Tuesday, July 17, 2018

How The HaHa Quilt Came to Be

Yay for me! This Solids Challenge quilt is finally, finally, finally at completed quilt top stage. Whew! It only took 2 1/2 years. If you remember, back in June, I mentioned cutting the border triangles a little too large. That promptly took me to the next challenge, what to do for an intermediate border?
The middle border
Somehow I ended up with the idea to sew a HaHa border based on a gorgeous quilt over at Nifty Quilts. That left me with a small coping border in between the HaHa's and the middle of the quilt that had to be addressed.
Contemplating using red...
I auditioned different colors, quickly realizing that it was going to have to be a neutral to play nice. Red was definitely a no go.
Black is too stark
 As was black and gray.
Gray is too 'meh'
And much to my internal resistance, white was the obvious choice. You may think that my instinctive balking is odd, but I'm just not into all those stark 'white' quilts that are so popular. Like the only color that responds wonderfully to COLOR, is a non-color.
And white makes perfect sense....
 So I earnestly set my biases aside and sewed the quilt top together with the white inner coping border. Honestly, I almost just left the entire triangle border completely off! Doesn't the first picture look wonderful 'as is'? But then the quilt would be too small to do anything much with and the thought of all those wasted triangles just made me feel queasy.
Another square quilt!
So I forged ahead and yes, it felt good to have the triangles sewing together nicely. Sometimes I seriously start doubting my math skills and it's good to have a reminder that I can occasionally do something right! lol
It looks positively lovely in some light....
And the more I looked at my quilt, the more it started feeling okay again. Maybe the outside borders weren't a giant mistake after all.
The HaHa border was a good decision
I've changed the name of this quilt to the 'HaHa' quilt. It sorta named itself and seems more appropriate now than ever. Such a challenge all the way through! My family thinks the HaHa blocks are very weird and strange, but then they don't get the connection to an antique quilt or my crazy fumbles and missteps through the entire evolution of the quilt.
I think it might already be growing on me....
I wish the green triangles framed the quilt all the way around as they look best next to the HaHa blocks. That's what happens though when ideas have to be changed and tinkered with halfway through! I'm very excited to fold this quilt up and have it languish a good long while in the quilt top drawers. Maybe when I pull it back out in a few months or a year, I'll have a new found appreciation for it? In the meantime, I'm making a big 'ol check mark next to one of my most prioritized goals for this year. The Solids Challenge quilt top is DONE! Never, ever give up or you'll never get where you're going.....

21 comments:

  1. Who would have ever thought your solids blocks would turn into this dazzling finish? Too bad we don't know the end - at the beginning - so we can have more enthusiasm along the way. This is a really fun quilt.

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  2. Your math skills and your inner intuition about the perfect coping border were spot on. We do amaze ourselves at times. It's no laughing matter, congrats on you finish. It's super fun.

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  3. What a fun quilt! Great blocks, and your borders are spot on. Even your regret about the green triangles not going all the way around? Just another quirk and if the quilt is going HaHa, how can you make it a serious quilt? Right? It looks like it was all meant to go together. I'm sorry it was a difficult "birth", it sure doesn't look like it now!

    Some quilts can just be difficult and uncooperative. In the end, you have to listen to what the quilt tells you. I'm still waiting for some of mine to talk to me!

    I get what you mean about letting the quilt rest for a while, and then it looks good to you. I do that too sometimes. The quilt been such a struggle that I can lose perspective, and it looks terrible to me and then 6 months or a year later, when I pull it out, I say "that's not as awful as I thought it was!" An amazing transformation!

    Sorry to babble on so long!

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  4. I like it a lot and the white was the best move for that quilt. It's such a happy quilt it makes me smile! HAHAHA

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  5. So totally completely awesome...So HA!!! It is done!

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  6. I don't remember this quilt but it sure is neat - cute really

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  7. It is such a happy haha quilt! I love the colours and the patterns.

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  8. Any quilt that brings a smile to the face is a winner. LOVE IT! *smiling ear to ear*

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  9. Omigosh -- this is just wonderful!! I think you handled the challenges brilliantly! If it needs a home, my arms are open (grin).

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  10. You add the most creative borders! I'm terrible at thinking of what to add for a border so usually am clueless and borderless. Makes me admire yours all the more.

    And HAHA how your solids challenge didn't result in a totally solids quilt because HAHA it's yours to do with as you wish. (Smile).

    Great job and math skills!

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  11. Love this quilt... everything about it! Makes me want to make a HA HA quilt!
    And I love the last line of your post too!!

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  12. Your blog is one of my most favorites! Always inspiring and colorful!

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  13. Congratulations!!! I love this quilt and I remember you conquering the challenge of using solids for the appliqué. So glad you kept the triangle border.

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  14. I love the way you combined the solids with the HA. The green triangles set off the HA border well but I’m glad you added purple to one side. It adds some more quirkiness. Plus keeps the border more open if that makes sense. Congratulations. If you don’t love it in a few months you can send it to me.😁

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  15. What an interesting and colorful quilt!! So nice how it all came together!

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  16. This is such a "happy quilt" -- the Ha Ha name is perfect! Makes me smile!

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  17. Ha Ha, I love it! I am so happy to be back on line. I have missed a lot! Love this one!

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  18. I like how your quilts grow, chance direction and turn out looking lovely and interesting and never boring. And this quilt is just that, a beautiful quilt. Warm greetings

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  19. Thanks to Beth at Smazoochie, I just found your wonderful HAHA quilt! I love it. What a brilliant idea to make it a border so you can read all the way around the fun words that happen-Ha Ha, Aha, Ah.

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