Brackman Block #9

Hello out there,

I made this block last weekend and forgot to post it.  Duh.  It was a fun and easy block and enjoyable to stitch.  The fabrics are by Moda, but the particular line is now a mystery, as all the charms have been tossed in a box by me.  They are either designed by Barbara Brackman or Terry Clothier Thompson.  As mentioned before, the background fabric is not Moda.  When making smaller version blocks and quilts, it is always good to try to tone things down a bit.  Generally speaking, reproduction fabrics are not geared towards making reduced size quilts.  As a fabric lover and antique fabric collector nothing tickles me more than to see an antique fabric print that has been reproduced.  When placing them side by side, the reproduction is nearly always larger in scale.  I have only seen one fabric and repro fabric that reversed this.  That means that the block can appear to be too busy to our eye.  I love scrap quilts, but they open the door to being overwhelming with the variety of fabrics - especially in smaller sizes.  The best way to calm it all down in my opinion is to use a bit of a unifying background fabric in each block.  It gives your eye a place to rest when viewing the quilt.  Of course today's wonderful fabric designer's have made the chore of choosing fabrics delightfully easy by giving us whole lines of coordinating fabrics.  It is fun to play in my charm packs to make these blocks.  Till next time..

Sheila