"String of Marbles" unquilted top Cindy Grisdela 2011

More marbles! “String of Marbles is Day 17 of my one art quilt top a day for the month of March. I auditioned several background fabrics for this one, and the bright yellow seemed to be the best choice. Could be because it seems like it’s finally spring and the daffodils are blooming! I do like the way the border makes the bright colors in the design pop. It’s interesting to use bright and muted colors together–they seem to complement each other. Too much bright and it looks like I dumped out the crayon box, and too muted is well, muted! I’m not sure I like the borders put on symmetrically, but I ran out of time to play with it, so I’ll have to think about it while I work on the rest of the tops.

I had to take a break and make a gift, so I didn’t have as much time as I wanted to work on this top. I tried a couple of other ideas, but nothing clicked. So I cut up a variety of 3.5” squares and started making these units by stacking two contrasting pieces and cutting a freehand curve. That felt right!

There’s something intriguing about these shapes, clearly, since I keep coming back to them over and over. I enjoy the curved edges and the contrasting colors, plus there are so many ways to arrange the same simple units. I expect we’ll see a couple more variations before the month is up!

If you’re new to the project, I challenged myself to create one art quilt a day for the month of March. Each piece is 16″x20,” uses only solid fabrics, and is entirely pieced by machine, not fused. I’ll choose the best of them, quilt them and mount them on stretcher bars, and show them in an exhibit later this year. I’m posting nearly every day on my progress, so check back often!