March Madness: Final Four Game 1

Today starts the voting for our two Final Four games! In this round of voting, we're sharing a bit more information about the quilts. We hope you enjoy hearing what the designers have to say about their patterns and the fabrics they used! 

Find voting information at the bottom of the post.

Movement in Squares

Movement in Squares by Wendy Sheppard, 

featuring Op Art Reflections from Kanvas

Wendy talks about Movement in Squares:

How did you come up with the quilt design? 

In the back of my mind, I had always wanted to design a "linkage" design.  I thought the Op Art Reflections fabrics would be fun to use for a quilt of "scrappy" linkages.  And then, it was a matter of deciding if I wanted my linkages to be all rectangular or square.  I decided to use a mix to kind of break up the "predictability" of the design a bit.   The design also reflects my love for structure, symmetry, and order, a leftover from my engineering days before my Mom days, I suppose.

What do you like best about the design?

#1 I really like the fact that it looks like a complicated design, but it is actually quite easy to construct. 

#2 The overall effect is what I love. The "linkage" effect gives a sense of movement to the square and rectangular links in the design.

#3 The background fabric I used (see next question).

#4 This design is versatile to be used for any fabrics. I am thinking it would make a visually effective "modern Amish" quilt using just solids. But then, the possibilities are endless. If I owned a gallery, I would commission quilters to use this design for an arrays of fabrics for different final looks of the quilts.

How did you choose the solid background color to use with the prints?

It is actually not a solid fabric. It is a mottled greenish/bluish fabric from Benartex's Blush collection that makes a very interesting background fabric. I am always experimenting using different fabrics as background fabrics in contemporary designs. You can read more about this choice here.  

What's appealing about the Op Art Reflections fabrics?

I love the geometric designs that make up these fabrics. 

vs.

It's Electrifying

It's Electrifying by Wendy Sheppard, 

featuring Electric Feather by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry

Wendy talks about It's Electrifying:

How did you come up with the quilt design? 

As soon as I saw the fabric swatches, I knew I wanted a "clean cut" and simple look for the design that lets the fabrics do the "talking."

What do you like best about the design?

#1 I like the fact that it is a dressed up HST (half-square triangle) design!  So often, HST units are used as sub-units in "supportive roles" in block construction. To have the HST be the main players in a quilt design is what appeals to me about the design.

#2 Like Movement in Squares, I also think this design is versatile for many fabric choices.

Why did you decide to use such large HSTs?

There is a lot of movement and texture in Electric Feather fabrics, and I wanted to use simple but large patches to highlight the different feels in the movement and texture on the fabrics. Smaller HSTs might not sufficiently capture the movement and texture otherwise.

What prompted you to use beige as a neutral, in addition to the white and black?

I used the white and black to tie all the colors together in the design. But then, I felt like I needed something more subdued (thus beige) to give a bit of rest to the eye in the midst of the contrasts. So the beige was used to bring out the other colors in the design to shine like jewels.

Can you talk about your choice to put a black frame around the colored half of HST and the small squares on the opposite side? Why not just one or the other?

Yes, the small squares and the black frame combo to me is the most interesting part of the design. The HST's by themselves are just HST's, but with the framing, the large HST's all of a sudden become what draw the eye. I didn't want to use an all black frame because that seemed a bit predictable, and a frame with all small squares around makes things a bit too busy. So, the compromise and balance happened when I mixed the small squares and black to make the frames. The final framing combo brings out the HST perfectly, I think.

What's appealing about the Electric Feather fabrics?

The richness in colors and the overall texture is what I love about the Electric Feather fabrics! 

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Leave a comment below with your vote for this game (choose Movement in Squares or It's Electrifying). One comment per person, please. You can also vote a second time on our Facebook Group – Sew Interesting, and you can see all of the fabrics in each of the featured line on our Facebook page. 

Voting for this game is open through Wednesday, April 2 at 1 pm EST.

To see the full bracket of sixteen and/or read the details of March Madness, click here.