It's Complementary

Just as Karen announced our new theme, I looked at my first three Colorplay quilts and saw that I might have the beginnings of a simple/traditional block theme starting. The idea of opposites attracting immediately made me think of the "Robbing Peter to Pay Paul" block. In the traditional block, the two fabrics used for one block swap places for teh next block. Usually the block is a simple Drunkard's Path quarter circle in a square, or it's a square with a curved section cut out of each side.



I didn't want to just make a block, but I did want to reference the concept. After a false start, I realized that a simple rectangle in a rectangle could do the trick. It looks abstract and not immediately like a quilt block, and still each side is the opposite of the other.



One side is yellow, the other purple. One side is near solid, the other is highly patched. One side is matte cotton, the other is shiny, soft, rich, pattered silk. One side is machine quilted, the other is hand quilted. One side is stitched vertically, the other horizontally. I might even add beading to the edge of the purple side, but I've been traveling and haven't had a chance to find and add the right ones.

All the fabrics came from my stash (who knew I had so many purple silks?) and the perfect buttery yellow foil to the purples was a napkin of all things! As I cut and arranged my pieces, I missed the drawn thread edge of the original napkin. So, I added it back in with a little purple silk peeking through. Sure, it means that the sides aren't strictly opposite, but it complements the couched gold cord on the opposite side nicely.