As many of you know, I often make quilt blocks for illustrative reasons for The Quilter magazine. After all, it is impossible to own every possible kind of quilt that I might want to write about, and there are literally thousands of both pieced and appliqué quilt patterns. In this Sampler Quilt below, I have combined blocks that were “hanging around the house,” waiting to be made into something. I have based my color decisions on the Charles Ives Color Circle as described in my new article about Color Theory.
Sampler Quilt, designed by Patricia Cummings, using traditional quilt blocks. This is in the process of being hand-quilted.
Every block has a history of its own. I am fond of how these colors work together and I like the design layout. I made my fabric and block choices and placements, as I went along.
When I cut two borders too short by 1/4″, I remedied that by adding an extra piece of fabric that says, “Die Gedanken Sind Frei,” a German phrase (and the name of a song) that means that one’s own thoughts are “free.” There are no mistakes in quilting, just situations that call for clever remedies!
I asked Jim to take a photo of this quilt today so that I will feel guilty enough about it not being finished and will resume work on it. I’d really like to finish this quilt!
No matter what kind of quilt I could put together, it could not equal the magnificence of God’s creations of which I am always in awe. For example, a leaf just blew onto our windshield, and I saved it.
This leaf is a harbinger of autumn, already. Just yesterday, I noticed that the wild Goldenrod plants were beginning to show yellow in their composite flower-heads, another sign that the fall season is not that far away, according to old Yankee thoughts.
An artistic rendition of a leaf, by “God.” Be inspired by Nature. In quilting, it is our greatest teacher!
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications, our main website that features the new article on Color Theory – Part I
