Monday, February 22, 2010

Values


Many people have asked about Values when choosing fabrics...
here's 2 good tricks if you feel you don't see the difference in values of fabrics...

either:

take a photo of your fabrics, and turn them into black and white images on your computer,

or you can buy a red template viewer...
sneak peak viewer
Looking through the red you can see better if you have dark, medium and light values
(great to take along to the quilt shop when your choosing fabrics...)

A good way to see if you have good overall color...


I just got the binding added to the first waverunner... my fingers are worn out from hand quilting through an already densely machine quilted quilt... But it was worth it...
Hoping to stitch than binding down tonight...




I started machine quilting on that rocking chair quilt, (feels like grandma's house) ... then of course I fell back on hand quilting... I just prefer the look.. especially on big blocks that need some definition... my fingers are not getting a break this week... I bought some of those little stick on pads for your finger but I haven't tried them yet... guess that would be a good idea!

ADDITION: Kia is in the other picture above with me sewing.. Jenny Egg is there too(by my upper hand), but since Kia was getting all the blog love I had to add this picture of Jenny Egg sun bathing... She looks so goofy with her hair cut...

I've gotten my mother back into sewing! She's taking classes at Cottage quilts, and her teacher, Lynn, very kindly sent these along for me to make into charity quilts.
They were blocks that she had made in her teaching classes...
They should be fun to put together into something!

I love the bow tie block... a favorite out of the whole bunch!
Thank you Lynn!
They will be put to good use!



I snapped this last weekend, as we were driving to another Chinese New Year party ...


The new Museum in the Bowery, NYC...
I don't know if the always have this sign up, but I like the sentiment...
click image to see larger!

And lastly, two blocks from Mary on the left (love the patchwork fabric in there)
and two from Marianne on the right.
Marianne also included the little baby quilt below! AWESOME! Thanks Ladies!

BUMBLE BEANS BASICS HOME GATHER BLOCK TUTORIAL .CLICK HERE
collecting blocks through April...

21 comments:

  1. I love the puppy face poking over the side of the quilt! How adorable is that??

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  2. Thank you so much for that brilliant tip. Now I'll have to photograph my quilts and see if I passed the test! Too bad if I haven't. Love your hand quilting. It's so pretty on a quilt.

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  3. V, The Waverunner and your Amish quilt both look good.
    The house blocks are great and a very sweet baby quilt! Happy sewing today!

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  4. Those are two good tricks for seeing the value of colors. Another one is to look at them through the wrong end of binoculars. This is especially good for seeing all the elements in a quilt if there is no other way to view it from a distance. Distance is a good way to obscure details so the impact of the whole can be determined.

    My house blocks were mailed this morning.

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  5. the best thing to buy is a bottle of newskin, its a liquid band aid, it heals our sore fingers fast and makes callouses, I use it all the time and puts a coating on the finger underneath the quilt
    I buy it at the grocery store.
    its about $5.00 and lasts over a year.
    Kathie

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  6. It appears from that photo of you hand quilting that you don't use a frame - is that correct? I usually do, but lately I haven't been, and I don't really notice a difference in my stitches. Sometimes the bulk of the lap frame and having to keep move it around is more trouble than it is worth. Anyway, I stopped by the post office to mail my first house block to you. Not sure why I wasn't able to make the roof correctly - I'm a failure when it comes to following directions - but I like the house anyway. Thanks for organizing this for such a great cause.

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  7. great tip! When I did water colour painting, our tutor told us to make a black and white fotocopy for the same purpose. Kathie, thanks for the suggestion about the Newskin, too.
    My favourite part tho, has to be that little doggie face peeping out!

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  8. I love your waverunner quilt. It's true ,a part of hand quilting add interest and color. The puppy face out of the quilt is super sweet!
    nichi

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  9. oh, you're always sooo busy! And everything looks great!

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  10. is that a doggie I see? what a sweet face!
    the bow ties are great.
    I finished 1 house and plan to do another one - when is the deadline??

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  11. I like to use a leather thimble, it works way better than any other kind and i've tried them all.

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  12. OK OK I love your quilts and the dogs and all but I LOVE the sign!!! We need one of those in SEATTLE!!!

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  13. Interesting gaget. My grandson named his favorite stuff turtle KIA. Don't know where the name came from. The gather is growing quickly.

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  14. Thanks for the tip for determining value. I like the binding you did on the waverunner quilt. I'm thinking about hand quilting my Amish quilt top but haven't decided for sure. Love the additional house blocks and the ones your mom did too. It's great that your mom is back into sewing. Mine is too and I've been wanting to blog about her group but am waiting for pictures.

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  15. I like to hand sew with bare fingers, never got used to a thimble. When I get a sore spot, those stick on pads are great! I stitched up two house blocks yesterday and plan to make two more this week. I need to practice row 3, lol, and I want to look through my stash for some cute ideas for windows. Have a great week.

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  16. waverunner is simply gorgeous! I love, love, love it. And...Jenny Egg is the spitting image of my dear departed Fritz. Long may his memory live. Give your sweet girl a hug for me (and a scratch behind her ears)
    T

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  17. Help! I can't figure out how to email you and I made two blocks. Please send info.

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  18. I bought the little stick on things for my fingers, and didn't like them, because the stickers were a bit unbending, making the needle sort of slide off them, which made the needle difficult to control. I have actually found a much better solution - good old fashioned bandaids! They stick on, but because they are soft and kind of flexible, the needle sinks in to them just enough for you to control it, but not enough to actually hurt your finger.

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  19. One more tip I learned about values is to squint when looking at them. It helps you differentiate between the lights and darks and everything else is in the middle.

    Your dogs are adorable! Such good company for quilting.

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  20. Thanks so much for the tute on values. I always have a hard time deciding what to put with what.
    Maybe I need more plains, other than white for quilts.
    I love the hand finishing that I do sitting in my chair in front f tv. Usually working around two puppies, one on each side. My westie who looks after the dog from across the street love sitting on new quilt projects.
    As always you are so informative.
    I do wish my hands weren't so stiff.
    I ahould have started years ago..oh well.

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  21. Looks nice and cozy with your pups!

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