Something Sweet and Something Not

I've been happily working on my Cactus Basket quilt, sewing the sashing onto the blocks this weekend. Things are going well and I am SO happy with the results. It's got a really great vibe going on that makes me practically hum. My mind, however, keeps wandering off on a different tangent, making it terribly hard to concentrate. You remember the 'I survived the fire' quilt idea?

Starting to put the Cactus Basket quilt together

Well, originally, I was going to use the Cactus Basket blocks and jump from there--throw some words, applique pictures etc. on the borders. But it's too sweet and spunky for that. I love it exactly as it is unfolding for me and I don't want to ruin it by forcing something on it that doesn't feel right. But darn it, I really like the idea of my fire quilt too! And the idea won't go away. It keeps coming back, and coming back again--nagging at me to do something about it. So, I fished out this partially completed improv. quilt top that I had played around with last fall. Would it work for the background? Do the colors work for what I need? Always better to have an interesting background for a story quilt you know.

Hmmm.... Four improv. log cabin blocks could definitely represent the cul de sac where we live (only four residences here). And only one house was even sort of touched by the fire (ours) so that little scrap of red is absolutely perfect. I found some texty fabric and quickly added our street address and also a funky bird I stumbled across. The scrapbooky look to the quilt is so already so very satisfying. Love that look. And before I knew it, I was off and running with ideas. Gotta make the most every drop of inspiration when it comes knocking or it tends to get lost in the busyness of life, right?

My new background for the 2014 Fire in Pateros quilt

So... Next thing I came up with was a mock-up of the city sign we (used to) see just as we're coming into our little town. I went back to a sort of haunting picture my daughter put up on the blog earlier this summer. {Well, if you're a hometown girl it would haunt you too.} It all feels sort of silly, but incredibly compelling at the same time. I wish I was better about jumping right in the middle of ideas like this all the time, then I might know what I'm actually doing here.....

It's starting to come together. I can feel it...

I haven't made a story quilt in a long time so this is really fun and energizing all at the same time, to try and get it just right. Simplicity is the key of course and a strong visual message. Of which I'm not usually very good at. Once again though, one of my kids bluntly criticized the 'accuracy' of my quilty picture. I have to keep reminding them that 'representational' is perfectly okay in quilting. When I remind them, they get it. It's just something they tend to forget. I always ask, 'What does it make you THINK of?'

Then another kid just went on and on about how different this quilt was and not my normal colors etc. With the kids I can just laugh it off, but adults do this too, which kind of burns in my gut. Why does everyone insist on trying to keep people in a box? Do you know how many times I've heard that 'Audrey makes fall colored quilts. That's her style.'  No, I'm still trying to find my style, but the sum total of it is NOT just using fall colored fabrics. Okay, you can relax--getting off of my soap box right now....

Hopefully the fire will be less blobby after I stitch it down....

So here I am. It's different. Brighter? Bolder. Complex in numerous ways that won't make sense to very many people. I'll probably have to keep explaining to the unquilty. But I'm well on my way to a 2014 Fire in Pateros quilt, project tote fixed up and everything. It seems like a wonderful thing to follow the ideas until they fizzle away, cuz you know they always do. For now I need to start the work of stitching down the letters and number onto the quilt so it will be ready for the next step. I've got lots of ideas for other parts in the quilt. Maybe if I scribble them down I'll be able to hang on to them till it's time to implement them.....