French Braid Opinions?
 

I took advantage of a 20% off Small Business Saturday deal at my LQS (Tomorrow's Treasures in MD - fabulous store with lovely ladies!) The fabrics are for a French Braid for one of my best friends who loves greens and blues.

I'd like opinions on the fabric selections, please. I believe that my fabrics are sound and flow in a pleasing manner, but I've also never made an orderly braid before (I have a scrappy WIP) and I may be missing something.

Here's the basic flow of my fabrics. The blue leaves on the left will be the center squares. I know that the accent square color for the middle is a little strange, but I wanted it to POP and we both love purple. Thoughts?

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...52642482_n.jpg

Greener half:

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...16946776_n.jpg

Bluer half:
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...93729414_n.jpg
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...61926591_n.jpg

I questioned for a while whether or not the metallic Asian fabric would work at this point in the braid. It reads lighter than the blues around it because of the gold, but I think it's kind of an interesting transition and it plays beautifully with the Egyptian fabric for the end triangles. Also, if you look at the blues of the fabric, it ties the more solid colors on either end perfectly together. More thoughts?

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...03974176_n.jpg

The only one I am concerned about is the Asian fabric you mentioned because it is lighter. I think it should be placed earlier due to the fact it is lighter. Take your picture and turn it black and white on the computer and it will help with the values.... Or make a black and white photocopy.

Your fabrics are gorgeous.

Personally, I would move the Asian fabric out of the middle. If it touches the egyptian fabric the gold print will mingle with the print on the point and if its next to the blue/green it blends as a lighter blue because of the gold. In the middle it kind of stands by itself and waves hello instead of helping your eyes move to next color.

You have one very lucky friend it will be a beauty when its all done no matter which way you go because the fabrics are stunning to start with it can only get better :-)

I say it is your quilt and if you are happy I am happy

This is going to be gorgeous!! I love the peacock feather "bridge"! Your friend is so lucky!!

Love the main fabrics...but I don't think the purple does the rest of the lovely fabrics justice. but thats just me..your friend my Love it.

First, I love the fabrics, but....I personally think the layout could be changed up a bit. It looks to me like you are doing a color wash look. (Love it!) Light going to dark. I may be wrong about this, but it seems that you jumped into the darker too soon. Some intermediate colors would make the transition smoother. I love the peacock fabric, but it is very different from the rest. Try it as your center (it has both green and blue) or right after your light transition, or the back - it really shines and as just another fabric it stands out as too different. I like the center fabric, but not as the center.
All and all, it will be loved and appreciated because you did it just for her. And as it is it's beautiful.

I agree with this. The purple seems too out of place

I agree with putting the peacock fabric in the center instead of the purple. I think it would be stunning there. I am also not sure I would shade from light to dark within each color group because you end up with a darker value green followed by a lighter blue value. But the fabrics are gorgeous and no matter what you do, including leaving them just as is, it will be a stunning quilt. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Very pretty fabrics.

I just had input from the recipient as to the fabric choices - I'd been trying to get her over for a little while. Her thoughts:


She begged me to keep in the shiny gold dark blue in between the other two dark blues. I showed her how it looked from a distance and she said that was fine and she'd be sad forever if I got rid of that fabric b/c it was so pretty and still 'went' for her. Likewise with the center square, though less strongly worded. She also made a few good suggestions.


The blue and green leaf-print batik in between the peacock and the darker blue doesn't 'fit' as well, she says, so if there's any way I can find a medium-toned blue that matches one of the aquas in the peacock then she sayd that might look better to her. The hunt will begin soon!


She really loves that shade of purple, but if I was going to go with another color then she suggested a warm french gray. (I LOVE french gray too! Hadn't even occurred to me!) So I'll be looking through both local LQS to see if I can find a gray that plays well.

Thank you everyone for your input! I value it highly. You guys are the absolute best resource around. :)

Alright! I've finally taken the plunge and started piecing this beastie after replacing the accent color and one of the fabrics. I incorporated some suggestions from this thread and just went with my gut on others. (I had to keep the peacock... it's kind of my personal signature in the quilt, since that's the most "me" fabric in there.) Here's a current progress shot:

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...48764857_n.jpg

WOW that's sharp - !!!!! (even if my computer is displaying them incorrectly). Excellent piecing!

Several of the first pictures are not displayed on my computer...is this a picture of the greens? The center in this picture looks grey on my computer. (Is it just my computer or just the picture?) :p

Yep the peacock fabric does jump out from the other muted fabrics (muted in my picture...can't see in real life). Keep it in there if it's 'you'.

It's so sweet of you to make this for your friend! She's lucky to have you.

Nan

Thank you! I've been trying veeeery hard for accurate piecing on this one. I haven't flubbed any of the centers so far. *knock on wood*

I'm not sure why the pics on the first post have vanished, but yes, these are the greens. I decided to change the center from purple to a dark gray.

Hopefully the peacock will make a little more sense visually once it's all put together. :)

She's the best friend anyone could ever hope for!

I would lay out the fabric like a braid. Audition the fabrics that way and I think you would get a better idea how it will look then take some photos and see which lay-out you like best. Then you will have a guide to go by.

Ok. When I made the previous comment, I did not see the other posts and not all the photos came up. Looks great!

What you have done looks fabulous - and I too love the peacock fabric - glad you kept in there! :)

Try a solid orange or maybe even red-orange to make it pop. Most of your fabrics have blue in them, and orange is the complement.