more wensleydale learning

wensleydale #3

 

these wensleydale blocks are becoming addictive! i made this number 3 block with no problems at all, including getting my directional prints to line up correctly. that was a mini triumph. 

i'm deriving a lot of pleasure from selecting the various prints for each block. i've realized that i really enjoy quilts that have blocks where each fabric pairing chance is like a little project all its own. that's one of the reasons i enjoy the crossroads quilt so much and why these blocks are so fun for me. quilts composed this way are like a series of mini projects that add up to one big project. 

i was a little hesitant to add that teal and orange DS floral fabric that's in the inner diamond. it felt a little bright for the direction this quilt is moving. but after considering how well the brights and moodier fabrics in the original wensleydale quilt from the book play together, i thought it would be a nice touch to use this brighter fabric, especially if i kept it to one of the smaller pieces where it would accent rather than stand out too much. i'm quite happy with it.

the way the center rectangle plaid turned out slightly wavy i'm less pleased with. wovens can be difficult and a little stretchy. i plan to use this particular one several times in the quilt, so i am going to have to be more careful with it in future. the woven stripe i used for the outer rectangle worked much better.

wensleydale #4

i've decided i want to use either a floral or a plaid in the center of each block. i've also decided that it will make my life a lot easier if i try to keep the directional prints to the diamond sections and not use them in the rectangle pieces. by the time i made this block a few days after i'd figured out the directional trick, i forgot what i'd done. at least i have all those stripes radiating in a similar manner this time. 

after using that teal DS floral in block 3, i knew i'd need to use some more teals in the quilt. unfortunately, i don't have many at all in my stash! i did find this joel dewberry daisy block print that i ordered from hawthorne earlier this year. 

i was really excited when i found hawthorne supply company had a lot of designers that you can order fabrics from on a print-to-order basis. i found some amazing colorways of some old favorite JD prints, like this daisy woodcut print. unfortunately, when they arrived, i was disappointed in the substrate it's printed on. it's stiff, which is good for cutting, but also feels coarse and doesn't have a very nice hand. i hope it washes up better.  anyway, it was a good color for this block and i'm at least pleased with how it looks.

*note - apparently there are two quilting cotton options and the website says the quality was upgraded in april 2024. i'm not sure which substrate i got, but i did notice you can order samples of any digitally printed fabric line, which would be a good idea before ordering lots like i did.

wensleydale #5

maybe you noticed something else i started doing with block #3 - making a "victory lap" around each block's perimeter. since i'm not trimming the blocks or removing the papers until they're all completed, i thought it prudent to make a stabilizing stitch on the edges to keep the pieces in shape and from fraying.

this block 5 is a little brighter and more color dense than the other blocks. i didn't use a low-volume print except in the center piece, and calling the orange plaid print low-volume is pushing it. i also should have used at least one print that wasn't so saturated in color, one that was a little subdued or faded. i didn't balance the bright and subdued fabrics as well in this one as the previous blocks. i thought the outer grey was going to be less color dense because it's a neutral color, but it is also quite high-volume in tone. this was no deal breaker for the block, but just another lesson learned as i hone my fabric selection and matching skills. i'm banking on the block blending in with the others and playing nicely with the quilt as a whole. 

i'd also forgotten about my directional print trick, as seen in the middle navy stripe rectangle. this was getting frustrating. then i remembered something else i'd forgotten about - compensating for cutting changes. i was originally using the cutting sizes recommended by "the quilted chicken" in their cutting video, but i found them unnecessarily large and tweaked them a little. this required changing my cuts a little so the angles would stay the same, which i hadn't done, therefore producing the wrongly-angled triangles i was having difficulty making behave. once i figured this out, i got much better results in the outer grey rectangle. 

i'm looking forward to my next blocks but i'm also feeling like i may need to do some fabric shopping. i don't have enough of the woven fabrics or teal in my stash. i may make a trip to the more traditional shop in a neighboring town at some point to see what they've got. until then, i'll keep trying to get a block a day done when i can.