Rhythmic Grid Results from the Study Group

Wow! This was one of our most successful scores. Everyone was so excited by their work, in part because we used our favorite fabrics and/or colors. All these tops blend so well, they could go into one quilt, couldn't they? Clockwise from upper left in the photo below are MK, Tami M-N, and mine.

Four variations of Rhythmic Grid score

M-N surrounded cream with beautiful blues. She and I read the directions to mean eyeball measuring each block. It took me several days to estimate the various widths and sew sashing so each was in the planned location. MK and Tami didn't worry about that aspect at all. Isn't it funny how differently we read {and hear and see} instructions?

MK picked up discarded fabrics at her last guild meeting. The squares were already cut so she spent time arranging the pieces to please herself. Love the cherry reds! Because her centers were the same size, it was easier to create a zigzag design with the sashing.

Tami's fabrics are her favorite colors. What a beauty! She used narrow strips of filler to fill openings along some of her rows. I hope she'll write a post about her process soon.

Here's my finished top.

Rhythmic Grid top

I like the combination of creating strong borders with the blue gingham and softening the same borders by extending some dark browns across. Running out of the first green border fabric was another lucky event. The two replacements are even better choices. The tan on the right also softens the delineation of the border. Definitely a "yes, and..." experience.

I deliberately buy smaller amounts of fabric for this exact reason. Running out forces creativity IMO. This quilt used a total of ten fabrics, a very small number for me. All that remains is a fat eighth of the center cream and the blue gingham. How's that for using it up?

Enjoy the day, Ann

Bordering Rhythmic Grid

Adding the borders to Rhythmic Grid this week.

There wasn't enough fabric in original green centers (bottom left.) Someone had cut the piece on the diagonal and refolded the remnant. So I got to add two leftovers from kaleidoscope to fill it out. I like them even better than my first choice.

BTW, you can see at the top how I'm waiting to cut the final rectangle for the border until the other pieces are sewn. I want to make sure the width is close to what's needed.

Adding the border, Rhythmic Grid

But now the blue gingham jars. I replaced some with the last of the brown. It's coming along

Dark brown replaces some blue gingham
in the border of Rhythmic Grid.

Enjoy the day, Ann

Rhythmic Grid Begins and AHIQ Wrap Up

Another great AHIQ link up. Kaja and I are delighted with the response. The projects cover a broad range of improvisation highlighting its diversity. Several people told us how happy they are to have a place to share their interest. We can tell: viewers click the links and leave insightful comments on many blogs. Conversations begin; others join in. Thank you so much for making this linkup a success. We look forward to our next one, February 22. What will you have to share?

This month's score in my study group was Rhythmic Grid. From the moment I saw it on the cover of Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters, Sherri's bold boxes in strong, clear blues and apple reds had me chomping at the bit to try it myself. However, the month got away from me. Okay, grandbaby cuddling took precedence but {I thought} I had a plan. Turns out I had a lot to learn.

The peachy-cream polished cotton came from the Britex sale room. It was supposed to be the border of my selvedge string quilt. The leaves looked good against the fabric but it did not work with the top. Not awful; just like they were two different tops.

Selvedge leaves as a possible border

The polished cotton should have gone into a box. Instead, it only made it as far as the to-be-filed pile where it caught my eye daily. When MK sent a reminder of the meeting, I knew I had to get busy. Starting here I pulled five other fabrics that {seemed to} go together but also had a definite color shift for the permeable border of rhythmic grid. And immediately forgot to take a photo.

The inner sashings were pink/green/tan stripe and brown with coral polka dots. When laid out, the brown had too much contrast. The stripe turned out to be a fat quarter and was almost gone.

Original row for Rhythmic Grid

Next I pulled a coral red batik and a large floral Alexander Henry. After unsewing one brown side, I set the others aside. That turned out to be a wise decision.

Adding the sixth row to Rhythmic Grid

As the quilt progressed, it needed some darker areas. Back came the original sections, reworked into diagonals. By the sixth row, only some floral and a bit of the cream solid remained.

Surprises:

1. Not checking fabric amounts carefully before beginning.
2. Quilt size affects the color values. The brown was too strong for a small section but perfect as the quilt increased in size.

Discoveries:

1. Construction worked best for me when I cut the sashing strips first and then filled in the solid center. 
2. Wait until the two-, three-, and four-sided units are sewn before determining the width of filler units, those with no colored strips on any side. All those seam allowances take more room than I planned. Good thing there was enough cream filler.

On to the borders!

Enjoy the day, Ann