Thursday, February 25, 2010

Can this quilt be saved...

The past few days I have been playing with a liberated Amish top for a class/group being hosted by Tonya at Lazy Gal quilting.My top isn't too liberated at the moment. So I put it aside and decided to play with a top I started working on back in the late 80's. Yes this is the oldest of the UFO's in my closet and I needed to either "save" it or toss it!
The piecing on the this quilttop isn't good...there is about a 1/2 inch seam allowance and my sewing machine wasn't working well so the threads skipped around a bit. And then there are the bias edges which need no explanation....

So this morning as I waited for the rug cleaning crew to show up and for the cold meds to really kick in I started slicing. This is very therapeutic! The pieces are 6-1/2 inches or less and then are going to be built back up....

I found that even a pink and red can read as medium/dark and since one of the black fabrics had faded to a dark chocolate the entire quilt (including the tan) was very flat. (trust me the only flat thing about this quilt was the colors!)What I needed were some very light (ice-y clear colors) and some ugly clear colors. (like the green, pale pink and clear red strips at the bottom of the photos above.) So this is what is happening....
Not sure where this is going but it is a fun journey....

14 comments:

jovaliquilts said...

Wow, you are both brave AND creative! It will really be fun to see this progress. It's looking good already!

Patricia said...

I like it!!! It certainly is liberated!!!

Tonya Ricucci said...

wow, that is a dynamic, unexpected block now!

mereth said...

That is going to be great when you've finished repiecing! I wish I had a top I could do that to, but my old ufos are bland and I don't think anything could save them. Still, I might have a look at them with a fresh eye, to see if this technique would work. Keep us updated...

*karendianne. said...

Sio,

You're amazing, friend!

*karendianne. said...

...and I love that little turquoise number but I guess it's not very liberated so I get it.

Gypsy Quilter said...

I can tell that wonderful things are acomin' down the pike.

sewkalico said...

I think it's an amazing transformation!! A good save for sure!
(I also like the first one as it feels like an optical illusion to me)

beth said...

I love it! Someday I'll be brave enough to cut something up...not yet.

quiltmom anna said...

I liked the original form Sio but this one is pretty fun- You were brave to take and cut it. It is going to be pretty funky when its completed.
I have heard of slashing a quilt before and known others to do it. I tried last fall to slash one of mine but couldn't quite do it- I did cut it along the seam lines and it did improve the quilt. It certainly is a great alternative to changing the quilt- especially one that a person doesn't like.
Well done, Sio.
Regards,
Anna

AnnieO said...

Terrific idea! Can't wait to see how the liberation turns out!

Quilts And Pieces said...

Oh I'm loving what you've done so far! I can't wait to see it done! It is very cool!

Teri said...

Wow! Love what you did by slicing it up. You are making a great save. I may have to check into some of my golden oldies and see if I can make a save.

quiltfuchs said...

What a cool idea! I like the way you're going on. :-))

Happy (liberated) quilting!