Lots of Little Steps

Getting a finished quilt together is often a series of many, many little steps for me.  If I'm restless and afflicted with the can't-stick-with-any-one-thing syndrome, I'll jump from project to project like a grasshopper trying to find the perfect leaf to munch on.  As you can see below, for once I actually remembered to take care of the excess fabric behind the applique!  With hand quilting, this can be a frustrating detail to overlook.

Cutting the excess out from behind the applique....

I am not good at sewing on curved pieces.  Have I mentioned that once or twice before?  Slowly, patiently and with much resoluteness, the background pieces are being added onto the Big Star blocks.  It's a big project for me--one that needs not be rushed through.

Sewing on the background fabric to some of the Big Stars.

And then there is the eye candy.  The potential.  The endless possibility of something wonderful and unique. Playing with fabric is (by and large) what it's all about with quilting, right?

One stack reminds me of the brilliant fall colors.  The other one
has some funky green fabrics that are really stretching my imagination....

I love to stack fabrics together and play with them off and on for a few months, adding and subtracting as the whims determine.  Since I don't have a lot of money, I can't just go out and buy everything I want necessary for the next new project. Besides, it can be unexpectedly charming to mix in old impulse buys with a fresh new fat quarter or two!

And another fabric stack with less coral and more pink,
less gold and more subtle yellows....

Fabrics absolutely need to marinate and simmer for awhile before I dare cut into them.  It helps to be very sure of the fabric/pattern combination I've dreamed up too. This stack of browns, creamy whites, tans, blues and reds below has been very interesting. Honestly, I've totally given up on this particular mixture of fabrics once before and then later had to go digging them out of the totes again! Something tells me this combination could be quite the satisfying quilt for me.*sigh  I said for me.  Probably not for you though. lol

And yet another.....

Hmmm...  Could it be my next forever project?  It's so fun to have these stacks sitting around my quilting room teasing me while I'm working on the tedious details of a UFQ.  The theory is, if it's right out in the open, eventually my mind will hit on what the missing element seems to be.  Oh well.  It seems we all have a method to our madness!