Scrappy Trip in Sherbet

Another pastel quilt!  Don't get used to it, the ones I'm working on now are a lot brighter!

This one is a small scrappy trip around the world.  Tutorial here.

I had a lot of fun with these light colors and the off centered square.  This is one that I love!  I also like the small crosshatch quilting that ties it all together.

It's four blocks square, and turned out to be 40" square once washed, so it seems that making 16 of these blocks yields the perfect baby quilt.  Hmmm.... I'm pretty sure I'll be visiting this one again!

McElligot's Pool Complete!

This quilt's color palette was inspired by a page from a Dr. Suess book.  Read about it here.  It's been a long time in the making, but it's finally done.

In some ways it didn't turn out the way I envisioned it, but it's still a soft and pretty quilt!

If you look at the photo of the whole quilt, you'll see that the top and left sides, as well as the top left corner, fade to lighter colors.  This was my original idea, and it worked (sort of) in the end.  I think I gave up on this quilt and didn't want to make it bigger.  A larger quilt would allow for more color blending and give the look I was imagining.

Sometimes though, I just have to be realistic and move on to the next project(s)!

It ended up being a nice throw size, with misc. greens and blues on the back.

By the way, thanks for all your feedback on my geese quilt in progress!  As you may have noticed, I've been lacking inspiration with quilting over the last six months.  I used to always have oodles of ideas, and now it feels like every quilt I've finished or am working on is just blah...

I know there have been many factors involved, but I hope I can get some direction back soon!  The other day I had the thought that maybe right now is the time to just make quilts from patterns for a while.  Maybe even just use one fabric collection in a quilt.

If I'm getting bogged down by overthinking my decisions, then I just need to forget about my own ideas for a while!

Stuck on Geese

After cutting and sewing many flying geese units, I've made good headway on this quilt.  That stack of squares above is all I have left to sew of the individual geese.

Meanwhile I'm wrestling with the layout.  The two smaller photos above show the two options I'm considering at the moment.  (Each photo only shows half the width of the quilt.  I didn't have all the geese made yet when taking this photo)

If you're wondering what the difference is between these two, the one on the left has the block colors change after each goose.  The one on the right has four of the same color in a row before changing to the next color.

I originally planned on the left hand layout.  When I put it up on my design wall though, it looked too choppy.  In the small photo here it looks good, but up close you don't see the colors flowing together.

That's why I decided to try the second layout.  It does show the colors blending much better.  Seeing it in this small photo though, I'm not sure I like it!

So I'm stuck again! 


Meanwhile, I do have a few finished quilts to show you soon!

Process

Thought I'd show you a little of my process on one of these projects that's been sitting for a few months because I couldn't decide how to finish.

I had a charm pack of this fabric collection from Tula Pink (can't remember the name right now).  One day I was needing some instant gratification sewing, so I grabbed this charm pack (5" squares, one of each print in a collection of fabric).  I thought this lime green complimented the bright colors, so I cut each block into four 2.5" squares and made these green crosses in the middle.

Total impulse sewing, I had no plan.  It was fun sewing these little guys together though!

The obvious choice is then to sash them.  I did have enough of this green, but I knew that such a huge dose of lime green would be overpowering.

I really liked this bright lilac solid, although I only had a small piece.  So I merrily started sewing these blocks together, telling myself I'd just order more of the purple.

I got as far as the photo above and ran out of fabric.  The whole thing was shoved into the corner and I turned my attention to something more pressing.
 

Now we are four months later, and I'm trying to finish up a few of these cute but pesky piles.  So why didn't I just order more of the purple?  Well, I had my finger on the purchase button a few times but for some reason I never did.  One reason is that I've been making a real effort to use the fabric I have on hand.  The other reason is that I had some niggling doubts about the purple.

Oh, it's a perfect shade for these fabrics.  It looks really good with them.  But honestly, I knew this quilt would turn out really. really. purple.  I knew I wouldn't use such a purple quilt for a baby of mine, and not many other folks would either.

Time to get practical here!  So I'm going to rip out that purple sashing and instead use a more neutral fabric that I have in my stash.

Here you see I'm trying out some Kona Snow (a creamy white).  In the photo above is a light gray.  Either one will work.  I'm pretty sure I'll use Kona Snow.  It's my go-to safe zone!

At this point, my prediction is that I'm not gonna love this quilt, either way.  But I might surprise myself!

*Note*  I have a feeling that some of you will cry, "Keep the Purple!".  I hear you:)   If enough of you say that you would honest to goodness buy a bright purple quilt for your baby, I might reconsider!