Having finished my Hawaiian appliqué blocks I went to Hobbysew a couple of days ago for some backing fabric — I found a fabulous purple print that Suzy will love.
(I wasn’t able to spread it flat on the cutting table to photograph it because Vanima decided it was her spot):
While I was at the shop I looked at green batiks for the stem of my magic vine borders and possibly also for a 2″ inner border. I have several batiks at home but they were all too light or too yellow or too blue or there wasn’t enough, so I was forced to buy some more (such a tragedy!). I found two medium-dark greens and brought them home to test against the blocks. I pulled out a block from every fabric (I left out the duplicates) and arranged them in a row. Then I laid out one fabric I already had and the two new ones.
Batik 1
This is the one I already had. I love it as a fabric but I’m reluctant to use it for a ¼” bias stem because as with many batiks there is too much variation in value, and I suspect that the darker areas will disappear into the black. I’ll find other uses for it, though.
Batik 2
I am definitely a teal girl (I wear a lot of it) and with many of the purples being on the blue side I thought that teal would go well with them. I was disappointed to see that it looks dull.
Batik 3
This is the “purest” green of the three and although as a solitary fabric I prefer the teal, this green works better when placed against the pinks and purples of the blocks. There is some value variation but not the same extent as Batik 1 and I think it will work well as a ¼” stem.
I was browsing some crafting videos later that day and came across one that was demonstrating a new colour wheel product and had a moment of blinding revelation — I could have saved myself the trouble if I’d realised from the start that I needed a pure green to complement all that purple. In fact I think that a yellowish green might have worked even better, but I am not fond of yellow-greens and when dark they turn to olive … which is probably why I liked the first batik against the blocks.
I do have a couple of olive batiks that I’m using in my Flame Rose quilt but I only have a few inches left, not enough for the bias stems. And no, I am not going to go back to the shop to look for olive batiks. The green will do. In fact, when compared directly to the colour wheel, the third batik does have areas of yellow-green as well as true green, so I’m confident it will look good.
The Eclectic Needle 