Sunday, March 10, 2013

Playing, planning, and a list of my homework too.

A Pickle Dish Quilt - planning, starting

Our eldest son is getting married at the end of June and when I said if I made you a quilt, what colours would you like, he said, some months ago, brown and mint green. Well, those are not my normal colours so I ordered all the brown solids I could find and many minty green and minty aqua prints and solids. I have a bunch of brown prints too, I expect there will be some blocks with the solids and prints coloured the opposite way to these first blocks.

And I thought about wedding quilts and decided this quilt should be based on an historic / traditional pattern but done my way. This is where I am at so far. I am using the Pickle Dish Quilt templates from Kaffe Fassett's book Quilt Romance.

I left some of my kitchen tiles in the photo as they are 12"squares and give some scale. These blocks are big, each pickle dish unit finishes at 10" but I tend to see a group of 4 dishes as one block.

Pickle Dish backgrounds, maybe

Today I am thinking an assortment of these low volume prints would work nicely as the background - I don't have enough of any single one but I am hoping that variations will give texture and interest. I am excited - I love browns, the colour of trees and rocks and beaches and gardens - you might remember this quilt from two summers ago and its beach inspiration here. Those of you who diss brown, look out, I have a feeling that this quilt is going to change your mind.

Let's see how this goes, and how the plan stays the same or changes.

I have much internet homework, I am going to get to it later, once I play with fabric for a while, maybe after dinner, maybe over the next week, you see I would really rather sew. Given all that waffling, I best write it down so I will feel more compelled to do it. You can soon expect to see:


  • A Finish-A-Long update and some information about the fast approaching end of quarter. By the way, if you want to do a tutorial for this or other quarters, please let me know as finalizing tutorial plans is on the list too.
  • Progress on my Fabulous Little Quilt Swap quilt - yes, I could not resist another swap. I know I said I would not join too many, this is just one.
  • A pincushion for the guild swap and progress on a group charity project for the Edmonton Modern Quilt Guild meeting next week. Also an update to that blog as I am responsible for it now.
  • Celebration of my 2 year blogging birthday, which is on Tuesday.
  • Bee block updates.
  • I am sure there is more but that is all I am going to think of today.
Happy Mother's Day to all my British friends - I hope you have a lovely day with your moms, kids, grandkids and/or friends.

Best,

Leanne

32 comments:

Little Island Quilting said...

Mums not moms :-)
And I'm with you all the way on our brown thoughts!

Little Island Quilting said...

'Your' ,not 'our'!

Tammy said...

Love the new quilt in progress. That is gonna be gorgeous.

Sarah said...

I really love your plan to take a traditional pattern like the pickle dish and do your own thing with it, I'm going to enjoy watching this one!

Sarah said...

Gorgeous pattern and it'll be so lovely in mint choc chip colours. Looking forward to seeing this quilt "sundae" taking shape.

Catherine said...

I love your take on the DWR pattern: its going to look amazing

Cindy said...

I think this is a spectacular pattern/block and it will be an amazing gift. I am not a huge brown user, mostly b/c its associated with really uninspired prints. Blah Civil War flowers, etc. I'm loving the squiggly circle print you have there on the bottom of your piles. Great find!

Kris said...

Well I was just looking at that book with the Pickle relish in. I love KF bright pinks and such but I love your toned down browns and greens. So pretty. I think a mix of the backgrounds will be great. I am laughing because your beach quilt has those hexi swirls in which is in project I am working on now. great minds eh?
Can't wait to see how this turns out.

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

Going to make a beautiful quilt, Leanne

Susan said...

I love brown at the moment too! And if you love chocolate like I do....well! Your take on the pickle dish is great- it's going to make a stunning quilt! I will enjoy watching this progress.

Poppyprint said...

Leanne, as much as I admire your incredible work and know that this wedding quilt will be a stunner, I will remain allergic to brown forever, as long as we both shall live ;)

Katy Cameron said...

I love where this is going, but I'm afraid I'm with Krista on the brown, sorry (ducks for cover)

Elisabeth said...

I'm not a huge lover of brown but I really like it in combination with the mint green. It's great for boys and girls ;-)
The pattern looks great, I've never worked with templates and curves so maybe I should put that on the list of things to try.

Canadian Abroad said...

It is going to be a spectacular quilt and only you would be able to make browns and mint greens into a fab quilt. (Did he actually consult the wife to be in these colour choices?)

Sheila said...

This looks like it's going to be a stunning quilt, it has an African feel to it.

Lucy | Charm About You said...

gorgeous! Between you and Susan tempting me I am going to have to attempt a pickle dish at some point!

Mary Menzer said...

Not sure why so many are off on brown - I love that it can be warm and inviting not blah. Depends on what you pair with it - and the aqua is perfect. Gorgeous blocks and the background fabric too. Just one wee thing one of the fabrics for the background (second from right) looks a tad yellow - but it may be the photo and it may look spectacular with everything else.

Debbie said...

Love the start of your new quilt! I have been thinking it might be time for a brown quilt from me too - I have a nice little stack to work with...

Marg said...

On my list for this year, is to start a pickle dish quilt. I'm not a brown hater and I don't use it often, but ithats the colour in my starflower background pieces! I like your idea of using different fabrics for the background.

elle said...

You won't catch me dissing these. They are great. I don't know about mint but I luv the aqua! It is gonna be good

Judith, Belfast said...

Well I already love brown so I just know I'm going to love that wedding quilt! Jxo

Di said...

I think that this is the beginning of a gorgeous quilt. I like the colour choice. Di x

Heidi Staples said...

I absolutely love those low volume prints you're using, Leanne. The Etchings architecture print is one of my all time favorites!

Cathy said...

While i am not a brown fan, i think this is going to be lovely. I do really love all your background choices!

Charlotte said...

that is going to be beautiful - I really like the idea of having a mixture of background fabrics

Annabella said...

Thanks Leanne - if anyone is going to convert brown dissers, it's you. I love the way your pickle quilt is heading.

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

It's going to be wonderful! I love PD quilts and one is on my list but so are many other quilts ;o)

felicity said...

Ooh lovely! The different neutral backgrounds is a great choice. I used this pattern for my For The Love Of Solids quilt and I really liked how it came together. Have fun!

Run Quilt Knit Write said...

i think you're right - it's going to be gorgeous!

tusen said...

oh, it's going to be lovely. I've always like the brown/aqua combination and the pattern is one of those I admire very much (although I might never be brave enough to try it myself).

Sally in Seattle said...

I am excited to join your FAL when it opens in April. In the meantime, you have inspired me to start a blog listing finishes that I want to do prior to the April quarter start. Here is the link: www.archelonquilts.blogspot.com

I am a rank beginner at this, but I hope to be up to speed when you start your next quarter. Thanks for starting the FAL. Hope it picks up momentum. I will post about it on the quilting forum at About.com where they have an ongoing type of FAL, but difficult to follow since the forum only has sequential postings and the photos can only be in individual posts. I LOVE your labyrinth quilt! The quilting is great and the decision to wash--spot on. Green is my favorite color, so love your greens!!
Sally in Seattle

Jodi B. said...

This is going to be stunning. I love brown! I have been collecting creams, whites and browns to make a neutrals quilt. The minty green you selected goes so naturally with your browns. Keep the photos coming.