Allegretto is Finished

 Silly me, I forgot I had named this quilt already. It's Allegretto. On Sunday morning, still in my nightgown, I went into the studio and finished sewing the blocks together.

Heh. Yes, this is the back of the flimsy. I don't photograph the wrong sides of my quilts often enough.

This is, as they say, an actual, unretouched photo of the wrong side of the quilt. You do not see any stray threads. You do not see any sloppy pressing. I won't say I work hard to get my quilts to look this way, but I do pay attention. I trim all threads. I press all seams. And I use steam. I am of the belief that your longarm quilter will thank you if the wrong side of you quilts look like this. If that makes me a snob, so be it.

Here's the finished flimsy. You can click the photo and then click again to check out the fabrics. At last count there are 42 unique fabrics in this quilt. There are 120 blocks. You can do the math.

Or not!

Parrots

 

While I was at the Portsmouth Fabric Company, I saw this fabric, and KNEW I had to have some. I carried it to the counter and unfolded the bolt so I could get a better look.

It was pretty clear it was coming home with me, but how much? What was I going to do with it? The answer came to me immediately.

It would be great as the backing of this (as yet unnamed) quilt. So I got that too. It wasn't until I got home that I discovered something...

Holy cow! 2007???

I figured, in for a penny, in for a pound, so I looked around for a binding fabric. I liked this one.

Yup, that looks good. So how do the parrots look?

Yeah!

I'm keeping this quilt, so now I am highly motivated to finish this quilt top.

Allegretto

 

You can see where this is going.

This is what the wrong sides of my quilts look like. Neatly pressed, threads trimmed. Every quilt I make looks like this on the back. Every. Single. One. And they lie flat as a pancake too.

I thought you might like to see some of the fabrics up close.

When Megan received her quilt, Waltzing Matilda, her husband was surprised that my points didn't always match. Well, I certainly like my corners to all match nicely like the four that meet in the photo above, but the points like the one in the circle, THOSE I do deliberately. I like those angles and what they do in the quilt. 

I have decided to name the quilt Allegretto. What does allegretto mean? A direction in musical notation indicating that the musical piece should be played rather fast and lively. I think that describes the feeling of this quilt.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Ch-Ch-Changes

 

This (above) is what I had last night when I said I had some questions. The answers to each of the questions was yes. I tinkered with it yesterday morning before work. I tinkered with it at lunchtime. I tinkered after dinner.

I changed all the things I mentioned yesterday, and I changed so much more, although it will probably drive you buggy to try to find all the things I moved. Once I thought the colors were more appropriately distributed, I had to look at pattern, value and lack of pattern. I didn't want too many busy prints in one spot, nor too many boring ones. Then I started rotating some blocks, because I discovered a way to make a kind of a rhythm.

Now, I really suck at counting, but I just counted 53 changes from the top picture to the bottom one. I could probably tinker forever if I allowed myself to make more blocks, but I am pretty sure this is 99% it. Of course, just when I thought I was done last night, I emailed that moment's picture to Julie, and then made three more changes.

Ladies, I need help with a title.

And OH, Tammy, you didn't miss anything. Ronda hasn't sent me the finished pictures of her quilt yet.

Working on Green & Yellow

 

I had an idea, and needed to rearrange the blocks on the design wall, but first I had to remove them.

I set out my idea, but did not like it, so I put the blocks back up on the wall, but then I realized I had set them up too high, and had to lower them by one block, so I started on one side and worked my way up.

When I stood up to stretch my legs, I saw this, so I went across the room and took a picture of it, because this looked intriguing. I'll file this idea away for later. In the meantime, I kept making blocks.

Once there are enough blocks, I tinkered a bit.

And then I tinkered some more. Now it's time to look at it and think -- oh there are two sunflower blocks in the fifth row from the top that look like they have holes in them. I'll have to fix those (translation: I have to make more blocks.) I also see some of the dark green dragonfly blocks only appear in the bottom half of the quilt, and I will want to move one to the top half, but where? And is the right side of that very top point too green (probably), and is there too much yellow on the left side? When I ask "are there too many" I don't mean actual the actual quantity. I mean visually.

Now, although I have posed these questions, they are for me to resolve. I am not looking for your suggestions. I listed them here because these are the kinds of things I think about when I get to this stage of making a quilt. 

Details: The blocks are currently 6-1/2" square. There are 12 rows of 10 blocks which means the quilt will be at least 60" x 72" and by my rough count there are (at least) 40 unique fabrics. This block is from Sujata Shah's book Cultural Fusion Quilts, although this layout of blocks is not in her book. This is the third variation I have made of this. The first is the Petals quilt, and the second is Waltzing Matilda.

Added Yellow and a Special Green!

 

I decided I wanted the yellow in the quilt, so I put some of the yellow blocks up semi-randomly. I have to make a lot more blocks, and I have some greens that aren't even shown here, so we shall see.

I think this picture is a lot better than the previous ones...

I had been having some trouble with my iPhone, and I was way overdue for an upgrade, but I didn't think I needed the brandy-spanking new version, so I asked our resident geek to see if he could upgrade mine to a model newer than mine. (Mine was four versions behind.) I only asked that the hard drive space be the same size as my current one, and I told him I didn't care about the color. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box to this green lovely! And the photo above was taken with the new iPhone (the new one is an 11.)

In case you were wondering where I was yesterday, I was setting up the new device. When it came time to activate it, the instructions told me to call a specific number, but I couldn't use the new phone, or the old phone to do it. WHAAAA??? I didn't HAVE another phone. So I went over to my neighbor's to do it.

It uses facial recognition to unlock it. All I have to do is hold it up and look at it, and it unlocks. Pretty weird. The new case arrives tomorrow, which is a good thing, because the thing is so damned slippery it slides out of my hands and pockets much too easily!

Is Less More?

 

When I went into the studio last night and looked at what was on my design wall, I wasn't impressed. What would happen, I wondered, if I removed the yellow? I thought I might use it later in the quilt, but "for now" I wanted to see the blocks without it. Not bad. I needed to make more blocks anyway, so while my dinner roasted in the oven, I did just that.

It was looking pretty good, so I kept going. As you all know by now, even this arrangement is not final. I have a lot of fabrics I can continue to play with.

While I work on moving this idea from "Meh" to "Magnificent" it's worth mentioning a few things.

1. You should never fall in love with your idea. You may need to beat it up to get it where it should go.

2. An idea is only an idea until you make it real. And good ideas change as you work.

3. If it isn't working, or if it's stuck in a rut, "Change partners and Dance," as my prof John Hatch once said to me. Don't be afraid to "Break It, and Break It Good." What the hell, if the blocks aren't sewn together yet you can do whatever you want without any consequences.

4. Just because your friends tell you it's gorgeous doesn't mean you have to listen. If it doesn't sing FOR YOU then who cares? I remember the Selvage Fairy said to me once, "It's interesting to me that the worst thing your quilt can be is 'Nice.'" Nice is nice, but for me, it very often isn't good enough.

5. Conversely, if they tell you they don't like it, you don't have to listen to that either. Just because somebody doesn't LIKE something doesn't mean it is any good. (Read the Value of Meh; link above.)

Well that's it for me today. Time for bed.

One and One and One is Three

 

I did some more cutting and sewing. (Rebecca! NO TEASE!!!)

originally this had a yellow center,  but it didn't really work, so I replaced the center with green, but I didn't like where the green hit the yellow ring.

So I made a block with one yellow corner and one green one and stuck it in there.

This might work. So now I have to cut a lot of green squares, and make more blocks! 

You all know how much I hate measuring when I cut fabrics. I used two of my nifty templates that combined, end up the width I need. Cherie, this picture is for you!!!

Green & Yellow & Flowers

 

I spent a lot of time Saturday cutting the creams into squares. You can see my notes above the squares. I cut 120 of them. In retrospect I think cut too many.

Then I cut some of the yellows.

Earlier in the day I bought myself some flowers. The local florist has a walk in area where customers can choose their own, and I chose these. When one of the owners stepped in to ask if I needed help, he took one look at what I held in my hand and said, "Those are spectacular!"

You know I have been dieting on the Noom diet, and after a long struggle with a plateau, I finally broke through. The flowers are a reward to myself, and a reminder that my journey is important and my success is real. They also help me to stay motivated to continue.

Green & Yellow

 

A few weeks ago I bought these greens, and creams. I really liked the one at the top left, the cream with the green leaves and the yellow flowers. It got me thinking.

I bought some more greens and then pulled some creamish things out of my stash that would coordinate with the greens. My yellows were ok, but nothing to make noise about.

I ordered some yellows. I love these. I think they will go great with the greens I have. I have a plan for these, and I'm rather excited about it.