Need help with between blocks
 

I'm making this for my nephew...he's a musician and I need some help with the strips between the blocks. What color would you advise? I was going to do black...(and still may) but it seems to be telling me I need something else. I'm almost tempted to lay it out on a tan color about the shade of the wooden guitar tops. (If I have something close, I'll take a picture and post it here) It really seems to be shouting that I need a primary.

Opinions, suggestions and comments welcome.

OK. He is a musician. Judging from the quilt you have created for him, he is a bit funky. Instead of plain sashing, how about making the blocks float with shadows? Use black sashing strips as planned, but give them bright orange "shadows".

Here is little tutorial that explains what I'm talking about. I've done several styles of blocks this way and it always looks good to me.

http://madanquilting.blogspot.com/20...-tutorial.html

i would go with a color that has not been used in the primary pinwheels... maybe green. my other thought is to use brown... not a light brown like the guitar tops, but an almost dark brown. that will still allow separation of the blocks but keep the dark look.

I also would go with a color not in the quilt. I think that black, or any of the solid pin wheel colors, will just make the matching blades of the pinwheels sort of disappear. Is there a green in the musical note fabric?

I like this Idea.

The brown of the floor looks good in between the blocks. I think black would be too much black with the black in the blocks. Tan might be a good choice. I don't know if you could find it, but there is a music fabric white with black musical notes on it that might also look good. I'd go with almost anything but black.

What about wood grain brown fabric? This is going to be a really neat quilt for your nephew.

Can you find someone with EQ to import your blocks to see how they would look with this option? It sounds like a great idea.

I'm such a strong visual person so the only way I can figure these things out is to do a few quick mockups.

I would go with your intuition which is telling you to use black or primaries. I think the black sashing is definitely a possibility (first example). Also, try using the secondary colors in the note fabric - green and/or purple. Purple sashing with green cornerstones or green sashing with purple cornerstones (second example); or all purple sashing; or all green sashing. Black sashing with multicolored cornerstones is another possibility. Orange is another secondary color but I can't tell on my monitor if there is orange in the note fabric - looks like maybe it's in the guitar fabric.

My favorite is the black sashing because it emphasizes the pinwheels. Not sure I care for the green sashing. Try the tan and how about a clear pure gray? Try auditioning many combinations, take photos of each one, and one will pop out as the right one.

Have fun!

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Hmmm ... thinking set it on point with black alternating blocks, narrow black border then pick a primary (red or yellow probably) for a second border.

Ooh, I like that idea!

I think the quilt is crying out for an orangey tan (like the flooring others have noticed) which you also see in the printed blocks. This would be great whether you set the blocks on point or not. On point would enlarge the quilt slightly, if you are looking for that effect.

You might add a black and light beige, or white, or even the yellow, piano key border too, in keeping with the theme.
It's nice. Hope you'll let us see it when you finish.:)

Jan in VA

I like them sitting on the color of your floor. I'd choose that if possible (I think).

I think there are quite a few possibilities here!

Have you thought about grey? Green is another one I could see. But I also liked the mock up with the purple and the green cornerstones (yep, purple for a man!). If you want to go with the shadowed blocks, then don't make the shadows orange! Shadows should be the darker fabric (e.g. black or charcoal), otherwise they will stick out too much and not actually give the impression that they are "behind" the blocks!

Looking forward to see what you chose! :)

If all the blocks had solid black in them then I might go with the black because the other color in the pinwheel would be set off and it would look like those pin wheels floating and twirling. I notice that you have some solid black and some with confetti colors on black. If you use black sashing in this case I think it might look disjointed with some pinwheels having 4 blades floating and some pinwheels having 8 blades distinct. A different color sashing would also set the blocks apart where black will give the appearance of the whole quilt being the block.

Gorgeous blocks..hope u get this figured out.

I always tend to like Black for sashing. It might be interesting to try to see how the black pinwheels will react to the black sashing. This is a WILD suggestions, but if you have any black and white strip fabric, try that which may look like a keyboard stripe. I always try various ideas and take photos of them all until one of the layouts just looks perfect. I also have the guitar fabric and haven't found the right pattern for the fabric. Good Luck.

I also like this ideahttp://www.quiltingboard.com/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by Lisa_wanna_b_quilter http://www.quiltingboard.com/images/...post-right.png OK. He is a musician. Judging from the quilt you have created for him, he is a bit funky. Instead of plain sashing, how about making the blocks float with shadows? Use black sashing strips as planned, but give them bright orange "shadows".

Here is little tutorial that explains what I'm talking about. I've done several styles of blocks this way and it always looks good to me.

Like the black....

Thanks everyone! This is giving me lots of things to think about. I laid awake last night thinking about possibilities.

I like the shadow block idea and maybe a charcoal instead of a primary for the 'shadow' and a lighter gray or even white for the main strips. I also like the on point idea too...he's a different drummer for sure...but one of the best young men know, with a strong set of values and morals, so I want to give him something as unique as he is.

I live about 30 minutes from Hancock's in Paducah (yeah, I know...someone has to suffer) I may get the blocks sewn up and haul them down there and lay them out on various bolts.

I have 2 different kinds of musical note fabric and they're such a linear print, I don't like them at all...a note 'toss' in a contrasting color might work, but I don't like the sheet music look for this quilt.

I'm getting my hst's squared up and sewn into blocks today...keep the ideas coming...I'll post progress reports, so keep the ideas coming.

Love your choice of colors. It's going to be so awesome no matter what color you use for the sashing.

Just a personal observation. I really like the black sashing if you want a simple sashing. It makes the blocks stand out with their beautiful primary colors. I also like the idea of the shadow effect. It would make the lovely primary color blocks pop out and that would be very nice. I did that on a quilt for a grandson that had trucks on it. It was a really fun quilt.

Wood grain fabric, like the floor, would look awesome.

I still haven't ruled out the solid black..it would be easy and his birthday is 3 weeks away. However, I'll machine quilt it with a walking foot, so it isn't really much of a time crunch at all. I want the quilt to be something that he can carry with him to outdoor concerts and festivals, so want it tough. I'm doing 3/8" seams instead of 1/4" for a little extra strength too. The wood colored fabric sounds interesting and I'll have to try that option out when I go hunting...I have to get a backing for it anyway, so a shopping trip is in order. Thanks again for the ideas! Keep them coming!

What ever you choose, it till be lovely.

Ok, I dug though my stash and came up with some examples. So far, I like the black the best with the orange coming a close second. I know I'm limited to seeing the shade that I have them on, so the purple or gray might be better in a different hue. I don't care for the brown, but it is sort of a pinky mocha and it really needs more of a yellow tone to look right. Opinions???

I really think the black sets off the pinwheels so nicely.

I think black sashing with primary colored cornerstones would look great. Maybe a thin colored border before you add the black border.The thin border could be made of the small strips of fabrics you used in the pinwheel blocks.

I love the fabric in your blocks. I think the brown in between would look ok, because you have the blocks on the floor and it looks good that way. The shadow effect sounds awesome to me too.

I'm really wanting to do something besides black...you know how black picks up every piece of lint and string in a house and proudly displays it for all to see. (he's a 25 year old musician and I'm not sure how much a vacuum cleaner gets used) I can see where a trip to the store is in order...and I'm leaning toward something wood colored with an orangy cast...and the gray is growing on me too. (with a black sashing and a red narrow band for the gray) Keep the suggestions coming. I'll post more as I get ideas.

I like the black sashing between. I also think it would add an extra POP if you could do colored cornerstones between the sashings.

iI favor the black sashing. Then maybe a very tiny gold/tan inside border, a double that width red border and then a wide black border

I'd go with red, to me red and black are great for men's quilts. Beautiful quilt, be sure to post a completed picture. My son is a musician and this is very appealing. Thank you so much for sharing your talents.

Love the shadow box , have wondered how they were made now I have the pattern may be the next on my scrappy list. Thanks for sharing.

Hmm...

The black looks good. If you choose that you just have to make sure you use exactly the same fabric as in the blocks, as not all blacks are the same!

And honestly, I'm not a fan of the orange (too light and girly in my opinion) or any shade of brown (wouldn't mix brown with black).
I still think the dark purple is gorgeous. A dark grey would look good, something like Kona Cotton Coal.

Yep, all blacks are definitely different,...the shade in the prints and the solid is already different. All whites are not created the same either. I gotta head for the store and lay these out...the charcoal may be the happy medium.

I think black is the way to go for the guy

Alternating hourglass blocks (with lots of contrast) between your pinwheels will give a really cool, 'set on point' look. It's a bit more creative than merely adding sashing, IMO.

Here are three quilts done this way:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zy9-VO8NMS...0/IMG_1621.JPG

http://thelittleredhen.typepad.com/....18af5a9970b-pi

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tUszdLcXHt...0/P1050387.JPG

If you go black make corner stones of some of the colors found in the guitars or music notes. Or pick any of the colors perhpas the yellow or orange and make the corner stones black. I am sure you will get more ideas from us than you can use! Have fun!!

I like Lisa wanna be quilting ideas too!!