The Green Floating Squares Experiment

I've been plowing through the floating squares quilt as it is a very messy project. Working on this sort of quilt just sort of takes over the quilt room! And wowsers, late yesterday evening I was rewarded with a finished quilt top. Minus a bit of trimming of course.

Floating Squares quilt top

All along I kept auditioning fabrics and trying to 'look ahead'. It really helps me to not give up and just throw it all back in a bin, always very tempting to me. This style of quilting is just crazy awkward to me!

I so wanted to keep on using the oldish bits of green fabrics from the very bottom of the tote and except for about three or fabrics, every single fabric in this quilt has been with me for at least two plus years! One fabric in particular, the dark green polka dot, was bought between 1993-1995. So amazing that I didn't already get rid of it and why not, you may ask? Our income has been a fluctuating thing through the years. I do not get rid of fabric easily or well. There is this very real fear of fabric deprivation you know!*wink

All the blocks on the wall, auditioning fabric....

You might also think that I stole some blue for this quilt, but believe me when I say those fabrics were in the green tote as well. You know how some fabrics look green or blue depending on what they're lying next too? These are those kinds of fabrics and they always ended up back in the green tote because they look more green than blue. {Unless of course they're in a green quilt!} I will admit to making one more intensely thorough search through the green tote though. And that's where I found the brighter/bluer greens that seem to wake up the more boring greens. The first time through, I thought they were too brassy to be included.

Playing with a bit of pink

And at some point I decided to break my own rules and add a spot of another color {pink}. I didn't want to introduce too much, but it just seemed to be crying out for a bit of spark. Red was considered too, but it always shrieks 'Christmas' to me unless done very carefully. haha  Does this look like a careful quilt?

Sewing rows and deciding on placement....

As I worked through sewing the rows together, occasionally I had to make a square a bit longer. I just added a skinnier strip of fabric to extend the length and then put the pink right at the end. Kind of a cornerstone, but not exactly. I was going to do this for every single short block and then decided, no, a little pink goes a long way. Instantly, I could see the pink was going to be a perfect addition in very small doses.

One row at a time

I had to force myself to keep using all the ugly greens and not just pitch them aside. One of the things I admire most about the Gee's Bend style/make-do and utilitarian type quilts is the fact that the makers are very courageous about blending fabrics. So very bold and unapologetic. The unexpectedness of some of these extremely different fabrics being used  in the very same quilt {even side by side} always makes me smile, but when it comes to my own work? Totally different story! In this quilt I managed to use an old, (ugly) floral batik, an 80's style calico with pink roses, that hideous dark green/cream polka dot, and even a cactus print that I'm positive was given to me. I would never, ever have bought that!

 There are things already apparent to me that could have been done differently. For instance, I wish I had been more careful in how the horizontal strips of green were staggered. A slightly better placing could have possibly allowed the quilt to have better flow and movement. But it's done, I have to feel good about that. And the fact that it looks interesting to me {there on the wall} when I walk around the corner into my quilt room--success of some sort, don't you think? Linking up with Scraptastic Tuesday!