Friday 14 December 2018

carolina chain quilt


Another scrappy quilt underway! 


This latest WiP of mine is a happy scrappy quilt top made using a pattern from Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville, carolina chain quilt and was inspired by a recent make by Jolene from blueelephantstitches. And Julie from justjulielou is also making a version of this quilt too.

I'm using a scrappy 'everything goes' colour palette, digging into my scrap basket for random 2" strips. And like Jolene, I am focusing on values, most of my blocks have medium value fabrics for the outer pieces and half have light centres and the other half have dark centres.

Here's a few progress photos from over the week . . .




Each individual block is 5"x 5" unfinished, with a group of four ending up at approx. 9"x 9" finished. I guess it really depends on your stash but, after making up a few blocks, I did find I needed to make my 'dark' squares quite dark. If you look at the bottom right hand corner in this b&w pic you can see that my darks really don't stand out . . .



. . . It's an easy enough fix. I'm not unpicking anything, but will make sure darker squares go before & after those little lost ones, just to keep the vertical line happening.
And I can also see now, as I look at these photos, that I'll need to scatter in a few more not-so-busy medium fabrics, a few more tone on tones I think, to help your eye unscramble things a little.



- setting triangles fabric
'girlfriends Carole' by Jennifer Paganelli




It is taking me a while and there's still lots more blocks to make, 
but you can see where I'm heading now.
{winkwink} I'm looking at it as a little exercise in being patient about the process
over the summer holidays.

Linking up with Wendy here for this weekend's 'peacock party'

19 comments:

karenbbsnow said...

I am so tempted to start one, it looks like a fun long-term project that would use up a wide variety of scraps. Yours looks great so far!

Leeanne said...

being patient for a project to grow is a test. This looks great. I am making another of Bonnie Hunter's patterns using 1.5" squares, let me tell you it's a l-o-n-g term project alright!

Mary Marcotte said...

I can't imagine sticking with a project for this long, but it's going to be one of those Wow! project when it's finished. I think you've got the right idea of using the not-quite-dark-enough patches by mixing them in with the dark ones. Once there's a mental line, it will automatically follow that the lighter ones are part of the line. Smart!

Marie said...

LOVE it! I think I'm right behind you in starting one - it is just so deliciously scrappy! Just what I need - another project...

Ann said...

I made one of these years ago but didn’t know it by this name. You have used lovely fabrics.

Julie said...

It's actually harder than one thinks picking medium fabrics. Hope I get to make a couple of blocks this weekend, lots of family and friends and Christmas things happening this weekend.

Linda said...

Your idea of taking b&w photos of the blocks is a good one - an quick and easy way to check the values of the fabrics. Looking good!

patty a. said...

Love this scrap quilt! So you are cutting your squares two inches?

Janie said...

Beautiful scrappiness, that Carolina Chain block.
I'm going to enjoy watching it come together.
And I like Jennifer Paganelli's floral prints too, that one's a good
choice for setting triangles.

Cathy said...

I love your scrappy mix of fabrics. It may be slow going but looks like it will be well worth it. And you just reminded me that I started on this quilt last year right after I saw the free pattern at C&T Publishing. I used all the 2 inch scrap strips I had at the time so I wouldn't forget I wanted to make it and then promptly forgot about it!

audrey said...

Jolene's quilts are often very inspiring! There's nothing like a good formula for a scrap quilt to make the quilting very fun.:)

Kaja said...

Concentrating on value instead of colour is an interesting way to go. I always learn something when I try to do this, although my natural inclination is towards a focus on colour. I think your few little bits that fade into the background will be fine in the mix and love the scrappy look of it already.

Mystic Quilter said...

Coming along beautifully Linda and a great quilt design, perfect for using up scraps which is always good.

gayle said...

Great idea to play with values! The more blocks you get done, the easier the chains will be to see. It's going to be a stunner!
I've got this quilt on my list, too. I think I made a couple of blocks a few years ago, but I'm pretty sure I used 1.5" squares rather than 2". (That may explain why I only made a couple of blocks...) Your quilt is tempting me to make some the same size as yours - maybe as a RSC block for 2019. Hmmm...

Karen S said...

The scrappier the better. It is looking wonderful.

Wendy @ Wendysquiltsandmore said...

I love how it's looking so far. It will be a great project to work on during summer where you can just pull a few more scraps out when you have a spare minute. Thank you for linking up to my Peacock Party.

Nifty Quilts said...

Another gorgeous scrappy by you! You combine fabrics so beautifully. I'm glad you showed how easily it's made. I thought it looked very complex and time consuming.

LA Paylor said...

thank you for putting the black and white photo! People forget that is a great tool for value finding. We'll all wonder why a quilt isn't working, and it is likely value issues. Beautiful job as always! LeeAnna

Susan said...

It looks great, and from a short distance, the lights and darks and prints will all separate themselves. Wonderful scrappy quilt!