Monday, June 14, 2010

Pretty Squares

Imagine my surprise when I went to my PO Box today and opened a package that had packets of charm squares just for me. Tara Lynn Darr knows what I love--precut squares! Pretty ones! So exciting. And perfect for my small scrappy quilts and especially good for making my doll quilt club quilts. Tara said she enjoyed my recent post about Ugly Squares and couldn't resist sending me some squares. She's hosting a Charm Square exchange on her website.


Tara is so sweet. I buy bundles and charm squares from her whenever I run into her booth at a quilt show. Some of my best quilts are scrap quilts made with lots of different prints. Some of you have e-mailed me asking where to get "pretty" fabrics like I use in my quilts. If you're looking for some great reproduction fabrics, and you want to collect lots of "scraps" for making your small quilts, check out the charm packs and bundles at her store - Sew Unique Creations . They're great for making those small scrappy quilts with lots of little pieces. Tara, I forgot to ask, do I really have to send 300+ squares back to you now??

Pretty Squares

Everyone had an opinion about my recent Ugly Squares post:

  • "You need some ugly colors to make the pretty ones stand out."
  • "A fabric by itself may look horrendous, but when paired with another fabric, it  looks great."
  • "Reading your post I can't seem to find the ugly fabrics . . ."
  • "Ugly prints make the most interesting quilts."

Okay, it's like this. I'm sorry, I'm still not there yet. I know it's a matter of opinion, and sure they're not really ugly ugly, but even though some of them are blue, I still don't like them very well. And I know everyone says we're supposed to throw a couple of ugly squares into the mix but I like my pretty squares too much! I just can't deliberately buy "ugly prints." No way. If I get some ugly squares along with others in a charm pack, I'll use them in a quilt. Maybe. But I won't buy yardage I don't like. I'm not a convert yet.

Really  pretty squares

I've made a lot of really cute scrap quilts using pretty fabrics that I chose one by one because I loved the prints. This is the fun part!


So maybe sometime in the future I'll try making my quilts with more ugly fabrics, but for now I think I'm just going to stick to using my "pretty squares" to make my pretty quilts.




11 comments:

Unknown said...

Goodness no girl - don't send me 300 charms back - this was just for fun. I get a kick out of surprising people and sending "pretty" stuff out in the mail! Oh - and my motto with "ugly" fabrics - If it's still ugly, you haven't cut it small enough! LOL

antique quilter said...

oh thats so exciting to get a package like that!
I will be joining in her swap, hmmm maybe I should send her 300 squares, think she will send me back 300!
LOL
can't wait to see what you create with this pile of beauties..
Kathie

Terry said...

Congrats on the surprise in your mail! All your quilts are beautiful! I have to say I've used some fabrics that I never would have bought individually (they were either given to me or were in a charm pack) and most of the time once they were in a quilt, they were fine. But I have come across a few that I've just given away too.

Unknown said...

That was a nice gift!

I'm with you, it pains me to use an ugly piece of fabric in my quilts.

I recently joined the American Schoolgirl Club and I'm SO looking forward to it!

Janet said...

What a fun surprise in the mail!! Seeing that blue scrappy quilt at the end of your post makes me want to go get out your book and sew one up - right now! I love it!

Heather said...

Cutting 300 little squares at one time is a cinch with a 60mm rotary cutter and a stack of fabrics with a firm hand! However, hopefully she was kind enough to "give" them to you, so you don't have to send any back! Love the post and I too agree - I'm not there yet when it comes to "ugly prints".

Hellen Sigurbjörg said...

Your quilts are so beautiful, lovley colours and patterns. I totally agree with you about ugly fabrics. I´ve learnd that they don´t become pretty amongst other pretty fabrics. I only buy fabrics I like.

Kathleen Tracy said...

I think it's true that "ugly prints," or what we may call ugly--just not to our taste--will probably blend well in a scrap quilt. Especially if it's an antique-looking reproduction. But I can't bring myself to deliberately buy fabric I don't like.

Maybe we should all join Tara's charm exchange and get some ugly prints that way! Then we don't have to buy them, we can just swap 'em!

Beth said...

Even when I have gotten "ugly" fabrics in a swap, I still can't use them. Maybe in a challenge quilt. I haveto likethe fabric otherwise I just keep seeing that ugly piece.
Nice charm you got.

Robin said...

I actually agree with you because your quilts are small and like Beth said, you will keep seeing the ugly print. I think that the bigger the quilt or the more pieces in the quilt, the less your eye will keep going to the occasional ugly one.

Mary @ Neat and Tidy said...

Everytime I come to this blog, I see something else I want to make. Your work is beautiful!

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