Taupe Black White Gray

Those colors sound dull, don't they? They do to me. Nevertheless, in one of McCall's Quilting magazines, the Spring 2013 edition of America Makes Fast Quilts, a neutral-toned quilt titled Odds and Ends surprisingly caught my eye, even with the unexciting (in my opinion) hues. 

Unlike the quilts on the magazine cover, Odds and Ends is made from a dark gray solid, a light gray solid, and nine fat quarters in white, taupe, black, and grays. I tend to favor brights and jewel tones and will be drawn to pastels occasionally if in the right combination, but generally I avoid beiges, browns, and blacks. Here are the last two quilts – and perhaps the only two quilts –  I made with gray or beige in them: Orange and Grey (8/10/16 post) and Oh Boy (2/21/19 post). Note that even then, I cheated by adding a bright orange or bright turquoise so neither quilt is far from neutral.

 

I knew if left to my own devices I would not buy neutral fabrics on my own but I liked the overall effect of the quilt. The taupe in the fabric line seemed warm enough to make the black and gray welcoming, the white brought brightness to the palette, and the pattern had a modern feel to it. So I bought the kit offered in the magazine to stretch my color palette and tentatively venture into the modern regime. Can something seven years old still be considered modern? Plus, I also may have been stuck in the same color palette for even longer than seven years! It is time to break the mold. I made up the following sets of four blocks each that showcases each of the nine fat quarter fabrics. Each fat quarter makes four blocks. There will be one left over because the arrangement is 5 x 7 blocks and so I need only 35. The first twelve blocks (three sets of four) contain a large-scale two-color floral (left), a two-color mini-print (middle), and a dark two-color bold abstract (right).

The second twelve blocks contain a large-scale three-color light background floral (left), a two-color mini-print (middle), and a light two-color bold abstract (right). The light two-color bold abstract will be repeated in the binding.

The third twelve blocks contain a bold stripe with chevrons with a modern vibe or men's suiting vibe (left). Although it is masculine it is softened with nearby florals. And yes, I did fussy cut so the stripe was centered. (I also fussy cut the mini-print in the center of two previous photos. I really have a problem with being random.) The large-scale three-color dark floral is repeated in border (middle). I omitted one of those blocks in order to meet the 35 block limit. A large-scale three-color medium-toned background floral completes the array (right).

When joined together the blocks alternate in horizontal or vertical format so their light gray frames appear to interlock. The pieced border was interesting with inserts that served as completion pieces for the light grey surrounds on two sides of each block.

The assembled quilt top measure 62½" x 82½". It will be the largest quilt I have yet attempted on my Handiquilter Sweet Sixteen sit-down long arm. The name Odds and Ends does not excite me, so I will be thinking up a different one. The quilt looks to me like it has a lot of windows or picture frames so I will ponder along that path of reasoning.

While I have momentum, I will prepare the binding. Then my next step will be to piece the backing for the top. I was grateful I had purchased the optional backing yardage with the kit. It saves me from an excuse to procrastinate at this point, as I am prone to do. Hopefully I will not lose steam when it comes time to layering the quilt sandwich.