The layout of FOTY 2015 is satisfying in some ways – it is great to see the piece emerge from a pile of patches. It is not satisfying in that no piecing gets done. I am trying to take Mark Lipinski‘s Slow Stitching to heart and enjoy the layout process.
I am only sort of successful. I want to see blocks emerge from scraps of fabric! In between moving patches around FOTY 2015, I sewed more donation blocks.
As you can see I am sort of making monochromatic blocks. Of course, to say monochromatic is a big stretch of the imagination, especially for the green on in the upper left hand corner, but I am trying out the idea. I really would like to put together an all red version of a donation quilt. At this point, I don’t have enough red squares, but I can always cut more.
Whether this concept will go anywhere, I don’t know. I am going to keep making blocks and we will see.
Would explain (probably for the nth time), the concept behind FOTY. Are the patched left over from fabric purchased during a particulat year?
When I purchase fabric, I am not buying just yardage. I buy a dream, a finished project. Thus, before I started this Fabric of the Year project, I found it really distressing to discover a lot of fabrics in my fabric closet from which I had never even cut one square.
Fabric of the Year (FOTY) is a concept my friend thought up. It made me think I could remedy the buying-fabric-and-never-using-it problem. I made the concept my own and ran with it.
My idea, thus far, is to cut a small piece of each fabric you buy for a project right away. By using some of the new fabrics immediately, I know right away what I like and don’t like. I also know whether I have enough of my favorite new fabrics to use in larger quantities. By using at least some of the new fabric right away I get the opportunity to buy additional yardage before the designs go out of print.
In the later versions of these quilts, I have also started to include fabrics I purchased previously. In some cases, I cut different sizes to denote the new vs existing fabrics in the quilt.
This practice has been really successful for me and I am pleased with the quilts that have come out of this project. While the quilts look very similar (gradated colors/fabrics), they are each unique in their own way. The process is also a big challenge. Gradating commercial fabrics is a lot harder than it seems. I find it a good challenge each year and feel I do improve with the exercise.
You can find out more about the FOTY quilts at: https://www.artquiltmaker.com/blog/quilts-2/series-quilts/fabric-of-the-year-quilts/
I really like the diagonality (is that a word?) Of the colors. It gives the piece action.
WOW! I didn’t even notice that. Thanks pointing it out!