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Monday, August 06, 2012

a breath of fresh air

I finished my low-volume quilt last week. This is such a special one. It's so pretty and delicate without being too fussy.
It's made from scraps and stash. I used Cheryl's Sunday Morning pattern from our book Sunday Morning Quilts.
For the quilting I did a free-form loopy pattern in white thread. Nice and easy.
I think I mentioned before that I was nervous about this whole 'low-volume' approach. I like light fabrics just as much as the next gal, or maybe even more, but working with just light value fabrics intimidated me. Would all the prints work together? Would they mesh? Would it look too chaotic? These were just a few of the questions I had. Thankfully Tara had pieced her own version of this pattern a few weeks before I did. She encouraged me by saying that the quilt could be anything that I wanted it to be. Of course it could be, (right?) but I needed that friendly reminder.
The other thing I struggled with is how big to make the quilt. The blocks are 10" finished...so I finally settled on 70" x 90", which is a large twin size. I knew I was going to love the quilt, so I made it bigger than my default (lap size). My train of thought was bigger=more versatile.
It took me a few days to figure out what to do for the backing. I love the yellow print (Pinafore in butter from Connecting Threads) and considered ordering more, but then I came to my senses and realized that I certainly DO NOT need to buy any more fabric! I ended up using 3 different pieces of small calico-ish prints from my stash.
 I do love a pieced backing...
...and it felt so good to use what I had on hand.
The binding is Circa 1934 by Cosmo Cricket for Moda, which I cut on the bias. I'm pleased with how it finishes off the quilt....just the right punch of color without overpowering the quilt. It's the cherry on top!

I love, love, LOVE this quilt! I'm ready to make another low-volume quilt (or two, or three....).

I had a few questions regarding the term 'low-volume' in previous posts. Low-volume fabrics have predominately white, light or neutral backgrounds. More often than not the prints are graphic and simple. There is a low volume quilt along in progress on flickr, with a lot of eye candy to browse. There is also a link to an article that talks about low-volume more in depth, should you want to check that out.

Happy Monday to you!

51 comments:

  1. Love, love, love this quilt...and thanks for sharing!
    Toni
    www.lifeinapinkbunnysuit.com

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  2. This is just beautiful! Low volume - high impact! Love the binding, too, perfect for the front and back. Don't you just love it when they turn out so incredibly beautiful?

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  3. so lovely. I find the low volume so inviting! Havent made one yet. I dont have many fabs that would work, but it is definitely on my "someday" list!

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  4. Your quilt is GORGEOUS! Thank you so much for sharing! The fabrics are absolutely wonderful! It is my favorite look---sometimes my daughter calls me "the pastel lady."

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  5. It's absolutely beautiful, Amanda Jean - clean, crisp, feminine without being fussy - I love it!!!

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  6. It is so beautiful! I loved the one in the book, but wasn't sure it was for me (and my bright fabric love), but I am getting more convinced!

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  7. It is beautiful, sort or calming and cosy and fresh all at once.

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  8. Beautiful quilt; perfect binding.
    I love the gentle looking light fabrics--probably because that quilt has the same kind of feel as so many of the quilts I slept under as a child and young adults.

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  9. Well, that's pretty stinking adorable. I love it. And the binding is just perfect. The back really turned out nice, too. Well done, Amanda Jean! Bravo!

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  10. Love love love it!! And the binding is perfect for it!

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  11. Ha ha, I am always looking for excuses to order more fabric, too. Glad you "came to your senses." The pieced back looks perfect with the front. Love it!

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  12. Anonymous10:04 PM

    Very nice and I love the binding.

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  13. This is gorgeous. My quilts tend to be the other - very high volume. Tried to tone it down using your double hourglass pattern - am thrilled with my attempt at lower volume. Karen . www.madewithmytwohands.blogspot.com

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  14. Lovely! I really like your color and fabric combinations. And the binding is fantastic.

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  15. Wow wow wow! Its so beautiful!

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  16. Have you seen Lurline's version?
    http://lurlineg.blogspot.com/

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  17. A really gorgeous quilt. Love it.

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  18. Kris P6:16 AM

    Beautiful quilt. Very calming and serene. I'm still building my stash, to say nothing of my scraps. I better make more quilts to get more scraps! Thanks for sharing another great quilt.

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  19. I absolutely love that quilt. Something about the lightness makes it look softer - snuglier. And, as I guess is the case with any scrap quilt, I can just picture myself on it, looking at fabrics for hours because there are so many to look at.

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  20. Your low volume quilt packs a big punch! Kudos for using what you have too!

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  21. LOVE it CrazyMom! It's so nice to see a nice light and airy quilt!

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  22. Stunning. So soft and romantic.

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  23. Anonymous11:09 AM

    looks great, vintage-y and soft.

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  24. Love this quilt. So nice. The Red binding really pops.

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  25. What can I do but follow in the comments of my previous buds--Love it, Love it, Love it. most of my work is done with darker fabrics too and this looks so yummy I may be persuaded to try a small piece with fabrics such as these. Hmmmm, thanks for the inspiration.

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  26. sure makes me want to do one of these! you continue to tempt me every single day! nice job - all the neat little fabrics...

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  27. This is just awesome!! Love the colors and the size!! Never had the courage to do such a big quilt...

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  28. Anonymous2:14 PM

    Beautiful quilt. I just started quilting this year ... your blog has been very inspirational and educational for me.

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  29. This is just so beautiful and serene! It gives such a lovely effect and a peaceful sleep too I bet! I've been working on a lot of high volume projects so I know I'll need to make one of these soon! Very inspiring :)

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  30. It's a gorgeous quilt! The low volume colours are really effective =D

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  31. the quilt looks lovely! I just picked up your book Sunday Morning Quilts and love the quilts you show.
    Karen
    http://karensquilting.com/blog/

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  32. This is a great quilt.....:)

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  33. Love this quilt. I can snuggle in it the whole day. Im new to sewing and i dont know if I'll be able to do a beautiful quilt such as yours.

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  34. I'm so glad you love it! It's impossible to not love these combos.
    And yes, you can do so much more...

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  35. My breath actually caught when I saw this! It is stunning and incredibly peaceful. It makes me want to curl up beneath the beauty and just rest from all the cares of the world.

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  36. Love it!! I must admit, when I first saw pictures of the fabrics you were using, I thought to myself, low volume? Really? Because most of those fabrics don't look like what I imagine are low-volume, but I am pleasantly surprised! So when I end up doing a low-volume quilt, I won't feel so limited because I know it can work with fabrics like yours :)

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  37. Beautiful, beautiful! quilt. Thanks for defining "low-volume." I was thinking easy, no stress type of quilting. Light or neutral does make sense, though, and I love the outcome. Thanks for sharing.
    Mary

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  38. Anonymous7:39 PM

    Your quilt is just beautiful.
    It is so soft looking with
    those light colors.
    Amazing.

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  39. SO awesome!! Just breath taking!

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  40. This quilt is just lovely Amanda! What great low-volume results!!!

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  41. This turned out so beautiful! I couldn't picture it when you started working on it, so now I love it. How cool to try out new techniques with patterns from your book.

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  42. Thanks for sharing your lovely quilt. Low volume is a new term and idea to me and I really like it. Have to give it a try as soon as possible.

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  43. Gorgeous! nothing stopping me from making one except time. I have your book for the pattern and certainly enough fabric. Must get started.

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  44. Just Beautiful!
    I agree with making that one bigger. It will get lots of use!

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  45. Not sure if anyone else said this, but the link to the article on the low volume quilts takes me to a yahoo flickr group that is private. :( Says that I don't have permission to access it. any way we can get that?

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  46. Ditto with Tracy. I am trying to get to the low volume link and cannot access it.

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  47. same comment about the link to low volume quilt. too bad --

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  48. What a gorgeous quilt! I wish mine were half as nice as yours. :P

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  49. it turned out really fantastic. I hadn't thought of doing one like that before but I will now. Thanks for the inspiration.

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