Good Vibes Getting to Finished Quilt Top Stage!

What a summer. I really need to quit having any expectations and just learn to go with the flow. Had to have my computer worked on last week and for some reason our internet is moving slower than molasses the last while too. We're supposed to have fiber optic in our area of town some day in the future. Knowing this county? It's still gonna be a few years.*sigh

Coronacrazy progress

We've been having a heat wave, but there's still hand quilting in the evening as long as the air conditioner keeps working. I was finally getting into a groove with Coronacrazy {all that stitching over applique gets a little tiresome}, when the baby quilt decided it was high time to be first in line. Well, or me deciding to quit procrastinating? 

Baby quilt in the hoop

I usually don't have two quilts in the hoop at the same time, but my grandson is three months old today! So crazy how slowly things have been progressing this year in the quilt room. Just can't seem to get back in the normal rhythm at all. I'm blaming it all on my husband! He has a funny way of constantly disrupting my schedule. It's not always for a long length of time, but once I get distracted from a specific goal....

Good Vibes is a finished quilt top!

I previously stated expectations for the next Bramble Blooms prompt. Was hoping to have a post up by the end of June or first of July, but yeah. It's not happening. It's coming along, I promise! Just needed to clear a couple things off the list so my brain can relax and figure out how to write the next post.

Loving these colors

One of the few things on the list was this Good Vibes quilt. It's part of the Circle Game series that I've been doing for quite awhile. I take the cut out circles from behind one quilt and try to use them to jumpstart yet another quilt. 

There's just something about tulips

This particular quilt also somehow morphed into a chance to try my hand at making 'awkward' looking tulips once again. The first quilt with something similar was Spring Forward, an olderquilt that has lived in our living room ever since being finished. It's a sweet, whimsical quilt that always makes me smile, so why not go that route again?

Very cozy

There's definitely something about working with these very large circles that intrigue me. They also sort of make me feel half crazed because they are just too big. I mean. How many different ways can you re-imagine these things in a quilt? But you know me, try, try again until it's not fun anymore! When it gets to be tedious, then I'll probably quit. Maybe. Sometimes the challenge just seems to spur me on!

So awkward looking!

I had the idea for the little cross blocks at the top and bottom of the quilt almost from the start, but wasn't sure how they look color-wise etc. After seeing the appliqued border tulips start to come into play, then it got a lot easier. The brown was the obvious choice, especially with the peachy background color. I'm really liking the simplicity, especially when paired with the up/down placement that helps turn the corner into a happier vibe. It clearly brings a little extra energy when you deliberately choose not to place them exactly side by side. Really easy thing to do, but ahem! It helps tremendously to measure properly before cutting all the little extra pieces.

 I'm still sort of laughing at the brownish peach background fabric behind the tulips though. Don't know if you noticed, but that fabric is definitely different than the background at the top and bottom border of the quilt. It has got to be one of the most unlovable fabrics of all time. Someone gave it to me years ago and I've never found a quilt at all receptive to using it until now. In fact, I was pretty sure it would pull the entire vibe of a quilt down if I did use it! So thrilling to finally find an excellent use for it and see it making magic with the rest of the quilt. Yay! How does that happen? Oh, I just adore working with different color palettes and seeing various colors and tones sort of wake up and start smiling. Isn't working with color the very best thing about quilting? 

Binding prep always feels good

I won't tell you how many mistakes that I made bring this particular quilt top together. How the border math did NOT work and I had to puzzle piece too much of it together. Somehow we have managed to come out the other side now and I am super happy with the quilt top as a whole. Am really looking forward to seeing it with the quilting texture some day! 

Don't know if this makes sense to any of you fellow quilters, but I am now in a much, much better mental space to tackle the writing {and organization} for the next Bramble Blooms post! It really helps me to work on several different projects {all at the same time} for some reason. Always has! When I just try and focus in on one thing, then my brain starts feeling super sluggish. I only have one more thing on the list before moving on, and that would be fully completing the baby quilt. Another couple days and hopefully that quilt should be totally wrapped up! Then we'll see about the next phase of BBII....