Wednesday, January 7, 2009

My Scrap Quilt Is Pieced And That Fabric Is Not Right




Have you ever pieced a scrappy block, or been in a block swap and found that the fabric used did not have the look you wanted? The two photos are the same, well almost the same. This is a log cabin quilt I am beginning to quilt and there are a few fabrics here and there that are a bit too light in the dark side of the log cabin block. Well no problem I have a new trick. If you look closely you will see that two of the fabrics on the dark side of the log cabin block are just a bit darker and look much better. There is a very dark piece to the right of the red square and the fabric next to it and the one below the red square are just too light. How did I do it? Simple I have an assortment of Sharpie Markers and Pigma pens in various colors and I simply lightly darkened those pieces. The difference is subtle but it does make a big difference. I have been busy stitching in the ditch around all the light areas so have pretty much been all over the quilt and found quite a few pieces here and there that were just way to light. Some even lighter than my example here and I simply played with the markers and changed them. In some fabrics I played with the print to only change say some really light leaves and make the darker green, or on a plaid I only darkened one color in the plaid. Wow what a difference this can make.

So the next time you find that the fabric in your scrap quilt simply is too light you can fix it without having to rip that piece out and replace it.

2 comments:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

what kind of pens and sharpes do you use? I will get a supply! when you wash the quilt the ink stays in and doesn't run? (I always wash my quilts)
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

Unknown said...

Oh, I am dreaming of a day when I am able to be confident enough to do this pattern. I love it. I am sticking to squares and pinwheels it seems. They must be my comfort zone for now. I have just pieced a quilt that everything matched and it's just what the measurements say it's supposed to be. Your work is great!
I have the washable markers and they really work well.