I'm a total newbie with lots of questions. I'll start with my fascination with watercolor quilts. I can't get enough!

However, the local shop that I look for fabric in doesn't seem to carry florals of scale. So I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction? Have any of you ever done one?

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks quilters!

I only have a comment, I agree they are fasinating!

I tried one about 2yrs ago, still have the book. To much pieceing and time consuming to just lay out a picture, (For Me). I'm not what you call a graphic artist. I like the freedom to play. But yes they are beautiful, I also had problems locating the right kind of fabric, so maybe that was part of the frustration.

I've done a couple of watercolor hearts. Used the same material for each of them as I had trouble finding other materials that would work well for them also. I have kept my eyes peeled for more as those two sold like hotcakes at my yard sale! LOL Here are the pics of them....I just cut 2 1/2 inch squares and laid them out until I was satisfied with the looks of them and then sewed them together but I guess there is some press on grid stuff (don't know what its called) that works well for these also.

I want to find some poinsettia material for this and do a wreath for christmas also.

Very Pretty, Yes there is a grid for it, I know they sell the grid fabric at Walmart, I've seen it several times, kept with the inter-facing material and muslins. Wonderful job,

they are wonderful . What size are they?

Thanks! The burgundy one is 28 x 30 and the sage one is 22 x 26...

Ya'll are all so smart! I never would have thought just to lay it out, --maybe I am hung up on doing things a more complicated way or something but it is such a good idea and they are both gorgeous!

I did one using the hummingbirds and hollyhocks design bought at www.Keepsakequilting.com. Check out another site that shows alot of different ones http://www.whims.cc/. It is so much easier suing the 2 1/2" grid called Quilt Fuse in fabric department in the area where fuses or interfacing are sold. It's a time consuming process laying down the different shaded fabrics but the end resuilts are really fascinating. Good luck!

that is so pretty!!!! I love hummingbirds!

They are all soooo pretty! Great job on colors an dpatterns. :-) Thanks for sharing.

I have read about the grid interfacing in my book "Fast Forward Your Quilts" but have never tried it. It is supposed to use MUCH less thread.

I don't know if my brain could adjust to laying the quilt out upside down and remembering to sew seams in opposite directions every time. But they sure are pretty.

The burgundy one with hollyhocks looks like a postage stamp quilt with applique.

Thanks for sharing!

actually the quilt fuse is really simple. You lay down the squares on top of the grid that has blue lines on the fuse, step back to make sure the lightest shade fabrics blend well into the darkest shaded fabrics. When happy then you simply iron on top of the squares. Flip the whole thing over then sew all veritcal lines then turn it to sew vertical lines again and WALA! Flip it over and all of your squares are sewn together. It sure beats sewing them without this fuse! And I never looked at my hummingbird & hollyhocks as a stamp... um.... another idea.

Some of the first quilts I made were watercolor quilts and was totally fascinated in them. I have never tried the grid before, but used a book that shows how to do these in strip piecing. Its called "Watercolor Magic" by Deanna Spingola.
It is very easy to do and the quilts in the book are wonderful. I found its a great way to build your stash of fabric and learning values. Hope this helps.

Your quilts are wonderful, I think I will have to try this sometime. :lol:

Dear Ready,

I think what you are looking for is a watercolor selection of fabrics. I when to "Google" and searched for "watercolor fabrics". You will find a long list of suppliers. You will be able to purchase precut 2" squares of these fabrics.

Suzanne

I agree that finding the fabric is the hard part, but once you have made one, you will have enough leftover fabric to make a dozen more. I was always glad when the shops were willing to cut 1/8 yd pieces for me!

You really need a vertical design wall to make a colorwash quilt. I did it the cheap-and-easy way. I bought a $2 vinyl tablecloth at walmart and used a Sharpie marker and my 24" long acrylic ruler to draw a 2" grid on the fuzzy back side of it. Then I cut away the excess tablecloth and thumbtacked my "design wall" to the wall. You want to put it in a location that is convenient to stand close to but also where you can move back and look at it from a distance.

Here are some of mine - http://www.gloryquilts.com/colorwash.htm They are a few years old, and the photography is poor; I am better now! ;)

And this is a very short article/list I have on my website about selecting fabrics for colorwash quilts - http://www.gloryquilts.com/colorwash_quilts.htm

I hope it's ok to post those - I'm not selling anything there!

Hope that helps!