Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Attempting Applique

Chinese Coins VIII began as a value study for the demonstration I planned to give to my guild earlier this year when life intervened. Originally these columns were to be combined with light yellow columns and dark green/blue columns; that is, until I saw all of these soft blue/greens together. They make a perfect background for appliqued vines so I set them aside for a while.

Chinese Coins VIII quilt background

Especially after working with Circular Anomaly, I knew strong reds would play well with these turquoise shades. Red reminded me of roses but I had reservations about making applique as large as seemed to be needed. At that point I remembered the pieced roses that were so popular a few years ago which always reminded me of crazy quilts and irregular pineapple block. IMO some of the prettiest were made by Tim Russell; I spent a while soaking in ideas from his roses.

QS and I took a crazy quilting class years ago. The teacher {whose name I've forgotten} suggested beginning with pentagons so I made one for the centers of these flowers and then continued around like a log cabin. I wish I'd trimmed the petals more like Tom's; mine got larger and larger as I went around. Still, they look alright.


The next step was determining where to add leaves. You can see my first large leaf on the left of the lower rose in the photo above. Eventually I sewed a smaller dark green triangle on the left. Being a bit unhappy with how it looked, I only pinned the one on the right. Too dark and heavy.

Auditioning dark green leaves near the rose

The odd white with large dark leaves gives hints of leaves in the distance but keeps the rest of the background light. Only a light blue-green triangle needed here.

Auditioning light background instead of dark leaf near the rose

That's how my attempt at applique turned into piecing. Sigh. Now to add more roses.

Enjoy the day, Ann

26 comments:

patty a. said...

I had to look several times before I realized you pieced the rose into the column of Coins. I think your rose is beautiful!

Rose Marie said...

Very nice .... very interesting! I can't wait to see the whole piece done.

Julierose said...

Love your roses--great idea to applique them on the coins...hugs, Julierose

Quiltdivajulie said...

Interesting way to incorporate the roses into the already pieced columns . . . hmmmm

LA Paylor said...

clapping hands! Whee! perfect! I love making flowers like this, but the way the strips meld with your background is great, plus the color combo. Keep going, and then send it to me! LOL

Mel Beach said...

The red roses are a fantastic addition. Piecing them into your design is so clever. Beautiful!!

Robin said...

I love this kind of a rose. It just has so much depth.

Ann said...

Thanks, Patty. I'm amused how easily I'm persuaded to piece rather than applique.

Ann said...

Thanks, Rose Marie.

Ann said...

Thanks, Julie. They do perk up the background, don't they?

Ann said...

Thanks, Julie. It's my normal style... adding something near the end. Ha.

Ann said...

Thanks, LeeAnna. Roses will be blooming in Denver very soon.

Ann said...

Thanks, Mel. I'm pleased I worked them in, even though it was a last minute addition.

Ann said...

Me, too, Robin. I'm glad to finally try the technique. It's not hard but there are definitely things I can improve on next time.

audrey said...

Tim's roses are fantastic. I can definitely see why this appeals to you as there's something about the way he uses fabrics that reminds me of your own work. Even his background piecing is so light and almost glows, echos of the way you put fabrics and colors together! Love seeing these roses being incorporated into your coins quilt, giving it a really lovely depth. We do have our preferred way of doing things and if piecing makes more sense to you then I say go for it! It's the end result that matters most in these scenarios, right?

Julie said...

I'm looking forward to seeing more of this quilt, I love your roses, and have always wanted to try making them. Thanks for the link to your inspiration too, they are rather stunning. Thanks for linking to Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

I think your roses look wonderful, so pretty and make a simple coins quilt so much more.

Ann said...

Tim's roses seem almost like a photo to me. His fabrics and arrangement really capture the life of the flower. And, yes, we do have our preferred methods. The second I let myself start I just gravitated to piecing again, even though I'd planned to applique. The result works for me but I still want to applique. Always something new to learn.
Thanks, Audrey.

Ann said...

Thanks, Julie. Those roses are inspiring. I'm glad I finally made some. Thanks for hosting S4.

Ann said...

Thanks, Linda. After the Anomaly quilt, I knew these colors would combine well.

Kaja said...

What an inspiring development! I looked at Tim Russell's roses, which are fantastic, and I think yours work beautifully too. Lovely colours, of course, and it looks like this was what you planned all along.

Ann said...

That's a nice compliment, Kaja - that they look planned from the beginning. Tim's glow in a life-like manner. I intend to try this again.

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

Whatever the technique it is the end result that counts and these roses look fabulous!

Mystic Quilter said...

I'm late catching up with this post Ann, I love your idea of the pieced and appliqued roses, the red really stand out on the soft background coins.

Ann said...

Thanks, Deb. I like them, too, but am amused how I weasel out of applique almost every time. I guess I'm really a piecer.

Ann said...

Hi, Maureen. I think appliqued flowers would look very good here but find myself a bit amused/bemused that I pieced them. Tim's are beautiful. I do like the red/turquoise combo, too.