What's a watercolor quilt? I know it has a lot to do with colors, but
other than that I have no clue. It sounds neat, and the teeny tiny
pictures I've seen look cool, but since i'm just beginning quilting, I want
an idea of what goes into it before I invest money in a book, fabric and
time...
thanks for your help.
--
we don't need no government loans and we don't get no checks from home...
The Last Apartment/1947 N. Prospect Ave. #305/Milwaukee, WI 53202/(414) 278-7413
> o
> What's a watercolor quilt?
Terri - I have been collecting fabric for a watercolor quilt for the last two years. As far as
"investment" goes, your time and effort in determining which tiny two inch pieces of fabric
will make just the right addition to your quilt is the biggest "expense". You probably want to
avoid repetitive pieces to get an overall watercolor effect. I find that large floral prints work
nicely. Tone on tone looks nice too for the very light colors. I have also used the "back" of
especially bold prints to soften them up. Re: fabric finds: collect fat quarters, talk your
friends into donating scraps of fabrics, check out garage sales, join a charm square
exchange. Finally, there are a number of good books on watercolor technique - check one
out of your local library to decide which is best for you. Best of luck!
Kelly, Minnesota
Do you like to do jigsaw puzzles? That's what it's like. I took a class
but didn't use a book except the design book by Shirley Liby which is in
black and white. If you have imagination you don't need that. Spend your
money on fabric - the books are just for inspiration.
You get some graph paper and a soft pencil and draw an abstract design.
You must have a design wall. Take your 2 inch pieces of fabric and try to
identify them as light, medium, dark. Put them on the design wall to
match your graph. It sounds a lot easier than it actually is and you can
spend literally days working on the design. The idea is to make it look
like a whole cloth without seams. Funny thing to do, eh? Cut up fabric
and sew it back so it looks like you didn't cut it up. Well, quilters are
funny.
Check out this web site: http://isis.infinet.com/itb/
Welcome to Watercolors, Alta
Generally speaking, all of the quilts appear to be made up of these 2"
squares which are essentially the quilters' paint. The quilts are
typically of a singular design (e.g., a large heart covering the whole
quilt, a skyline, an underwater seascape. Rather than the geometric
shapes and contrasting colors, the watercolor quilts have much softer
edges and gradual transitions from color to color. The book has some
great photos of examples.
The book is by Pat Maixner Margaret and Donna Ingram Slusser. I got it at
a local fabric store (probably JoAnn Fabrics, but maybe Minnesota Fabrics)
four about $25 in the quilting section. It's an 8-1/2x11" full-color
paperback. The imprint is That Patchwork Place, ISBN# 1-56477-031-1. If
you're not ready to buy it yet, you may want to check your local library
or just try to flip through it at the store if you can find it.
Linda