critique please
 

I'm designing a quilt for a challenge. I'm not real happy with the middle section though. Personally I think the white may be too bright and the whole section too light. I don't have enough of the darker blue in the top section to use it for the larger triangles in the middle section. I probably could carefully take the blocks apart and change the bright white to something not as bright. There will be applique over it so that may help tone down the brightness of the white and the whole section.

What say you all?


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Yes, I agree with you, the white is too bright combined with the off-whites - makes the off-white/tannish color look dull and dirty. Maybe you could take the blue panels and tea stain them? That would take everything down a notch and help them play together nicely and best of all, you wouldn't have to take anything apart. :)

What were the rules set for the challenge? ie size, required fabrics, how many fabric can you add, etc. Might help us help you better. Right now the middle section doesn't relate all that well to the bottom. Could you put this section on the top instead? Then would appear to be like a landscape with green grass on bottom, some sky with birds flying and then white topped mountains above it all. That way you wouldn't have to take out all that white!

The only rule was to do something related to the title. The title is Kansas, My Kansas or the state of your choosing. The middle blocks are Kansas Trouble blocks. Personally I think the trouble is they're a pain in the *** to put together!! The bottom blocks are Kansas Dugout blocks and the top is flying geese.

The "troubles" the KT blocks refer to are a huge part of our history so they need to stay. The dugout blocks are also a huge part of the settlement of Kansas since there weren't any trees out here and you had two choices to build a home to start with. The flying geese are because Kansas has the largest stop over in the central migratory bird route. I'm going to add wheat to the left side and a wild sunflower to the right side and a Meadowlark in the bottom section. I'm going to border it with some barn board print fabric to represent our historic barns.

That might make things worse since the white is a white on white and the pattern part would probably resist the tea. Good idea though.

I'm with the tea dying idea. Then the applique will tone it down, too. You've put a lot of thought into this and I'd stay with your original concepts.

The previous poster who was posting at the same time I was has a point, but the background of the wow should take some dye. Try it on a scrap of fabric first.

tea dye the white was my first thought.

me too :)

Hmmmm...could you re-arange the blocks? Put a row of the dugouts on either side of the Troubles and maybe make some more (or smaller) flying geese to go on the other side of the dugouts? Maybe put a sashing in between too. I really like the Kansas Troubles blocks as they are. They remind me of wind swept skies and snow drifts.

I would not tea stain it. It's too unpredictable and totally undoable. The wheat and the sunflower are going on top of the KT section, right? That will definitely tone it down. You might also audition a fairly narrow border of the white TOT inside the barn board print and next to the center section.

I think part of the reason the white looks so stark is that it's only in the center band. By adding a narrow frame of the same fabric, like matboard, you'll mitigate the "look at ME" effect of the white. You could even lap the appliqués onto the white border a bit to include it more. Certainly won't hurt anything to audition it.

I think tea-dying would bring the middle section closer to the colors of the bottom section. I just had the same problem with a string quilt - the white muslin I'd used looked too stark against the mainly browns/blues/reds/golds of the strings. I ended up tea-dying it and now it's much better. Had no clue how to tea-dye, so I just winged it. 10 Liptons tea bags, half of a very large stock pot of water boiled until dark brown. Then I turned off the burner, added my 25 squares and just let them sit for a couple of hours.

Each section is really nice looking. Would sashing between the sections help?

And me, three...

you might just lay the applique over the white area and see how it looks.

I think that it is looking really nice and a applique will bring it all together.

I think they look fine. Each section on its own is OK, but the different sections don't go together,
are they suppose to go into one quilt? After quilting the white will blend in better, adding a border will help draw
your eye around the piece and you won't concentrate on the white pieces as much.

I was thinking along these lines as well. break them up by rearranging.

The Kansas Trouble blocks look like clouds to me and are perfectly wonderful. Don't change. Just go on with your plan.

I would agree that tea dying would help unify the quilt. The white is too stark a contrast with the beiges.

I love the Kansas Troubles blocks as they are.....just wanted to say.

Well I guess I'm the only dork, but I like the white just as it is. To me it adds a "sparkle", but that is just MHO.

Your not the only dork! I like it too just as it is! I thought the idea of a white narrow border all around was a great idea! I say... keep to your plan! Sometimes we overthink!! (is that a word? LOL!)

I think the color differences of the whites make it look like you grabbed several UFO's and sewed them together. But if the colors were the same , it would be more cohesive. I understand that the blocks were added because they have the name "Kansas" in the title, but they should work together. I even think the blues in the background of the flying geese and the pinwheels should be the same. You are heading in the right direction, just a few tweaks will make it wonderful!

Hmmmm, and it'll look even more like mat board if I do a flange instead of a border. It may not be white though.

I'm working on the changes today and I'll post a pic when I get things changed.

I don't have a problem with it as it is, especially if you are adding to it with the wheat, sun flower, and barn fabric. Each of those can be domineering themselves.
I did like the idea of moving the troubles to the top and the flying geese in the middle. the lightness of the troubles would be a natural landscape look, whether you call them mountains or clouds. And the narrow border idea of using TOT white would bring more together.
Good luck. I think it will be striking when you are done.

I thought it was two different quilts when I first saw it. The top two go together well, but the bottom seems to be out of place, to me. Maybe if you did a brown border around it all, it might tie it together. But I probably do things different than you. Not saying I'm right. I just think they need to go together more. You have brown in the top and bottom, but not in the middle. Can you somehow put a little brown in the middle? That's what I would do, but that's just me. I'm probably too conservative and stuck in my old ways. But you did a wonderful job. All those HST look great. And the flying geese are a bear for me, but you did a terrific job on them.

I agree wholeheartedly. If overthink was not a word, it is now. LOL

I agree with 2 things that other posters have said.

1. Using white will add sparkle. In fact, this is something I learned from Alex Anderson in her "neutrals" book - she showed an example of 2 quilts, one with white and one without. The one with white sparkled and the one without white looked muddy and dreary. However, having said that, it's sort of difficult to tell how well it works in your quilt, because your picture is somewhat blurry, I can't see the whole quilt, and the lighting you used may be affecting my perception.

2. I, too, am somewhat confused by what looks like 2 completely different quilts; triangles on top and squares on the bottom. However, as I said before, I can't see the whole quilt, and the finished quilt in your head may be absolutely wonderful.

I think you should go with what YOU determine YOU like best. :)

I just wanted to say that all the blocks are put together so nice. I am sure that how ever you deceide to do it it will be a wonderful block. BrendaK

I have the Meadowlark fused to the Kansas Dugout blocks. I still need to stitch him down and add the bead for his eye. I changed the white fabric in the Kansas Troubles blocks to an ivory. It toned the blocks down just enough without losing the sparkle. I also added some of the lighter blue to the flying geese section to lighten that area up. It's not a huge difference but it's just enough to make the two sections work together.

Now if Jo-Ann's and Fire Mountain will hurry up with my orders I can add wheat and sunflowers.



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Looking good, SQ! Well done.

Hmmmm, perhaps you could tea dye that piece to darken the white and not replace the whole section. good luck.

critique please - update
 

I changed the bright white triangles to a slightly off white and added some of the lighter blue to the top section. I'm in the process of adding the sunflower.


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