Considering Quarter Cabin Options

I love this statement I read about improv quilting on one of Cheryl Arkison's recent blog posts.  She said,

Part of improvisation is the ability to accept that you are starting without knowing where you will end up.

I don't think of myself as an improv quilter but I've definitely got that aspect of the process covered.  So often I have a block, or a feeling, or scraps in mind and begin without a specific plan.  I make a bunch of blocks, see how they look together, and go from there.

This is just what I'm doing with these little 4" (finished) quarter cabin blocks that I started on a whim over two years ago.  I had lots of random strings in too many colors.  So I pinned, sewed, and trimmed until I had 100+ little blocks.  And still no idea what I would do with them.

And then I thought of a string quilt with a green background because I'd just found green cotton for $1.00/yard.  So I cut side-setting triangles of green and sewed them to the sides of the quarter cabins.  I have yet to sew these into strips, which is why they look off kilter in the photo below.

My first idea with the strips was something like this, except with leaves of the colors and fabrics I used in the blocks.  And just recently I thought maybe I should include some red flowers.  I have no idea where this is going.

The leaves in the photo above are only about 2-3" long and half as wide.  As I look at this photo I wonder if the strips will be so balanced/comparable in size and interest that they will cancel each other and become boring.  I wonder if the vines/leaves need to be stronger or more dominant, with larger leaves and flowers and wider stems.  (Since I've already sewn the triangles to the cabin blocks there's no way they're going to be bigger.) 

The width of the cabin strips will finish at 6½".  I have six strips which will finish at about 84" long.  

Considerations and questions I need to answer:

• I'm wondering whether I need to be careful about the color placement of the cabins.  I wonder about this because as I look at the photo below, my eye goes to sections where there are several lights together.
• Width of this quilt, or maybe all dimensions.  Single bed?  Queen bed? 
• I need to determine the width of the vines/leaves/flowers strips.  Part of the consideration of this is dominance of these strips, but also the final width of the quilt.  I don't need to use all the cabin strips but if I use 6, their combined width will be 36".  Five more strips at, let's say, 10" will increase the width to 86".  Or would it be better to use 5 cabin strips and 6 vine strips, which would equal 90".  Or 4 cabin strips and 5 vine strips to equal 74".  Or . . . .   This quilt is not yet talking to me!
• Vines in red, leaves in light green, flowers in reds?  Vines in red, leaves multi-colored but no red, flowers in red?  Few leaves, more flowers?  More leaves, occasional flowers?  Carefully placed flowers or randomly placed flowers?  All the same kind/style of flowers, a variety of flowers?
• Or, instead of vines and flowers, sew strings together, cut them all 3" or 4" or 5" wide, and use them between the cabin strips?
• There are so many options!  My mind keeps going.

My next step is pinning then sewing the cabins into strips.  Maybe by the time that's done this quilt will have an opinion about itself and I'll have a good idea what to do next.  Even if not, it will be easier to move strips around than it is to move the individual blocks around.

So often I find myself in this situation.  I was going to say "in this mess" but it isn't really a mess, just a part of the process when I don't have a finished quilt in mind.  It's both fun and challenging.

Do you ever find yourself in situations like this?  If so, what do you do?

I'm linking this post to Humble Quilts Stringalong Month 9 at Humble Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Lori, and for the incentive it provides.

--Nancy.
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