Scribble Scrabble

 

I've finished making the blocks for the new quilt. I have played with the layout, and I am very happy with this, and I am going to sew this up.

I will add a thin inner border of fabrics with bright colors on a white background. Then I will add a wider border of dark fabrics that are in the quilt.

I have asked my Darling GrandDaughter for a name for this quilt and she said, "Scribble Scrabble."

So there!

Break it Good!

 

What I never liked about this quilt was the bright white center. To me, if the very center of a quilt is white, or the lightest value in the quilt, then it reads as a hole. So I made a couple of blocks with the center pieces  are less bright, and I like them better.

Well, this is a little bit better. 

But it still isn't singing for me. So I have decided to BREAK IT GOOD!

This isn't really breaking it in a significant way, but I certainly like this better than the other way. Even though I think it's pretty boring.

Now THIS... (at least the top three rows) I like a lot. I am not sure about the pink block. It tends to overtake all the others. But this makes me happier than the other versions, so I'll be pursuing this idea.

I spent yesterday with Sargent, so I won't have any news about this for a day or two...

Slogging Along

 

This is coming along, but isn't really signing for me yet.

Here I have made more blocks and put them up but there is still something about this that is bugging me.

I stopped making blocks, and started putting up the smaller component pieces on the design wall so I could see where this was going and if I liked it.  

It's okay.

I remember what the Selvage Fairy said to me once, "It's interesting to me that the worst thing you can think about one of your quilts is that it is just 'nice.'"

I suppose this is nice, but it just isn't singing for me. But don't worry, I'm not going to give up. I know kinda sorta where I want this to go. 

Fractured Shapes Up

 

Before I could make blocks, I had to pair up some fabrics. When I had chosen fabrics for this quilt, I knew I wanted some of the blocks to have busy backgrounds, and some to have boring backgrounds, but busy "rail fences."

M has two big black dogs, so I had to put some cats in the quilt. I figured if nothing else, his grandson would have a lot of fun finding the cats.

There are foxes too!

This is shaping up.

The Next Quilt

This is my cousin M. I spent Thanksgiving with his family. Had a great day. As I was looking around, I noticed his family room needed a quilt. When I got home that night, I went right into the studio and went through my books to figure out what kind of quilt it should be. I wanted something relatively simple.

In the end I settled on Kathy Doughty's Fractured quilt. It's a variation on a rail fence quilt. I started pulling fabrics. M's house is relatively neutral, so I wanted earth colors - blues, greens, browns and an occasional purple. These are the ones I chose.

On Black Friday I went into the studio and cut the strips into segments and then made the first blocks. This is the row that goes down the center. The quilt is ginormous - as designed it is 84" x 96". That's seven feet by eight feet - which is stupid big. I'll make mine smaller.