Woo Hoo! Happy Dance! I finished a UFO that must be going on ten years old! When I was working on this project back all those years ago, I loved the fabrics and really enjoyed making all the log cabin blocks. I remember excitedly laying the blocks all out on the floor at my parent's house one Sunday with my sister Kate. "It isn't working" she said, after helping me lay them out. I knew she was right, but I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong, exactly. Disappointedly I put the blocks back in the project box and didn't open it again until a couple of weeks ago.
After studying the blocks carefully on the design bed, it hit me. The problem was that some of the prints, especially the gold/yellow ones, did not "read" gold or yellow. The same thing was true of some of the red and green prints as well. What I needed to make this quilt work was more tone on tone fabrics. Cute as all these prints were, some of them were just all wrong in the quilt.
Let me show you what I mean. Here are my three main troublemakers:
The trouble wasn't so much with them, as it was with me. I was looking at these fabrics totally wrong. I had the top fabric categorized as "green", the middle one "red", and the bottom one appeared sometimes as "gold", and sometimes as "green"! I simply wasn't using my eyes.
Here are some of the golds that were just too busy to blend in nicely:
So I spent a good deal of time remaking the blocks. I didn't dig too deep for one of the troublemaker fabrics-if it was near the center of the block I let it stay. However, my seam ripper did double duty ripping out any outer strips that didn't fit my criteria. This quilt is all about contrast (which you know I like in a quilt, generally), and these busy prints clutter things up visually.
Interestingly enough, the author of the book the pattern came with had a very similar situation arise when she made her quilt. She says that these scrappy style quilts can take on a whole new life of their own when you sew them together—a life you never visualized in your mind's eye. Her example was that her quilt turned out totally Chrismassy rather than Late Summer/Harvest. She added in some purple and loved the result. The book is
And the pattern is called Autumn Ridge, but I am calling mine Farmer's Daughter. I have a cool seed packet print on order that I will use for a border. What do you think Kate? Is it better than it was a decade ago?
31 Responses
Another stunning creation! I love it.
Happy Birthday!
Karen
I like this quilt SO much, Nicole, and am so proud of your finish! The fabrics you selected are just wonderful.
A+
n, np
My sister has this book and I never thought to do the log cabin until I saw yours! It really is lovely.
Hey, hey! A 10 year old UFO??? You should be very proud of yourself!!! I love log cabin blocks.
Nicole . . . it’s beautiful . . . you are so inspiring . . .
I’m coming out to Calif on Monday . . . been so busy getting my English paper pieces ready for the trip that I have not be near my sewing machine . . . I sure miss it though . . .
thanks for sharing your wonderful work . . .
You really amaze me with all you get finished. That is beautiful!
It looks really great! And how wonderful that you finished a UFO from ten years ago!
it is gorgeous. and it is hard to know sometimes and keep the big picture in mind. but you have to know about the end project in order to pick the fabrics sometimes. it is quite stunning.
Wow, a third Friday finish in a row – way to go!
This has always been a favorite – very timeless! Very pretty!
I just gasped when I saw it.
You didn’t take a “before” picture, did you? By any chance?
Congrats on not one, but two Friday Finishes in one week!
Great quilt. Log cabin is probably one of my favorite patterns. I always love the colors you pick for your quilts. Now for the $64,000 question….What are you going to do with all those scraps?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA! I LOVE YOU!!
Beautiful quilt, Nicole. I’m so sorry your visit to see Mickey and the gang got cancelled. I hope you make it soon. Here’s wishing you a very special birthday and many happy returns.
(Sound of applause!!!) It’s lovely, Nicole.
I love this log cabin top. Very very pretty!
Your fabric choices are super.
This post reminded me I have that book. Must get it out and go through it again.
I just gave you a blog award on my blog.
Very pretty! How wonderful to ressurrect such an old UFO! Usually my tastes have changed so much in that amount of time, I don’t want to finish it any more.
And one more thing – HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Missy!
Happy Birthday, Nicole! I gasped when I saw your Farmer’s Daughter quilt — *love* it!
(Gasp!!!) I love it. Wow, to finishing a 10 year old UFO. Sending Happy Birthday Wishes your way.
Dibs on the orphan scraps.
I always wanted to make that log cabin quilt but never got it started. Yours looks great! Nancy in WI
Happy Birthday. Another beautiful quilt. I haven’t been in the sewing room this week except to iron a pair of pants. Looking forward to some weekend sewing.
another great finish… wow…
What! No picture of Ozzie this time? *s* I always look forward to seeing him, so he should be featured somewhere in each post. IMNSHO The log cabin is beautiful! I really like that setting and understand what you mean about the fabrics. Happy Birthday and Congrats on another UFO crossed off of your list.
You know I love this and I love the colors and I love the fact that you knocked it out in one day and…you’re amazing!
How you figure this stuff out with fabric is just dazzling to me!
Looks to me like you got it just right – great quilt!
Stunning quilt…
Nice rescue! It sure is fab now!!!
I am proud of you that you pulled out an old project, studied it, and actually fixed what was wrong instead of tossing out the piece. Good finish!
This turned out well. Don’t you love it when something finally comes to fruition? I agree about this weather, it is the pits this year.
Happy Birthday…a little late, I can see. Guess what? I took my very FIRST quilt class…I have drooled over your quilts and posts for over a year now and I finally just took the plunge! Next week will be class number 4. I am making a 4 block table runner to start…hand piecing. In July I take a machine piecing class. Can you even believe it?? Thanks, Nicole, for all the inspiration.
The colors in the log cabin are so rich. Beautiful.
I must say I am in love with this quilt! I am so glad you decided to finish it. It truly is a beauty!