I decided to pull out one of my UFO's to see if I could finish it. I made these New York Beauty blocks in a class, probably 4 or 5 years ago. At the time, I was pretty new to quilting and into everything being matchy-matchy. I found a lot of batiks that I liked, and the teacher encouraged me to make the blocks all different. She said, "Just start making the blocks without worrying how they will go together". So, I did just that and ended up with 24 blocks that I really liked. I tried putting them together in a pleasing arrangement and quickly got overwhelmed, so it became a UFO. Since I had 24 blocks, I tried putting them together in a 4 x 6 arrangement, but I just couldn't get the pattern I liked. So after fooling around, I ended up with a 6 x 6 pattern, which meant that I was now short by 12 blocks. If this was going to get finished, I knew I had to do something different than making 12 more blocks. So, I found some dark purple batik in my stash, and used that as a filler. I like this better as it calms the pattern down a bit, and sets off the blocks This is the pattern I came up with.
I don’t think I like the bottom yellow block. It kind of shouts at me. Do you like this arrangement better?
Here’s the center block. A little low contrast on one of the blocks. Would you swap that block out for something with more contrast? I was going for similar colors in the middle.
The only problem is now I have a 64 x 64 quilt. My ordered brain says that the quilt should be longer than wider. Any ideas on a border (if I even need one)? I don’t have any more of the purple batik I used for the filler, but I do have lots of batik fabrics.
Hope your weekend was a good one!
A top can be any size you want. I have a friend who perfers to do hers sq, I also know gals that make them longer up and down the bed and still others that go for long across the bed. This is a pretty top and if you choose to make it the center then I am sure you will figure out a nice way to get it the finished size you want.
ReplyDeleteDo you like to applique? Do you perfer pieced borders or plain width of fabric borders. It is all up to you. I personally like a mid to small quilt b/c they can be used to snuggle up under.
Bed size are nice too. be good cw
I love your quilt. But, I did like the symmetry of the two yellow background blocks where they are in the second pic. I have lots of square quilts. What are you gonna do with it? If it's to snuggle, might want to add some more. If it's going to hang on the wall, then squares work great. Lane
ReplyDeleteI have no preference. Both pictures are beautiful. I love the colors.
ReplyDeleteI like both too. You took on a New York Beauty as a new quilter? Wow. I don't know if I could do it now after 8 years of quilting. It's really nice in the batiks and I love the purple with it.
ReplyDeleteI like it, especially the second version. No border ideas here....
ReplyDeleteGreat Job. And way to go on this being one of your firsts. I think I would like the yellow on the opposite lower diagional corner of the quilt. The colors are great. A solid black border may work if it doesn't make the quilt too dark.
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm late to this party. I like both versions and agree that a solid black or maybe a deep navy border might look good. I think it would also look fine without a border at all and just allow a very dark binding to serve as your stopping point. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI love the colours and the pattern together very much. Good choice
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