Monday, June 18, 2012

I am Simply Amazed at the End Result

There were a few moments of frustration, but the rest of this Pieceable Souls project went together fairly smoothly.  I am simply amazed and thrilled at how well it turned out in the end! Who would have thunk it?  This started out as a fun mystery project but then I could never seem to find the 'fabric love' that usually helps to sustain me through the nitty gritty detail of most quilting projects.  That ended up being the biggest challenge overall.
A quick pic outside in natural light
(This is a Material Obsession pattern made in different colors)
White is so, well, WHITE and STARK.  I was extremely irritated confused by the lack of blending and shading that I normally work with.  I'm a big fan of working with darks, lights, mediums and bright color combinations.  I had to learn to think differently.  Put away my preconceived ideas and trust that the fabrics were going to work together the same way they auditioned together pre-cut out stage.  Other than begging to be able to use twice as many fabrics as required (I seriously cannot even function without using a LOT of different fabrics), I followed all of the directions.  And it worked!  All I can say is Wowsers!  I am finally starting to fall for this quilt in a big way and I don't think I'll ever be able to work with fabric prints and color the same way I did previous to this project.  Learning and growing is always a big plus for me.
Taken inside my shadowy living room
(Only the corner blocks are different than original pattern)
Because it felt so good to get something else checked off of my list, I spent the rest of the weekend organizing my quilt room and working on my current project list.  I went through all my totes and made room for the onslaught of new projects I want to get started on.  Then I played with each one of my special stacks of fabric until I got a fix on what blocks/pattern I wanted to use with them.  Everything squared away and planned out.  Check.  Things were buzzing along just great until this morning when I went to this blog.  Oh wow!  These quilts are beautiful.  Once again, I'm reminded of why I keep working on mine a little at a time.
This is me freaking out with the layout possibilities.
My daughter is hiding around the corner laughing at me.
This Blackbird Design quilt has been popping up occasionally in the quilt blogs lately, which is incredibly inspiring, but also a bit of a nerve-wracking situation for me.  Most of these quilts you see around the blogging world are primarily done in fall colors (like the original pattern).  They look beautiful, as did the original quilt.  The problem I have, is that I chose to do a very different color palette, and now I'm worried that it may not work out quite like I envisioned.  So this morning I just couldn't take it any longer.  I had to go dig out all of my little basket blocks and see what was happening with my own personal color scheme.  After a brief session rearranging blocks in my very limited space on the floor of my quilting room, I determined that I could probably relax.
Okay, maybe I can starting breathing again--
it's doesn't appear to be a total disaster.
Seriously though, go look at that quilt that I linked to.  The on-line quilting world continually encourages me to 'think outside of the box' for every style and quilt pattern created.  Love that.*wink

6 comments:

  1. Love your new quilt...and think of the white as crisp and clean and it tones down all the colours! Love it!! And the wee baskets make my heart flutter!!
    Have fun!
    P

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  2. I really like the quilt - it is so cheerful looking. Did you make up the pattern I have not seen this pattern before.
    Karen

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    1. This quilt pattern 'Playground Days' is from the Material Obsession 2 book by Kathy Doughty & Sarah Fielke. My mother made up a mystery project with this pattern for our very small little Pieceable Souls quilting group--which is why my approach was so different this time!

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  3. I love both of these projects! Especially love the colour and title of the first one!

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  4. Audrey I love the colour scheme you have chosen for your baskets, so pretty!

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  5. I made a version of the Material Obsession quilt too, its at the long arm quilters at the moment because its huge and I couldn't face quilting it. I love those baskets!

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