Why you need a larger fabric collection

I designed this quilt for a class at The Quilters Land Cruise in Racine, Wisconsin several years ago.
Each year they have a theme and the theme that year was 4 Patches. The 4 patches are the 4 small diamonds. This quilt is a perfect example why you need a fabric collection.
There are some Austrian fabrics I bought in the early 1980's that form the white inner border and the star background. The navy, white and narrow strip of red in the border are from Gutcheon Patchworks - no longer in business but well represented in my fabric collection.
The navy outer border and the large star points are pieces of Japanese fabric purchased at the quilt show in Houston, also over 20 years ago.
One of my favorite sayings is "Fabric has to age". By that I mean all the fabric produced at a particular time is too similar. Often when you make a piece with fabric all from the same collection or year it ends up looking almost like a preprinted piece you could buy. If it has to age for 20 years, so what!

My motto is if you like it buy it and you'll find a place for it. This pertains to fabric but also to home accessories and other items like clothing and personal accessories.

This photo shows a part of my fabric collection. You see my blues, greens, blacks, grays and whites.
The distance between my shelves is only 5 1/4 inches. Originally there was 11 inches between shelves and I stacked my fabric. I always wanted the fabric either on the bottom or in the middle of the pile and things never got put back where they belong. This works so much better. As you can see I store my fabric by color, unless the pieces are 2 yards or more. Those pieces are also stored by color but on lower shelves where their 22 inch width fits flat. I always enjoy reorganizing my fabrics. Each time I do this I find fabrics I had forgotten about. I also purge the fabrics I know I will no longer use and have several places I donate them to.

NOW GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE QUILT. I just saw something that I had never noticed before. The pattern on the large navy points was cut randomly. As I look at this I see each of the two adjacent points are similar. It would look better if the similar points were across from each other. Fortunately you are seing a top rather than a quilted quilt. I will go back and change the position of these points.

I am going to share 2 puzzles with you tonight. One will be easy and the other harder. They are both the same section of the same quilt. I have manipulated the photo of one of them and made it a mosaic with my computer.

This is the easier of the two.


This one is a little more challenging. It is the one I manipulated for a mosaic effect.
If these are too easy for you and you would like a little more of a challenge just put a comment in the comments section and I'll try to give you a greater challenge.