It's Looking Like a Finished Quilt Top

I am still crushing on this combination of blue, greens and blush pink. Not something I would have deliberately thought to put together, but somehow it all works to make me very happy.

Improv. Postage Stamp Basket quilt top

Originally the idea was to make postage stamp basket blocks with improv. string strips and then combine them with these classic looking pineapple blocks. That would have included some yellow golds and deeper pink and reds, which somehow was just a bit too clashy. Even for me! These improv. baskets have been an interesting experiment as they don't just scream out the fact that they are baskets. That was a little surprising to me, but maybe it's because I mixed the fabrics for the handles up a little too much and didn't use enough of the darker colored fabrics? Regardless, I do still like them. A lot! So that's good. Onward ho!

So hard to get a decent picture of the whole thing....

In the end though, they didn't look good combined with the pineapple blocks.*meh  Disappointing for sure, but these things do happen. And now one project has merged into two. Well, actually.... to be perfectly honest, the number is now up to four. Yep, it's a hydra of sorts! This baby quilt was impulsively started from the trim-offs from those improv. basket blocks and then also, drumroll please...., I have Tidbits. Those little cut-out pieces from all the basket handles that just wouldn't go quietly into the night either.....

Really love the busier sashing prints mixed in....

At least these original improv. basket blocks finally, finally settled into place. All it took to convince me was these random, lighter, blush pink sashing bits and a random floral fat quarter that worked quite well for the cornerstones. Sold! I love the whimsical, sweet look to the cornerstone fabric and thought it helped give a bit of necessary focus too. It was really hard not to scour the Internet for a larger piece of that particular fabric. {Why do I always buy skimpy fat quarters of the very best fabrics?} I hated, HATED! having to cut out some of the roses 'off-kilter'. Be that as it may, I also cringe at being the one who celebrates 'making-do' and then falls into a pit of despair when there's not enough fabric! lol

 Not sure if you can tell from my over-exposed pics, but all the darker roses went into the center of the quilt and the lighter colored ones to the middle-outside edges, then a lighter tone on tone fabric to the very outside edges of the quilt. It seemed to come together just fine though, and really, no reason to panic about some of the roses perhaps not being 'perfectly' centered. We quilters are so funny sometimes, the things that can push our buttons.

Still haven't managed to figure out quite what to do with all those pineapple blocks, but ideas are absolutely simmering somewhere on the back burner. In the meantime, I've just about convinced myself that this quilt won't be needing a border after all--you know that's the default position around here. So that's that. It's all trimmed up now and resting with the oodles of other quilt tops waiting for sandwiching and quilting. Two down, two to go on these blue/green quilt spin-offs. Maybe I should start calling it the 'Don't Tell Me What To Do' series?

Trimming off the excess....

Over the previous weekend I also addressed the applique prep for the latest big basket quilt. Just a matter of making some final decisions about fabric and proportion and then getting pieces cut out.

Applique prep time!

As usual I am nervously wondering if the flowers will be large enough after the seam allowance is turned under. That's the main thing that gives me concern until most all the stitches are completed. As I already increased the size of the drawn out flowers by two more seam allowances, I'm making myself leave it alone at this particular point. Oh yeah, I have already sewed another seam on the bias vine to make it more narrow than the original desired width. You know, for proper  'proportion'.*sigh  Enough is enough. Freehand applique is always such a trial and error process anyway. No way to know for sure about the end result until hello? it's a done deal. If it ends up looking terrible, then I'll just rip it out and start over. Good thing I don't make patterns as the end result is always a totally different shape and size from the original.