Fabrics for July, August, September
Here’s a heads up on my plans, fabric-wise anyway, for the rest of the summer . . . but first, I want to remind you that 30 Days hath September, April, JUNE and November . . . and so the sneak peak email for July will be emailed to everyone who has made and posted blocks by TOMORROW at NOON (US East coast time), June 23.
In July, we will be making 2-color blocks from white (solid or WOW) and a second fabric that should be:
- a solid or tone-on-tone (TOT)–a one color fabric. If it’s a print, all the colors in the fabric must be shades of one color. (red on red, blue on blue, etc. )
- a strong color–we’re going for high contrast with the white fabric. Brights and most jewel tones are good choices, as long as they are one-color fabrics and fall in the medium-to-dark value range.
Any of the jewel tones represented in this set of fabrics would work except for the light green (third from the left) and the light blue on the far right.
You will need a layer cake size (10 inch square) or larger of each fabric to make the block. To make the maximum number of blocks, you’ll need at least one white fabric (it can be used in all your blocks) and Five different second fabrics.
AUGUST
I think of the color-way for August as “African Violets in the Dark.” You’ll need:
- Black solid or a BOB (black-on-black) print–you can use the same black for all your blocks
- Yellow solid, TOT (tone-on-tone) print or a multicolor print that is predominately yellow and will read as yellow when someone looks at the quilt from across the room–if you make multiple blocks, you can use the same yellow fabric
- Feature fabric may be a solid, TOT or a multicolor print that reads as any color found in African Violets. For each block, you will need a unique “African Violet” inspired fabric.
According to the Wikipedia entry, Flower colour in the wild species can be violet, purple, pale blue, or white.
The results of a search for African Violet on Flickr (the link should take you there) will provide pages of color inspiration including both wild and cultivated varieties–which add pale to deep pinks to the color palette.
This wonderful photo is from Wez Smith’s photostream on Flickr.
SEPTEMBER
In September we’ll be making blocks from Batik fabrics of your choice. You’ll be combining 3 batiks in each block and so will need to make choices that will have good contrast with one another. To make the maximum number of blocks, you’ll nine different batiks. Layer cake size (10″ squares) will give you enough fabric to make your block(s).
OK, now I'm really excited and can't wait to see the sneak peek email! I only have one batik in my stash so thanks for the shopping list.
Thanks for the heads up Sophie. I'm especially looking forward to August – the colour combo sounds fantastic.
Thanks for such advance notice! I'll probably have to buy a few new fabrics for these (great to build my stash) and since I usually buy online it's great to be able to get them all at once. Looking forward to the months as they sound like combinations I'm really going to love.
OK! I've already got all of this in my stash (although I'm actually running a bit low on solid white), so I'm good to go! (Is it wrong to be a little disappointed that I don't have an excuse to shop?)
So can we only use violet, purple, pale blue, or white in August or can we pull inspiration from the photos of African Violets that are other colors??
Any color that is found in African Violets is acceptable.