SCRAPS!

Okay, like I need another project.  I have a project yet to reveal, a baby quilt started that will probably be late, my water quilt, and a million ideas racing around in my head.  And those are only the active ones, not the pile of UFOs hiding under the bed (literally). But I really, really like the Values quilts that Katie does over at Willy-Nilly.  And now she is hosting a quilt-along.

Shocking, I'm already behind.

  
The other day Hubby had The Monster our running errands so Smilosaurus and I played in my stash.  I decided that this Values quilt would only be scraps.  But in truth, my definition of scrap has changed over time.  Originally, anything smaller than 6 inches was a scrap.  And everything else got thrown back in the colour-coded bin as stash.  For this project, however, I was going to need bigger pieces.  So I refined my definition to anything I'd used before and might be less than a fat quarter.  A pretty generous definition if you ask me.

I must confess that this pile was not even close to everything that fit my refined definition.  I want to really like this quilt so I picked out only those fabrics that I still really like.  Or, at least the fabrics that I really liked that day.  I'm going to cut one of each and see where that gets me.

Let's see where this one goes...

Grass - Revealed

Okay, enough already.  Here it is - the Grass Quilt.  It was time to put Water aside and showcase something actually completed.  There was no trauma in getting this one together.  I knew what I wanted to do from the first scrap of green that I pulled. My ode to Grass, in 68 inches square.

This quilt is also my personal backlash against white sashing.  Yes, I love it and I've used it plenty, but I was getting a little tired of seeing wonky log cabins sashed in white. So I switched it up and made the squares plain white.  Some of these are plain Kona cotton, and the rest are whatever white on whites I had laying around to make 12.5 inch squares. One of them, you can see, photographs quite yellow but it isn't that way in person. The greens are all from scraps and stash.

The quilting process I've already told you about.  It uses a lot of thread and I did have some needle sizing issues.  But I am thrilled with the way it turned out and the quilt has a wonderful drape despite being so heavily quilted.

This is the back.  I took some more scraps and essentially made a runner. The rest of it is some Katie Jump Rope that I found on sale.  That fabric is so soft that it makes a lovely backing. What I didn't think of was that the softness would more or less be lost with all the quilting.  Oh well, it still feels good.

The label will eventually go here, but I print mine and I need to wait until I have another finished quilt so I can print two labels on one sheet.

And now, let the vacation begin.

Thoroughly Confused

I thought I had it all figured out.  Then you guys had to go and weigh in.  Gee thanks a lot. Actually, I am really grateful for the opinions because it has helped, but it has also made things very confusing.  I am really torn now on this water quilt.

When I first did the layouts v4 was my favourite.  It immediately stood out as the best option, as the one that represented where I felt I should go with a water theme. And even as I reviewed the comments and contemplated other layouts it still stood out for me. Then I started playing with other layouts.

Because I love v4 so much I tried v6.  From the get go I saw that it was a big fat NO.  It didn't work for me at all. No harm done, nothing was sewn.  Then I remembered comments from Dillpickle about making it all "higgly piggly" with the breaks. That's where v7 came from.  I fell in love immediately.  I imagined making some more strips and even how I would construct the whole thing. I think I would use some of the softer blues to make these breaks, to bring out more blue overall in the quilt.  Hmmm.

Then I did v8.  Oh, v8. It was like I was some cheesy player in the bar who moved on from one potential conquest to the next with complete disregard to the girl he was just talking to. But this girl was hot.  The layout worked right away, and I knew it right away. Thanks to Marielle and Christine for making comments about going on the diagonal.  I don't know if I did what they suggested, but I think it worked out well.

But.

You knew there was going to be a but, right? It doesn't say water to me anymore.  The design works on so many levels, except for the original inspiration. Is that a problem?  Well, not a problem, but for some reason is does concern me. AmandaJean told me to just sew it up already and stop fretting, but I can't help but obsess over it.

I don't know what to do!  Good thing I'm going on a little vacation in a few days.  I'll have some time to contemplate design and water. Or just drink, eat, read, write, and enjoy a getaway with my Hubby. 

Water Version 8

Some of you asked for diagonals, well, here they are. This is a departure from all the previous layouts. I find it both dynamic and calm at the same time.  Is it just me?

Of course, to do this I will end up with a whole bunch of offcuts, so I think I would make more as I'm hoping to make this a larger quilt. Not a big deal, just something for me to consider.  It also means there is potential for longer runs in the design.

Here is it flipped 90 degrees. (And without the use of flash photography.)

Don't forget to take a look at the other participants in the Workshop in Progress.  Some of them are already posted projects.  Elle is looking for opinions on salvaging an old project with a favourite fabric.  And Kate is hoping for some additional thoughts as she designs a baby quilt.

And me?  Well, it's been a long week with Hubby out of town and breaking in the new nanny. Tonight I am settling in with my newly arrived copy of Bend The Rules With Fabric, courtesy of Amy Karol at Angry Chicken. I won a contest a few weeks back and I can already feel the need for some uninterrupted creativity time!