Jelly rolls and fat quarters
I’m a bit of a sucker when it comes to jelly rolls and fat quarters. Particularly late at night when I’m perusing the internet. well, OK if I’m being honest, only late at night on the internet!
Many of the fabric collections being produced are just so incredibly delicious that my willpower flies straight out of the window. The latest Fresh Palette, Breakfast at Tiffany’s or Bliss collections are utterly, utterly charming. Where fat quarters are concerned I have to just give in and admit that resistance is futile.
I have however a little niggle about jelly rolls and the rest. The large quilt I’m struggling to stuff under my sewing machine at the moment (see yesterday’s post) was made with a Martinique jelly roll with a couple of other fabrics added. It was probably the quilt that I’ve had the most problems with as far as colour choices are concerned. The jelly roll fabrics fit together so well that it was really, really difficult to introduce anything else without it sticking out like a sore thumb. (Mind you this might have been partly because my local quilt store is pretty small and doesn’t have a huge selection). In the case of my Martinique quilt (and I apologise to the designers for saying this), but the seamless co-ordination makes things a little….oh help, how do I say this without seeming rude…well, blah.
Maybe this is only the case for this one quilt and maybe I’m totally wrong and just made bad colour choices and my next quilt will positively sing. But I don’t know. The quilt top I made a month or so ago purely from Lumiere de Noel is very beautiful (well I think it is anyway!), and incredibly tasteful. But it felt a little as though I had had an interior designer come in and ‘do’ my home. Very perfect, but is it really me?
With all this pre-organized colour matching and kits for making up the perfect quilt, it’s like we get a wonderful product – and we know in advance that it’s going to be wonderful – but the creativity and the individual personality in the quilt is missing. What do you think? Is it just me, or has anyone else experienced this?
I’d love to hear what you think if you have a moment to jot down your thoughts.
Helen
Having said all that I could positively eat all the gorgeous fabric that’s piled up in my fabric cupboard!
November 3rd, 2010 at 3:55 pm
You bring up such a good question Helen. The fabric companies now a days seem to be having their designers come out with the same color ways over and over again. Minick and Simpson can be counted on for a red, white and blue line; Fig Tree is known for its faded vintagey palette; 3 Sisters Christmas line has been practically identical the past several seasons. Beautiful as these collections are, there is something sort of homogenized about them. I think that is why the Civil War reproduction fabrics are appealing to me more and more lately. I can pull colors and fabrics from several different companies and lines and come up with a quilt that seems much more individual. Often it is the addition of some sort of “off” color or fabric that makes a quilt sing.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Helen….I so agree with you about this. My daughter gifted me a few years ago with a quilt kit with coordinating fabrics. I was thrilled about her gift but….when I put the quilt together I found it to be totally BORING! I have a delicious amount of fabrics in my fabric cupboard. It is more fun, too me, to pick from what I have, although, there are some really lovely collections out there and I am totally admiring your beautiful choices, as well.
November 9th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I bought a jelly roll about six months ago. There’s not enough fabric to really make anything without adding to it…but the colours don’t seem to go with anything else I buy. Very annoying.