When Plan 'A' Doesn't Work and An Update on Mom's Happy Mail

Believe it or not, I don't always blindly follow my muse where ever it takes me. Part of the time there are real ideas formulated and sometimes even plans scratched out on graph paper in blue ink {at least for the initial phase of a quilt}. The key is knowing when to ditch those plans and move to Plan B, the plan that really is no plan at all.

Auditioning the cornerstone blocks

Originally, I was going to have a cream colored star around my eagle centerpiece. Which then made sense to have cream colored (at least for the background fabric) cornerstone blocks. But, as much as I love these particular cornerstone blocks, they were falling just a bit short of what I expected from them. So I moved to Plan B. The only thing I know for sure about Plan B is that it involves using a lot of this cheddar colored fabric {let me introduce you to the new cheddar background cornerstone blocks!}. The cheddar was definitely intended for use in this quilt, but not quite this much, and definitely not so much in the main part of the quilt.*sigh  We must do what the quilt demands of us or suffer the agonies of something or other. Probably sleepless nights or an endless rehash of what 'could have been'.

Playing with color and bits of applique

Using so much cheddar at this point in the quilt created other issues. Like my pitiful offering of fabric all stacked up together thinking they were the fabrics of fabric for the quilt. Apparently, I now need a strong green to hold down my center. GREEN? Where exactly is this quilt taking me? I never, ever expected to be using more than a smidge of green in my Eagle quilt!

Which led to the next thought: Does my Eagle centerpiece now need a touch more applique work to jazz it up? It IS the star of the show, so to speak. {Please, let's not forget the intent of the entire quilt....} And this is where I remembered my applique parts-and-pieces totes and started digging. I love these part-and-pieces totes. They save me every single week from arbitrarily chopping up bits of fabric and leaving them to die a slow death in the trash can.

Digging for good stuff in the applique parts-and-pieces tote

Luckily, I found these leaves and berries in the proper colors. It makes it all the more apparent if something will or will not work when they are in the appropriate colors to start with. And sometimes it even helps to throw up a fabric that will possibly be used in the next border. Does it all play together nicely? You'll notice that I took the two leaves off from the Eagle centerpiece. This quilt is telling me to have leaves on the border, or leaves in the center--not both. There can be too much of a good thing you know.

Auditioning some more applique bits and a possible border color

So wonderful that for once I figured this out before the entire thing was sewn together as it made stitching down the applique that much simpler. Auditioning applique bits is often a head scratcher for me. Basically, I'm viewing the pieces 'as-is'; ie, before the seam allowance is turned under. I just love how bold the applique looks at this size. The big decision then is this: Do I hunt for similar fabrics in the totes and cut them out this particular size PLUS seam allowance? Or do I call it good and use what I have?

Making the decision to move forward or not...

I used what what was there. Sewed them down and lost a bit of the 'punch' that the larger applique had. Hmm...  Will it work? I guess we'll see!

p.s. For those of you that have been following along, my mom has still been receiving the occasional package/envelope of happy mail! I am just flabbergasted to see them still arriving! Sorry, I'm such a slacker about posting the details, but in the last 2 1/2 weeks or so she has gotten mail from North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Washington, Kansas, Ohio and several from Texas. One woman sent her quite a few older quilt books which has been especially lovely to receive. What would we do without our patterns and inspiration? And for those that ask occasionally, she is still working some on her small economy squares quilt and now she's started a jelly roll quilt too. Better watch out or she'll end up with a pile of WIPS like the rest of us.*wink