Working in a Series

July 21, 2012 Elizabeth E.4 Comments

I think part of my discouragement this week was fatigue. I’m working a stack of Kaffe Fassett fabrics. There’s probably 40 to 50 different fabrics that I’ve collected over the years, and in this pattern it’s a challenge to get the fabrics to talk to each other within the block.

I can see, though, that working in a series has improved my ability to see what works, as I change out the leaves and some other smaller pieces, as well (above). I found that I was less enamored of one of the earlier blocks, but it was already appliqued down and I would have been crazy to mess with it.

Here’s the final version of that block.

But I did mess with this one. The brightly colored circles with red in them are a different line of fabric, Amy Butler, and they stand out among Kaffe’s florals. (Although I am using some Phillip Jacobs, and others from the Westminster line.)

I think the Anna Maria Horner fabric does harmonize well in terms of detail and color (the aqua circles at the top, and the second large circles down from the top, with feathers and berries).

All in all, I am glad I pushed on. I do love looking at them on the pin wall, although now I’ve turned my eye toward the borders — with more design decisions. When I went to the Springville, Utah quilt show last summer, a version of this Kim McClellan pattern was done up in softer greens, a lovely quilt and a contrast to the bolder hues usually seen. In this, you can see the border design.

It was certainly deserving of its blue ribbon.

And you are all blue ribbon readers–many thanks again for your encouragement!

Something to Think About

Better Than Chocolate

July 20, 2012 Elizabeth E.5 Comments

You are all better than chocolate.

You are all better than giving in to discouragement.

In other words, you are all good company through the Quilt Swamp, and I was gratified and encouraged by your comments — thank you, thank you.

So I persevered today, made more difficult by the news from Colorado as I worked slowly, clicking on CNN or NPR or whatever news outlet I could find. It touched us also closer to home, as the troubled young suspect went to our local Big U as an undergrad, where my husband is chair of the Department of Neuroscience. And whose emailbox and phone message box was filled with requests from major news organizations and newspapers for more information. The Big U’s media office handled all requests, of course, but that something so far away from us can reach out into our lives made me think hard today, and I’m sure you all did the same. My sympathy and prayers are with the families of those who were injured and slain, but also with the suspect’s family.

So, with a grateful heart for your nice and helpful comments, I wanted to show you what steady work in my studio produced. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more comments on some of the process. But tonight, give someone an extra hug. And send out a thought and a prayer out for those who are suffering.

Quilts · Something to Think About

Lollypop Block Quilt Swamp

July 19, 2012 Elizabeth E.10 Comments

Existential Crisis this morning.

I don’t know how you choose what you’ll make for a quilt, whether it be the fabric pulls you in, or you see a design on someone’s blog or in a magazine. I chose this for both of those reasons, and now, more than halfway through getting the blocks assembled, I’m thinking: Really? You really want to make this? Because even though you’re getting the blocks pinned together, you still have to sew them down. Then make the sashing (another slew of piecing) and the borders (I’m simplifying the pattern). Then back it, quilt it, and just how big do you want this to be? Bed sized? Wall-hanging? Who’s going to quilt it–you?

So you could say I’m knee-deep in the quilty swamp. This is how quilts become UFOs. Somewhere along the line your fervor for a quilt begins to wane, another fabric group comes along that calls to you from the fabric store, you spend soooo much time on something that you just get sick of it.

No good answers today. Here are the eight so far: three appliqued down onto the fabric and five pinned together.

A photo of eight with the sunlight streaming onto the blocks in the late afternoon. I was tired.

Still tired today.

WIP

Back into the Lollypop Forest

July 18, 2012July 18, 2012 Elizabeth E.7 Comments

Yep, the mess is back in my sewing studio. This is block number six. After this one, I’m halfway. Putting down the big petals and leaves is fun and goes quickly, and then it’s the small circles which take up the time. I’m currently debating the ones dangling from the tips of the magenta leaves: do they work? Should I go to a different fabric? What WILL work there? I’m getting quite a collection of “no, not quite right” pieces in a ziploc bag. Sometimes I think it’s best to just lay it down and move on, as these trees will be seen in a collection — a riot of colors and shapes and no one item will stand out. I hope.

Finished my comittment to the Polaroid Blocks and sent them off, but just cut out a bunch more centers (you can see them in the Lolly photo, on the windowsill). At our group’s quilt day, Lisa had brought out an old project I’d abandoned (anyone remember “I Spy” quilts?) and she let me sneak back a few of those centers. It was like strolling through a historical section of the quilting timeline, to see some of those fabrics. So I cut a few more Polaroid centers.

I received an Amazon gift card. You know what I need to do with these. READ THEM.

I worked on these when the quilters met, and at the end of the day, took a good look at a couple of the blocks. Like the blue/green one above. See the problem (the correct layout is the yellow/lavender block)? I did unpick the blue/green block, found its companion of green/blue, and swapped out the corner pieces.