Friday, January 12, 2018

Nothing to Do

January came and I had nothing to do.
-- no basted and layered quilt to put in a hoop
-- no applique blocks ready to stitch
-- no pieced blocks cut for me to sew
-- no particular idea of the next quilt to begin
And too tired to make any big decisions.

Well, I had a small stack of blue scraps leftover from my Gwenny medallion.  Blue is one of my less-favorite colors but I do like this range of blues.  I don't know if they're soldier blues, Prussian blues, peacock blues, or go by another name, but they have just the least touch of green in the dye and I like them.


And I had a stack of what I thought were medium browns, the ones in the photo below plus a few others, mostly cut from shirts.  Perhaps my creative energies were mirroring the grey Ohio winter days (which I truly love -- so restful). 


I decided to put them together and see what would happen.  I often second guess myself about cutting into fabric.  What if I later realize I would like it for some other quilt?  But I made a quick decision to cut 8" squares and 2½" sashing and went to work with my rotary cutter.

This is what I've come up with so far.  Only the star points are sewn to the sashing. 


I chose uneven stars and I chose to set them on opposite corners of the squares rather than using a "Morning Star" setting where every corner has a star.  A star in every corner, especially with these uneven stars, can become crowded.


Some may think this a boring quilt.  I think my daughter used the words "calm" and "serene" to describe it.  It looks restful to me.  It may not become the most beautiful or exciting quilt I've ever made but I think it will be satisfactory.

Sometimes I get tired of jumbles of bright colors.  Sometimes my eyes want a rest, want to see the rhythm of two colors and a pattern repeated across a surface.  And I wanted to see if I could make a simple yet appealing quilt from these tans/browns and blues.  I think these colors and this layout work, but I may have another opinion by the time I finish the top.  I have more cutting and sewing to do to make it bigger.

In the meantime I'm trying out ideas for another applique quilt, considering how to make my Baskets of Plenty blocks play nicely to become a finished top, and searching for backing fabric for my Gwenny quilt.  Finding/choosing backing fabric or sewing pieces together to make a backing is often a challenge, particularly so for this quilt because I'm looking for "that blue" -- the range in the above quilt -- which is not currently a popular color, or some fabric that will agree with the front of the quilt.  And I don't have enough of any fabrics to sew together to make a back.  Sigh.  Until I can get backing for any quilt I don't have hand quilting to do, and this is the perfect time to hand quilt -- you know, cold weather, staying inside more than usual, etc.

But still, now I do have something to do!

I'm linking this post to
> Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
> Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework
> ScrapHappy January at talltalesfromchiconia
> Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
> Moving It Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag
> Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt 
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.

32 comments:

  1. I love the blue/brown/tan color scheme--and I agree that it is a very soothing pattern you are creating. Nice job!

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  2. Nancy, I have bounced around your blog this morning reading backward several years. This was a comfortable trip, and I settled in. I have enjoyed your insightful posts and quilting style immensely, and realized we are 'blogging neighbors' in Ohio. Would you mind contacting me by email? I blog at Pink Doxies. Thanks so much.
    julie@pinkdoxies.com

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    1. Hi, Julie. Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. I'm happy to know you enjoyed the visit. I have been thinking lately that I don't yet really have a quilting style because I keep trying different kinds of quilts.

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  3. Sometimes the colorful over-bright quilts are stunning but then there are the quiet wallflowers like yours. I have recently been attracted to pale yellow with light gray combos.

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    1. Thanks, Tami. I think "wallflower" perfectly describes this quilt.

      I'm not a huge fan of yellow but I'm warming up to it much more than to blue and have a stack of pale yellows that I've bought over time, nearly always thinking they were cream. I think a pale yellow and grey quilt would be beautiful.

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  4. How pretty and soft your stars are!

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    1. Thanks for your kind comment, Jeanne. I appreciate it.

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  5. Well, of course I love this since I'm a blue addict! I think it's lovely in it's simplicity-wonderful!

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  6. Nothing wrong with calm and serene!The restricted colour palette and simple blocks look just lovely to me ☺ Hope you continue to get a lot of pleasure as you cut and stitch in time with the season and how you are feeling.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words about this quilt, Allison. It's been a good quilt to cut and sew during these grey days.

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  7. Your quilt is so pleasing to look at. I think you made the right call on not putting a star in every corner. Wish you could come and shop in my backing stash. I seem to buy sale fabric in 6 yd. lengths so it's available when I need it. Maybe red would work for a backing.

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    1. Thank you for your kinds words about this quilt, Robin. I think the stars in alternate corners will be good but then, they will be smaller once the quilt is sewn together, so maybe not. But even if not, I'll probably just leave them unless I decide earlier to cut the tan squares smaller.

      How generous to offer your back stash. When I find fabric I like I sometimes buy longer pieces but I don't have a piece that will work for the Gwenny medallion. I'll probably put that quilt on the back burner until I find backing for it I think will work and layer a quilt I do have a back for.

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  8. Not every quilt has to be exciting - although that beautiful serene quilt is exciting in its own way. Gorgeous!

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    1. Thank you, Shasta. That's what I tell myself: not every quilt has to be exciting. I see many quilts online that, if compared to others, would look calm or dull or maybe boring, but when not compared are just beautiful. I think I'll be satisfied if this one however it turns out.

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  9. I really love this, which means you've even got me (the throw-in-ALL-the-colors gal) caught in your net! I'm a fan of the blue/tan/brown color scheme (also blue/red/brown), so this is very appealing.

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    1. Thank you, Gayle. I think it's unusual that we're sometimes drawn to quilts that are very unlike the ones we make. I often wish I could make quilts like yours!

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  10. Oh, I do love this one. Normally I'm not a big fan of browns, but these are a lovely soft, gentle shade without being dull or sludgy, and they work perfectly with the blue. Back in my art college days, that blue would have been called Diamine Prussian Blue, and it's a really calm, elegant shade. Great quilt in the making!

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    1. Thanks so much for your kind words about this quilt, Kate. I wondered if Prussian Blue described the blues. Glad to know it is. Thanks again!

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  11. a very effective quilt! I may have to borrow that idea. Claire aka knitnkwilt

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    1. Thank you, Claire. It's such a simple pattern to cut and make -- just measuring the squares and sashing. It's probably not truly my own idea so you're welcome to it!

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  12. Your vision always amazes me. You have such a knack for taking something mundane and changing it to something amazing!!

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    1. Oh, Jennie, you are beyond kind (thank you!), especially when I think of the beauties you make! Even finished this quilt will probably be mundane -- but calm and soothing.

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  13. Your quilt is so serene...I like how restful it is on the eyes with the gentle pops of blue....lovely!

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    1. Thank you, Mia. I like "serene" better than "boring," which was my first thought about it.

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  14. I love this! What a wonderful project when you have "nothing to do"!

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    1. Thank you, Wendy. Scraps sitting around push me to use them sometimes. And I still have more of the same blue scraps. Dang. Now I'll have to come up with another quilt!

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  15. This is MY kind of quilt. Love it

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    1. I'm glad you like it -- love it, Beth. I think it will be a useful quilt. I'm finding it a little challenging to sew together, though. I tried sewing sections and should have stuck with a row at a time, seams in, seams out. I think I'll switch to that tomorrow.

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  16. Beautiful quilt - I love the colors.

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    1. Thanks, Maureen! They're not my usual colors but I like them together.

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I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.

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