Watercolor Quilt and a Finish

This is the quilt that was laying next to my machine. I guess confession is good, since I finished it right after showing my laziness. I just stippled it, but I like the texture from stippling, so I'm happy with the finish.

I also found the perfect blog for my state of mind that day.

Stitchin' Therapy

Debbie makes beautiful, colorful and amazing quilts and that day she was doing a tutorial on watercolor quilts.

I've always wanted to learn how, I love the flow of colors, the way they blend and the softness.

For the second time in my quilting life, I followed the directions to a T. I did need to run to Joann's, there are no quilting stores within an hour of me, sadly the last one just closed. I don't have any tans, blacks, browns or basically dark colors in my stash, at least not with flowers or anything dense on them. Joann's didn't really have much to offer, but I made do. I'm already planning my next watercolor and I will be better prepared.

Debbie talks about color values and of course in a quilt like this it's important. She had a little trick to take a picture, turn it black and white, and you'll see the values so much better. It worked great.

Then there's the grid. Debbie says to make the grid, it's important. Now I'm the "I don't need no stinkin grid" type, but I'm going to follow the directions. I made the grid, it took no time at all, and it saved me three times. So it your going to try this, make the grid!

The fun part was playing with the layout.

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As soon as I saw the heart, I knew that was the one I would make. In my mind, that is the classic, and as a fairly new quilter, I will go for the classic everytime. I needed to make 10 more blocks, which I made all in lights and mediums.

That's my finish. I learned a lot and will do this again on a bigger scale with better colors. I'm not sure about a black heart. I think I liked both of the other layouts better, but now that the heart is done I can move on. I think I'm going to get some greens and make a wall hanging of the wreath for Christmas. With the right fabrics  it should be beautiful. I really want to thank Debbie for her help and encouragement. Go check out her blog and look at all of the beautiful quilts she has made. 

Thanks for stopping in,

Dana