Looking back is definitely not a good thing this week. I got thru lots (as in I don't know the number) of blocks on the quilt for my grandson's High School graduation. At that point I was half excited, half worried about what it would look on the design wall.
This is what it looked like.
I put the blocks on the design wall but stopped because it didn't look so good. My husband's much better at color than I am and helps me out a lot on designing my quilts. The next day when he got home from work I asked him to come take a look at it. He walked in the room, glanced at it and said, "It's awful."
"That's what I thought," I said glumly.
It's true. I looked at the original pattern and it worked because it was all shades of one color. Mine had three main colors.
Doomed! Doomed I was! Right from the beginning!
After I went to my bedroom and cried a little, and stared out the window a little, I decided to get on with my life.
The dreadful story is here, here and here.
I've switched to a pattern that I've made twice before. I know it's easy to cut out and easy to make, and quick too. This is a good thing since I've already wasted over a month on the other quilt. The good news is that I can combine the "little" bird pieces from the other one and arrange them into a large hexie. I figure I'll just applique them on some fabric and voila!
The new quilt is this:
The pattern is Gumballs by Debbie Luttrell, who owns Stitcin' Heaven. It calls for 10 different batiks in 1-5/8 yd cuts. The secret to this is to get them all in one color family. I made this one for my TGS. I loved it so much I made one for me too!
Firstest's favorite color is orange, and has been since he was knee high to a grasshopper. So, orange it is!
Okay, doke:
Looking Forward
Firstest's Graduation Quilt:
I had a heck of a time finding 10 different orange batik fabrics. I went to every quilt store in the county, except for Joanns. I ended up with six cuts. I found large orange batik scraps and some yardage and added it in. When it came time to assemble blocks, there just wasn't enough variety. I went ahead and bought some from Etsy and some from Ebay. Now the fabric may not be here until next week, so I don't know when I can work on the quilt.
1. My conservative goal is to get the yardage package(s) out of the mailbox, open them up and iron the fabric.
Chip's One-Year Birthday Quilt
2. I have the fabric ready and already have the pattern. Since I'll be free most of the next week, my goal will be to cut out the pieces.
That's it for me. I'm a little relieved because I have made the patterns for both Chip and his older brother, Firstest. I think it will be fun from here on out!
Nyd din dag! (Danish for "See You Later!")
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Picture of train wreck attribution: http://imlsdcc.grainger.uiuc.edu/
