Choosing Fabrics for Applique Blocks

Applique students often ask me how I choose fabrics. That's a difficult question to answer. If you are trying to reproduce an antique quilt, or trying to match a photo that comes with a pattern, most of the fabric decisions are fairly easy - it’s just a matter of finding similar fabrics.


For this vase block in my book, Baltimore Garden Quilt, fabric choices were easy by following the antique quilt (also shown here) with reproduction fabrics available at the time.



If you want another color scheme, there are many inspirations and fabric choices.  It helps to know a bit about contrast, value, intensity, but there are no right or wrong choices, as long as the end result pleases YOU. Helpful books for learning to choose fabrics: Jinny Beyer's "Color Confidence for Quilters" and "The Scrap Look." Joen Wolfrom has also written several wonderful books on choosing color schemes for quilts.



This Baltimore Garden Vase is one of the blocks I will be teaching at the 2016 Academy of Appliqué, in Williamsburg, VA, so I am working up some different samples. One version is a simple color scheme in shades of pink and blue.

For another version, I want to find a feature fabric to make the vase center a focal point. Auditions begin with a pattern window cutout for the vase center.  Some fabrics are more promising than others.  This white dove could inspire a Christmas version.

 

A horse racing theme might be fun.

Chickens are popular, and the black background offers nice contrast.

I love bluebirds, but these are rejects – the birds get lost in a confusing background.

           

 

 

A bluebird with nest is too big – another reject.

 

But this little warbler has real potential! So I will cut this applique piece to feature her. Next step is to start finding fabrics to coordinate with her --

-- looking for bright red, red-orange, orange to gold, and greens from light to dark with olive tones. I won’t use them all, though. 

Appliqué takes a lot of your time and effort, and fabric costs $$$, so you might want an idea of what your final result will really look like before investing your efforts. Stacking fabrics that blend and coordinate is a good way to start.
For a complex block, I might take the time to paste a mockup – rough cutting chunks of fabric, and pasting them with gluestick to a pattern copy. The paper mockup will be my guide for fabric cutting and stitching, as well as inspiration on my sewing room wall.

There are many ways to approach fabric selection for applique - this is just one example. I'll try to post some more ideas soon.

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham

www.barbaramburnham.com
(c) 2015 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

More Options for Baltimore Garden Quilts - Different Colors, Different Layouts

Nobody says you have to do an antique reproduction exactly like the original!

Playing on the computer, I made a "negative" image of my reproduction Baltimore Garden. Maybe this will be my next quilt? Blue is my favorite color....

... and maybe sew the blocks together a different layout instead of the original arrangement. In the picture below, all the blocks are the same, but rearranged around the center; just a little more balanced. Try this technique for planning your quilt layout -- print a color photo, cut up the blocks, rearrange, and paste the blocks down within the border -- a paper design wall!

So many options. What's next?

Keep Stitching!
Barbara M. Burnham

(c) 2015 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

Baltimore Fruit Bowl - Valuable Lessons

Over the years, I have been fortunate to attend lots of appliqué workshops, learning from many talented teachers and friends. None of these class projects were ever finished during class. Hand appliqué, especially Baltimore-style, is not known for instant gratification. However, I do not count the hours, I just enjoy them.

I was just going to make one block … this Fruit Bowl, in a class taught by Anne Connery.

 

 

Anne provided each student a pack of wonderful fabrics for the pineapple, the bowl, watermelon, and some leaves. Anne’s kits did not include background fabric – we were to bring our own. This turned out to be the "most valuable lesson" I learned from Anne in that class – always bring your own background fabric to class. That way, no matter what fabrics are used or offered in a project kit, your blocks are more likely to eventually go together in a quilt! That is probably why my “Pride of Baltimore II” quilt eventually became a finished quilt, instead of unfinished (and unrelated) blocks languishing in a closet somewhere.

 

The pineapple was another valuable lesson, and the biggest challenge for me. It is made by sewing criss-crossed lines of running stitches and then gathering them up to tie around a template. Challenging, but what fun! Blackberries were gathered a similar way. The bitten apple (a bit of broderie perse) and peaches were harvested from my fabric stash. (You can click on this photo for an extreme closeup.)

 

This is one block that wound up in my "Pride of Baltimore II" quilt, along with 11 others and the central medallion with the schooner. I'll publish more about those in future posts.

 

Pattern for this block can be found in “Papercuts and Plenty” by Elly Sienkiewicz.

(c) 2015 Barbara M. Burnham. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any kind is expressly prohibited without prior written authorization.

Cynthia in Texas - Broderie Perse Applique

Cynthia in Texas has been busy stitching her Baltimore Garden Quilt blocks with a beautiful twist. She is adding a broderie perse technique, cutting motifs such as flowers and birds from various fabrics. Cynthia is a master at finding just the right fabrics, and using them to their best advantage.

We have seen Cynthia's Block B1 in a previous post, and I've been anxious to share more of her blocks. Now she has finished several more blocks, and here they are (with Cynthia's permission, of course). This one, a floral block with trios of roses in pinks, reds, and burnt orange. Check out these bursting rosebuds, with just a bit of the rose motif in the calyx, and added sets of newly formed rosebuds.

Then, Cynthia completed a wreath with four open blooms - not sure what the flower is called, but it sure is appropriate for this lovely wreath.

Next, a sprouting garden of pinks and iris, and a wreath of old fashioned roses. Several leaves are also carefully cut from her focus fabric.

Here is Cynthia's version of a Woven Basket. Are you noticing all the little tendrils? There are even some tiny morning glory buds to promise more blooms for tomorrow.

And a coordinated vase of full-blown roses, of course, complete with their buds and leaflets.

Perfect for a four-block set!

Cynthia continues on, (there is no stopping her!) to make the same Vase block again, this time, featuring a cutout of a maiden pouring water from a jug. Quite an inspiration for creative use of printed fabrics, don't you think? (And look closely - there are TWO birds in there!)

Note From Cynthia:  The floral fabric is Love Letters by Laundry Basket for Moda. The toile border (and a bit on the baskets) is Garden of Enchantment by Maywood Studio. The background toile is Reflections by Ro Gregg for Paintbrush Studio. 

Baltimore Garden Quilt Fabric Suggestions

The search for just the right fabric continues!

Quilters have sent me questions and suggestions about fabric choices for their Baltimore Garden Quilts, and other 1850s reproduction red and green quilts. As fabrics go out of print and new ones become available, I will try to post more suggestions. Several stitchers are doing blocks with broderie perse fabrics. Those I will list in another post very soon, with lots of photos!

Here are some fabric lines suggested by friends, and shop owners, and some that I have used. The first ones listed may be available now, or have been out for a year or two. Later in my list are newer lines coming soon.

Turkey Red – There are a lot of nice Turkey red solids and subtle prints available all the time. However, I would NOT recommend Kona – it is too thick and heavy for fine appliqué and especially too thick for multilayer flowers.

Here is a red fabric that I have really enjoyed using for multilayer flowers, Robert Kaufman "Fusions" Screen Print D# 5573 (pictured below). This multilayer flower is from the Block B3 pattern; the most complex layered flower in the book, Baltimore Garden Quilt. See how the subtle shading makes it look like each petal was stitched on separately?

For greens and yellows, the following choices are wonderful, if you can still find them:

Windham Fabrics - Baltimore Album ca 1847 – Mary Koval
http://www.windhamfabrics.net/cgi-bin/fabricshop/gallery.cgi?Category=436&View=All&v=1

Windham Fabrics - Mary’s Blenders – Mary Koval
http://www.windhamfabrics.net/cgi-bin/fabricshop/gallery.cgi?Category=479&View=All&v=1

Andover Fabrics - Crimson and Clover – Jo Morton
http://www.andoverfabrics.com/Grid.php?GroupName=Crimson and Clover by Jo Morton

Andover Fabrics - Crimson Bouquet – Jo Morton
http://www.andoverfabrics.com/Grid.php?GroupName=Crimson Bouquet
(A-5085-Y is a fabulous golden yellow!)

COMING SOON, OR LATER THIS YEAR

A friend who recently attended Quilt Market posted an update of future fabric ranges on her blog. Here are some you might want to consider for your Baltimore Garden Quilt.
Here is a fabric line I am really looking forward to! PERFECT yellows, PERFECT greens, and one potential Turkey red print (available 11-20-2012):

Windham Fabrics, New Colonies by Nancy Gere:
http://www.windhamfabrics.net/cgi-bin/fabricshop/gallery.cgi?Category=595&View=All&v=1

Blue Hill Fabrics has some good candidates for yellows and greens in Pomegranate – Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum:
http://bluehillfabrics.net/collections/item/41-pomegranate

There might be a green candidate here:

Marcus Fabrics - Tavern Collection Greens – Paula Barnes
http://www.marcusfabrics.com/cgi-bin/fabricgallery/gallery.cgi?Category=659

The next two collections will be popular for Baltimore Album quilts – definitely also on my list:

Newcastle Fabrics - Prussian Blue – Pamela Weeks
http://newcastlefabric.com/gallery/item/35-prussian-blue

Little Pink Stars – Margo Krager
http://newcastlefabric.com/gallery/item/22-little-pink-stars

If you find other great fabric candidates, please post a comment!

Here is another find (thank you Charmaine!) from Andover Fabrics - IQSC Square in a Square (available September 2012)
http://www.andoverfabrics.com/Grid.php?GroupName=IQSC Square in Square

More Excuses to Buy Fabric

When shopping for fabric, if a fabric that catches your eye, or just looks interesting, buy some!
If you don't buy it now, it won't be there when you come back. That's my motto. You just never know when it might come in handy for fussycuts ...

Sometimes it can be as subtle as a tiny green worm hiding among the green leaves and vines. I love to put surprises in my quilts.

But really now, do we EVER need EXCUSES to buy fabric!?!