Pink and Orange

Pink and Orange
91" x 88"

This is one of my stash busters projects, in which I attempt to use up my stash in a bed quilt while exploring different designs ideas.  I wanted to learn to sew circles.  I think this pattern is called Drunkard's Path?  Regardless, it was a lot of hand cutting of pieces, and a lot of curves to sew.  Suffice to say, I'm good with the circle thing now.
What I learned.  All my patterned oranges and pinks look kind of the same next to each other because their color values were so similar.  I needed to buy solids for the backgrounds which kind of went against the spirit of the project.  Oh well!  The larger circles are pink on an orange background and the smaller circles are orange on a pink background.  I thought the difference would be significant to notice it as the first thing about this quilt.  I was wrong.  In fact, it is hard to see that at all unless I mention it to the viewer.  Was it that way for you?  Did you notice?
So, this means that for two similar colors, in a quilt like this, the value plays a more important role, as does the other main factor, the size of the circles.  It is easy to see at a glance that one side has larger circles and the other has smaller circles.  Shape and size are important!

What I love about this quilt.  It is so pretty.  I use minimal machine quilting and some hand quilting so it has a very soft texture.  I also really love the back.  I decided to make BIGGER circles on the back, and a calmer color palette in case I got tired of the POP of bright color in such a large size.  The back is pretty awesome!

I improvisationally pieced large sections of neutral fabrics, and then used giant freezer paper templates to cut the shapes to sew the Drunkard's Path blocks with the white background.  It was so fun to play with so many different patterned neutrals.  My favorites were the large white flower, the white bunnys on black, and the little tiny rows of creatures on a grey background.  Too fun!
The last thing I learned....if your batting is too thin, in this case, mine was, the bright pop from the front shows through to the back.  It makes a warm color cast that I was not particularly looking for.  And you may not notice this effect on these photos because there has been a bit of color correction in Photoshop, but I assure you, in person, it is a bit noticeable.  And, probably more significant because most of the back is white.  I will remember this lesson for the future (I hope!).  If you would like to see this quilt, it will be showing at the Austin Area Quilt Guild's Show, Palmer Auditorium, Sept 16-18, Austin, TX.  I entered it as a two sided quilt, but if it is not showing both sides, as a Quilt Angel (with the white gloves) to show you the back.  :)