Tuesday Despair! HELP!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010
I joined Rosewillow in the "too good to cut challenge". I've picked my fabric. I have about 4.5 yards. BUT--I need to leave the fabric in pieces that would be 9.5" square (more or less) to preserve the picture they make. They are not floral or stripes or anything like that. They are PEOPLE!! Yes, my fabric has very brightly colored oriental people in it. I love it, I think they are so cheerful! So I am in need of an idea or a pattern. Can you help me? I want the people to shine, but need a pattern! Here is a scan of the fabric--


There are lots of colors I can pull from the focus fabric to coordinate. Oranges, browns, tans, blues, purples, yellows, greens. But I need an idea, a pattern. Do you have one??

15 comments:

InfinityQuilter/Knitter said...

What about something like this?

http://www.quiltpatchlane.com/cgi-bin/Store/store.cgi?product=patterns_1&productid=BQ2&tracking4=search%20BQ2&pid=1#BQ2

I'll try to see if I have any other patterns that would work.

Pat at Bell Creek Quilts said...

how about 9" snowballs? or maybe have the Chinese guys be 9" squares with some sorta connector block between...like a 9 patch...

just a few ideas that i had :)

Ann said...

I look at that kind of fabric and think of stack & whack (although it wouldn't actually preserve the whole picture).

I would second idea of Maple Island's BQ2 or BQ (same link) quilts - just last night I saw a beautiful BQ at our guild meeting.

Jay in Nebraska said...

How about a triple Irish chain, then you can use lots of scraps, to bring out the colors in the people, and then use the people in the alternating blocks?

Stephanie D said...

Interesting! I don't think I know a pattern, but I'll be watching to see what you choose.

I should probably browse my shelves to find a fabric that would work for that challenge--the hard part will be choosing just ONE of them!

Roslyn said...

I have a book called "Just Can't Cut It" lots of ideas for large prints.

MightyMom said...

well, there's "windows", and there's large hexagons I"ve seen focus fabrics look good in both of those...

Dianne B. said...

I don't know of a pattern, but I sure do like that fabric. The Maple Island patterns are really pretty.

pdudgeon said...

use it for a quilt backing, and thw whole problem goes away! Then you can take your co-ordinating fabrics and make a nice top to go with it.

Tamera said...

I saw someone on Stashbuster leave a comment about using it as a large center panel and then designing a quilt around it...you could kind of do it like a round robin quilt! Then, you wouldn't have to cut it up...but yet, you would be cutting it up...following the letter of the law if not the spirit, lol.

Katie Z. said...

That is EXACTLY the kind of fabric I have the worst time with! I'll be watching to see what you figure out, as I still have DH's crazy fabric to figure out something to do with it!

Mary-Kay said...

Okay I just found a pattern for you. It's called Afternoon Delight by Ann Lauer and there is a web site too! grizzlygulchgallery.com Anyway it's designed for a large focus fabric and it's looks really easy. Check i out. With the right colours and quilting, it would look amazing. Good luck!

J Barham said...

I have a pattern that uses that kind of fabric for the front panel. Then, it is surrounded by Bear Paws blocks . 2nd border is a plain color about 1 1/2 inches,
3rd border is 5 1/2" of the focus fabric. I'll look it up if you want me to.
Joyce.

Tanya said...

You've got a piece of fabric with Japanese nobility there! You might think of fans or something sort of kimono clad... Applique with ginko leaves?

Evelyn aka Starfishy said...

Gayle Bong has a pattern called Bosom Buddies (in Save the Scraps). I've made it 2X (see my Oct 2009 blog post). I think it uses 6.5" squares but the pattern is easy enough to modify to the size you want. Also, Atkinson Designs has 2 patterns you might want to look at - Country Lanes and Slide Show. I'm not sure how big those squares are - you would have to check the pattern, but I have both these patterns noted for big print designs! Good luck.
Cheers! Evelyn