Confession time: I have been really struggling to get it to work. My first test block (above), is perfect. I love everything about it.
It is on white and is 10.5" square. However, I decided that in the real quilt the ships should probably be sailing on blue fabric. So I bought 6 yards of ocean blue homespun. I also decided I should scale up the blocks to 15" so I could build the quilt quicker.
My test run of a bigger ship was a disaster. The ship completely lost its charm and there was way too much negative space. I also tried foundation piecing this ship. While this wasn't a mistake in itself, I quite enjoyed the foundation piecing, the ship ended up not being 'wonky' enough.
Ok... so I scrapped that one. And tried the 10.5" size block again.
I also foundation pieced this one (drawing the ship in a bit more of a wonky fashion). It has the same size and scale as the original white block. Its still missing some of its wonkiness, but it was enough to make me feel confident I was on the right track.
For attempt number 4 and 5 I decided to ditch the foundation piecing and go back to the free/improv/wonky piecing I used in the first block.
They are too wonky! I'll blowed if I can remember how I managed to get the first one so compact and cutsie.
If I put the blocks together I'm just a bit underwhelmed at how it looks. The ships don't stand out enough against the blue. And I am worried they don't look enough like ships.
What do I do? Should I call it a fail now before I spend any more energy on it? Or should I make a few more blocks and see if they have more impact with the power of numbers?
Wise blog readers help me decide.
5 comments:
How about using white for the blocks with just a strip of blue under the ship?
My first thought was the same as above!
Same as the others! Or batiks - deep blue for the sea and pale blue for the sky?
And looking at the four blocks together - I think the charm of the first block is in the angles of the boat, the sea and the flag. The one above it is almost there, but the boat, sea and flag are too straight.
The bigger blocks certainly have the wonky look, but the horizontal strips are too big. Can you re-do those seams and see if it works with a narrower strip?
I love the pirate fabric for the flag!
I'd keep the ones you've done, and use stronger primary colours for the ships. The mid tones you've used stand out enough on white, but fade a little on the blue. Stronger and darker colours will probably help! Also, if you shrink the horizontal strips (as already suggested) that should help too! Good luck!
could you draw the paperpieced pattern from the original block?
what if the sails were a bit bigger so they had more surface to contrast with the blue? ....3 rows of sails insted of 4? Bonnie, VA
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