds me of those sandstone caverns in the desert that the wind has carved ridges into. Just beautiful!

Katie said...

Wow, do I ever love Red. Strangely enough I'm not a huge fan of red the colour, but Red the quilt really does it for me!

Jenny said...

I like red...a lot!! Looks so calm and clean and modern!

Poppyprint said...

I wondered where those reds were headed - into a fabulous quilt top, that's where! After our email exchange yesterday and Oakshott's free shipping announcement today, guess what I've ordered? YES!

I'm gearing up to quilt a queen size that has Essex putty as background for 1/2 of it as well. It's perfect here in your Reds, and I love it in mine, too. I'll send you a link.

Dianne Neale said...

Wow, this is fantastic. I would never be brave enough to choose this colour scheme! It so fresh and simple. Love it!

MariQuilts said...

Amazing what a "snow day" in April can do for one's creativity. I love this...so fabulous.

Leigh Ann Mahaffie said...

Spectacular! You have such an eye, and are so fearless.

Sheila said...

Very nice the meet Red..she is fab and I can't wait to see her quilted.I predict a book somewhere in your future!!

Judith, Belfast said...

The tones of those oakshotts are beautiful L! Just what you need on a cold, snowy day! Good for you for making something just for you! Jxo

Sarah @ FairyFace Designs said...

I just love this Leanne :-)

Kirsten said...

Love the depth of colour in these fabrics - such a great design to show them off!

The Thompsons said...

Love it, love it! The lines are so fun and I love the deep colors.

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

I love it already!

Krista Schneider said...

Awesome.

Lucy | Charm About You said...

Beautiful! Look forward to seeing the quilting :)
Jealous of those Oakshotts!

Brenda said...

yumm-ee! I love the narrow palette of solids, the asymetry, the strips, all of it!

Annabella said...

It`s just stunningly stunningly stunningly beautiful - there is nothing else to say Leanne.

tusen said...

It's already so beautiful and I'm sure your quilting will make it even more special. Keep warm, hope you'll have some spring weather soon.

OPQuilt said...

This is beautiful. I know what you mean about having a day to do some sewing just for yourself--after finishing "all your homework." Sometimes it's nice just lose yourself in the fabrics and design, and in this case, the brilliant colors of the shot cottons. I read Material Obsession and she uses those fabrics a lot--fun to see them on this continent!

I'm off to read some more--been out of touch for a while!

Elizabeth E.
occasionalpiece

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

I am collecting ideas of what to do with my Oakshott solids. This helps me and has been added to my list to choose from. It's really great Leanne and I cannot wait to see it heavily quilted.