Category Archives: Quilt designs

Playing with Color

Have you ever played with re-coloring your design or a pattern from another designer. I love playing with color and finding new color combinations. I recently had to do this for two designs.

This first one, was designed based on an image from Design Seeds via @thebungalow22 of a striped beach umbrella.

I loved how the original design came out. The color palette landed up being an unusual and unique palette.

When playing with color combinations for this design, I wanted to make sure that I kept this uniqueness and the combination of cold and warm color balance.

The first playing with oranges, blues and grey, which I think maintains the freshness.

The second, a more reserved palette with teal, green and peach.

A third version, using peach-pink, green and greys.

With these striped designs, I am thinking of making prints or fabric wall hangings, to see them side by side – it would make an interesting color study I think.

The second design was based on an old gas lamp at the Mannheim water tower (Wasserturm), a picture captured while visiting family. The color palette was created using the Palette Builder tool from Play Crafts.

The original design, definitely with this color palette, gives an air of Art Deco (1930s). I like it but knew if I made it I would need to re-color it.

I first tried a black, white and grey version, which I think I need as a floor (tiles).

I played with some bright colors, and had fun with mixing pink + orange with some aqua + greens.

Keeping with bold colors, used a warm palette here with pinks + oranges + purples, using the white to make the colors pop.

Wanted to play with more muted tones, so added some pastel based colors to this purple + yellow based palette.

Liking the white but wanting to give it some freshness in this one. I went back to the warm + cold palette with this one. A mix of green + pink + peach and using the pastel versions of the green + peach, and again the white to add to the brightness and contrast.

Lastly, I wanted to  play with some prints, my go to Carolyn Friedlander prints. I like the variations in her blue prints and love the lilac prints that are in her collections. (color: blue + lilac + mustard and cream).

Do you play around with color in your designs or patterns? What are your favorite combinations?

Please Note: If you would like to make or use one of my designs, please email me (ml_wilkie(at)hotmail(dot)com) or leave a comment below. I am happy to talk with you on options and provide the relevant measurements etc. or have you test out a pattern. Also, if you use one of my designs, please use the following text to credit me the design: “Designed by Michelle Wilkie @ Factotum of Arts”.

What Shade Are You: Rails {a finish}

REPOSTING from RJR Fabrics “What Shade are You” Blog post today.
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Today, on “What Shade are You” I would like to share with you on my design journey and inspiration for my quilt “Rails”.

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I am Michelle Wilkie. I can be found on Instagram @ml_wilkie, or on my blog Factotum of Arts.

I was so excited to be participating in What Shade are you, and when I received my bundle in the mail a multitude of ideas came to mind. The colors are so vibrant.
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My original bundle, had a couple additional colors but the final fabrics I chose were:

Cotton Supreme Solids:
Optical White
Black
Turks & Caicos
Night
Electric Blue
Anemone
Citron
Sunny Delight
Tangerine Dream
Chilli Pepper
Grape
Shell pink
Raging Ruby

Additionally, I used some C+S fabrics to add some interest within the solids:
Sprinkle in Corduroy
Dottie in Fedora
Dottie Cousins in Natural

I get inspired all the time from the world around us. For this quilt, it was no different. My husband is from Mannheim Germany, where we both lived for a few years before moving to the US. My inspiration for this quilt came from the Neustheim Train Junction.

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The lines fascinated me. I loved the idea of using improvisation strip piecing to try and mimic these strong direction lines. It was an interesting experience bending the fabric to make the gentle curves. Some tips:

  1. I started this quilt at one end and added in one direction, using strips to mark out where I was adding curves that would intersect with other lines.
  2. Use a lot of starch to get the pieces to lay flat and press often.
  3. Make sure you trim your threads and additional fabric as you go, especially when using white.
  4. Lastly, I glue basted this quilt while it was on my design wall. I pressed each layer to fix it to the one beneath. This technique was important as it helped the top to adhere flat to the bottom layers and hold in place as it stretched out some of the puffy areas.

Here’s a close-up of the quilt top. The predominant colors are blues, yellows and white, however as I stepped back with each addition, I decided to add pops of colors. This adds balance and richness to this quilt that helped also break up the stark bands of color. You can see the use of red, purple, pinks, and orange.

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For the quilting, I used Aurifil 2410, 2021, 2120, and 2783. I used irregular-spaced wavy lines that flowed with the fabric strips, to complement the colors and design of the quilt. In the binding, I also added some interest and continued the flow of color by inserting a piece of C+S print and a small blue strip to my white binding.

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This was so much fun to play with such vibrant colors. I loved the overall finish that the Cotton Supreme Solids provided. Thanks to RJR fabrics for the opportunity and to you for stopping by.
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Stop by my RJRFabrics and ml_wilkie (on Instagram) for a giveaway later today.

Mad Dash {Pattern Release}

Today I am releasing my Mad Dash Quilt Pattern. It is now available in my payhip and craftsy shops.

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Over some time, I had started to collect a significant amount of scrap and panels of Maze and Vale low volume, hand printed fabrics. Saving them for the perfect quilt. After playing around with dashes, inspired by the lines in a text document, I came up with this design.

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In my head, I could envision the recently released Art Gallery Fabrics soft Denim for the dashes, and the Maze and Vale prints for the backgrounds.

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I love how this quilt turned out. I have two layers of batting and denim on the back as this is now our picnic blanket.mad-dash-back
The pattern includes 3 alternative sizes. The pattern testers did an amazing job. I love their choices.

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Photo Credits to each of the testers:
1. Debbie's Pillow (IG: @aquilterstable); 
2. Katherine's Lizzie House quilt (IG: @katgraycraft);
3. Jacqueline's quilt using solids (IG: @jskarritt); 
4. Molly's in a great woodsy palette (IG: @lane33andhalf)

Details

Name: Mad Dash
Design:
Original Design (Payhip or Craftsy)
Fabric: AGF Denim Studio, Maze and Vale Low Volumes
Backing: AGF Denim Studio
Binding: AGF Textured Denim
Dimensions: 60 x 60″
Quilted: Sarah @ Crinkle Love

I would love to see any makes with the pattern. Tag me on Instagram (@ml_wilkie) or use the hashtag #maddashquilt