This is part of a Cheri Payne sew-along from 2017 which I'm just now finishing (with one more basket to go). Every part of this pattern is Cheri's except the tulip leaves, which I think make it look a little un-Cheri-like. Even so, I like it.
It's hard to pick up exactly where one left off three years ago with the same view in mind. Three years of quilting can change one's perspective, viewpoint, and abilities, so I wouldn't be surprised if this basket and the next one stand out as just a little different. Time changes people, people change over time.
This is Basket of Plenty #8, finished for now, unless I change my mind. And again, the color is a little off.
Last month I adjusted the backing and added a flower to bring it up to the size of the rest of the blocks. I thought it needed something on that clunky basket so I added the diamond and circle. Now I think maybe the circle is a little too large. It may get changed. Will I ever quit changing my mind?!
I was thinking today how much time I spend thinking about, considering, playing with, altering and/or adjusting each individual block for almost any applique quilt, and even for quilts like Cheddarback. And why? When a quilt is finished it's not like each individual block is going to be noticed for itself. They all blend together to create a whole. I know I'll continue to do it but maybe I can talk myself out of doing so much of it.
I have one more Baskets of Plenty block to make to finish this sew-along. Then on to the borders.
I hope you and your loved ones are healthy and safe. Our state is beginning to lighten our restrictions. I read such controversy about whether we should be staying at home to stay safe or going out to gain immunity. Such uncertain times!
I'm linking this post to
> One Monthly Goal April Finish Link-up at Elm Street Quilts and
> BOMs Away at What a Hoot Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies.
--Nancy.
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I think both blocks are absolutely lovely and as long as your contemplating over the details doesn't add stress to your day, then there is no need to change. Your design process belongs to you and it's part of what makes you so wonderful so thank you for sharing your thoughts as you work through each design. It's fun to peek into the mind of a master quilter.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karin. You're so kind (though not quite accurate with the "master quilter" phrase. LOL. Maybe some year, if I live long enough!
Deletei love your Baskets.
ReplyDeleteSorry my previous fix it advice wasn't helpful. As always you will mull over and choose the BEST result in the end. Your special knack.
lizzy
I think blocks do stand out, particularly in applique quilts. Yes, to some they will just get the overall idea, but to others, particularly those who enjoy applique, they will see your details and enjoy them. But more than anything, make the changes for YOU! This is your quilt. Make sure it makes you happy. Little else is important when it comes to a quilt. Who wants to make a quilt they dislike?! And I like what you're doing, whether it matters to you or not. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Katie. Your comment reminds me that sometimes I do take time to look closely at applique quilts and the ones I especially notice are the more formal ones. I look for balance in colors and shapes over the whole quilt and look to see what I can learn from the quilt and the quilter who made it. And you're absolutely right that we should make quilts we like! Thanks for your comments.
DeleteI, too, have done a couple of blocks from this pattern and hope to finish it someday. I have the same issue with applique blocks, too . . . and sometimes when I finally get one just right, I then see that I should have been more focused on how it looked with the other blocks and less on how it looked alone!
ReplyDeleteWhen that happens -- that you have a block that doesn't quite fit with the others -- what do you do? Use it or make another?
DeleteI can totally understand why you change your mind, as you stated; time passing can surely alter the "look" to you of a block--at least to me it does...many times I have put away a project only to un-earth it later on and see it in a totally different light--and an aspect of it has to change for me...nice work on your baskets...they are really pretty...
ReplyDelete~ ~ ~ waving in the sunrise--stay safe Julierose
Thank you, Julierose. I don't know if time makes us more objective toward the blocks we haven't seen for a while or makes us look it over more carefully, in more detail, or what happens. Anyway, it's interesting to me that it does.
DeleteCongrats on your finish for April. Yes, your abilities and perspectives can definitely change in three years (and even less). That may be one of the reasons why my WIP list is so long. Several years ago when the quilt bug bit me hard I wanted to start everything I saw. Although I had a lot of finishes along the years, I still have a lot of starts hanging out there. My WIP list was in the 90's. I'm happy to have it down in the 60's right now. But now I work on it between old and new projects. I'm not always as interested in the old projects because there are skill flaws and now I know what a 1/4" seam really is. It's hard to put the old blocks together in a quilt, but I keep plugging along making other projects or managing the old ones. One more block and this will be a gorgeous quilt top. I LOVE the pieced background in these blocks!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your kind comments about these blocks, Kathy.
DeleteWow, you have a lot of quilts in progress! I know the feeling of wanting to start every quilt I saw and like, and also understand the imperfections of early pieces when we were just learning.
Since you keep working at your WIPs little by little, I'm sure you'll eventually finish them (or perhaps pass some along).
Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I appreciate it.
Your blocks look great Nancy! I agree that once they are all together each block won't be as noticeable as it would be on it's own. I think when we work on something so closely, it's easy to be overly critical, but I figure if I really hate it in the block, I'm always going to be bothered by in later on and it's not that hard to change it before it's quilted.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen. You've got that right about it being easier to change something before it's quilted! And I agree that if it bothers me now it will bother me later. Maybe that's where there is a quilt or two that I like less than others. Haha.
DeleteAhhh, you can never go wrong with tulips. I love the way this block turned out. The leaves are perfect, they add so much. You're right about how our perspective changes through time. We are exposed to so many things and our craftsmanship improves too. I was looking at a quilt of mine last night and was wondering why I used a certain fabric because I probably wouldn't use that fabric now. They are lightening our restrictions on Friday but I'm still a little nervous about going out. We are supposed to wear something on our face, guess I better make some more. I so enjoy taking "quilts" with you.
ReplyDeleteLOL. I remember you saying last year that you really like tulips, Robin. Thank you for you kind comments about the block.
DeleteI guess if we look at the quilts we've made in chronological order, they would tell us something about where we started and our growth through the years. Thank goodness you finished the quilt you were wondering about the fabric you used. If you are anything like me you might have considered changing it if it weren't quilted.
Your baskets do have that Cheri look. I made two or three baskets at the time of the sew-along and then got busy with other things. I think I still have the ones I did make.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen. I was looking through photos of the basket blocks on Cheri's Facebook page and saw several of yours, and then no more. They were -- are -- wonderful and I wondered why you stopped. (Not that it's any of my business but they were just so great. Maybe you'll finish the set sometime?
DeleteI kind of like it when I can see subtle changes-over-time on my quilts. It gives you a poignant moment of reflection every once in a while. . . a nice reminder of the nature of the journey we quilters experience. :)
ReplyDeleteUmmm.... The concept of exposure to gain immunity is important in some aspects, but is DEFINITELY a all-things-in-moderation thing in respect to things like the COVID-19 virus! Normal people do not need to be freaking about super sanitizing their homes, for example. But that is very different from openly ourselves to increased exposure to it from other people. Just ask the increased millions of people who died from the Spanish Flu in its second and third waves because they were tired of hunkering down through the first. :( Overhearing the daily reports from my husband's health management company has been sobering. It is very irresponsible of people, including a doctor in the media!, to encourage folks to go out and about in this virus to gain immunity. For one thing, hospitals and clinics are seeing repeat patients, in a pattern that seems to indicate that the body does not actually gain a normal immmunity to this virus like it normally does (which jibes with its having a signature, unique, way of attacking the body that health experts still are unable to pin down). Knowing how concerned the health officials in our area are about the re-opening of more normal functions around the city and our town this week, I'm just staying home for a lot longer. I'll wait until I hear the medical reports for our area quit listing an increase in cases, and then give it two weeks after that. For your own case, I'd recommend finding out the hospital numbers of cases, seeing when they plateau and start the downturn, give the two-week buffer from that, and then start venturing out more normally. (man, sorry for spouting on so much about that!)
I really like the thought of older quilts and giving us a poignant moments of reflections. It's true. Thanks for sharing that.
DeleteIt sounds like to are learning lots about the virus from your husband's work. (I wish I were in your shoes. I don't generally have a great interest in science or medicine or even health but for some reason this whole virus thing is just fascinating to me. So thanks for sharing what you've learned.) I've wondered whether people who have had it become immune and this is the first I've heard that there are repeat patients with the virus. I wonder what that says for the success of a vaccine? And I keep reading about the different ways the virus attacks the body and the effects it has. I read an NYTimes opinion article by a doctor in NYC saying that even the pneumonia is different that they usually see.
I think it's been six weeks since I've been out except for quick trips to the store every two weeks. I'm eager to get back out but I know it would not be wise to pretend that things are normal. I think it will be a while before hospitalizations and deaths decrease but some stores are set to open on Monday. I have plenty to do at home!
Lovely. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Patty. And thanks for hosting One Monthly Goal every month. I appreciate it.
DeleteYour baskets are lovely. I think it's so fun to tinker and change things, the way you describe, and it makes our quilts uniquely our own.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cynthia. Tinkering is a good word for what I do especially when making an applique block. Even with a set pattern with exact placement of parts, I take a while to choose colors, but I take longer with blocks like this where the pattern pieces are provided but no placement given. It's fun and I enjoy it but I just might enjoy it more if it didn't take me so long. Haha.
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