Sunday 29 July 2018

exploration in subtle



My "quilt receipe" for this quilt top was to have a simple colour palette of just a few peach, pink and mint prints . . . with lots of low volume fabrics . . . making sure the darkest fabrics went in the centre of each block . . . and of course, to go scrappy. A simple quilt can be the most pretty sometimes, don't you think?


There's been a lot of interest in using low volume fabrics lately. I know these fabrics as maybe called pastels, lights, background fabrics, or neutrals - print fabrics that are "light" in colour.


We all have different fabrics in our stashes, are you like me and tend to {unwittenly} buy mainly medium value? After a little stash-diving, I found an assortment of scrappy low volumes for this quilt. Mine all tend to be mainly white based, pale but not dull, some busy some not so. They seem to give a soft subtle feel with just a little merging of boundaries to my quilt top.



I've loved playing with these subtle colours and exploring the different light & dark values from my stash! As I progressed, it was clear that 'contrast', however subtle, was the key and really, the colour of a fabric is not known until it is actually playing up beside it's neighbour!


Close up, things aren't too obvious,
this is a quilt best veiwed from a distance to get the full effect . . .


Here's the links to a couple of recent posts about using low volumes -
Blair from wisecrafthandmade, where my initial inspiration came from

I'd love to hear your thoughts about working playing with low volumes too.


13 comments:

Linda said...

Looking really good!

Kaja said...

I too tend to buy mostly mid-value, but I think they just make more of those than anything else. I love the subtlety of this piece and the fact that from a distance things run together (in a good way) but up close there's still lots to look at. So pretty!

Marie said...

Most art looks better when viewed from a distance. Beautiful!

Cathy said...

I like it! Very shabby chic looking. Kind of romantic looking.

And I buy whatever is on sale or remnants half off - that's the value I pay attention to when buying fabrics!

Sharon said...

OOOH! Loving this and now I MUST try...thanks for sharing. It's a beautiful quilt!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

This is so pretty, Linda! I like that it is subtle and calming. I saw that Cynthia was inspired by your project to try her own, and I can see why!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

Lovely lovely lovely! You have so many sweet floral low volume prints. My version veered a bit off course. I will be sharing more soon.


Thanks for linking up with Oh Scrap! And for the inspiration :)

Janie said...

Great work! It looks like the darks are in the middle of the on point squares giving a 3-D effect.
Good progress.

Leeanne said...

I say soft romantic suits this style? I find it interesting when I get time to look through my fabrics and seeing what I have the most of....it always has me thinking I don't think I planned so much of that colour or this colour. And for me my personal tastes have changed.Is that true for you too?

Julie said...

Very pretty and feminine. You have a pretty amazing LV stash by the looks of things.

Quiltdivajulie said...

However it is defined, I love the soft quieter prints alongside those with more intense color. Beautiful project!

Mystic Quilter said...

I am sadly lacking in softer neutral colours and sometimes feel that I really should collect a few, I resort, at times, to using the reverse side of a fabric which works quite well. I do love the peaceful look of this quilt Linda, very relaxing!!

Kate said...

I really like how the edges of the centers bleed into the softer backgrounds. A very successful experiment.