The Ugliest Quilt

It's finished and I think it is the ugliest quilt I've ever made.  Or maybe it's the only ugly quilt I've ever made:  I can't remember any other ugly quilts, or at least not any others I truly dislike.

I liked the idea for this quilt, a Buckeye Beauty, when I saw it in Lynn Roddy Brown's book, Patchwork Play Quilts.  Her version was fun and inviting, but when I made blocks and began playing they just didn't work.  My blocks were multi-colored like hers but together they looked like a jumble.  I separated them into blues/greens/browns and reds/oranges/golds/warm colors for two separate quilts.  That didn't help much but I wasn't ready to throw out the blocks.  All that work!  The only thing to do (in my mind) was persist and finish.  (If you're interested you can see progress posts of this quilt at It's About Value, Busy Buckeye Beauty, and Buckeye Beauty Block Play.)

I quilted with three strands of embroidery.  I found it hard to pull the threads through and they occasionally tangled, but using larger stitches meant the quilt finished more quickly than if I'd used regular quilting thread and smaller stitches.  A bonus for a quilt I didn't like.

I dislike this quilt so much that I hardly kept records for it.  I'm not sure what batting I used (probably Soft n Crafty 80 cotton/20 poly) and I didn't record sizes from beginning to end or dates when I began/ended steps as I usually do.  The only measurements are after quilting (56 3/8 " x 68 7/16") and after washing and drying (54 3/4" x 66 1/4").

I try to identify why I don't like this quilt.  I love to see diagonals and secondary patterns in quilts, both of which appear in this quilt but that's not enough for me to love it.  Perhaps it's the angularity of the blocks.  They don't look welcoming to me, almost like flashes of lightening.  And even though there's a rhythm, the quilt itself seems jumbly.  I think of this as a masculine quilt, perhaps because of the strong, sharp angles.  Maybe some boy will love it.

I learned three lessons from this quilt:

1. If you (speaking to myself) don't love it while making it, either learn to love it or pass on the blocks, because if you can't love it, you won't take as much care with it as a quilt you love.
2. When the middle of a quilt measures longer/wider than the edges, bind with the edge measurements.
3. Come up with my own ideas and make my own quilts.  Don't attempt to make a version of someone else's quilt unless I truly love-love-love it and can repeat every aspect of it, including fabric choices or unless I can "see" it some other way.

The best thing I can say for this quilt is it's done.  Now I just have to find a new home for it.  One of my grandsons?

Have you ever made a quilt you didn't like or that you would describe as ugly?  If so, what did you do with it?

I'm linking this post to
> Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts and
> Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict 
> TGIFF @ Kathy's Kwilts and More
> finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts 
Thank you for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
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A Few More Blocks for the Buckeye Beauty

I made 18 more blocks, most medium/dark in the green/blue color range, to add to the others.

I also added a few brown blocks from the original group I'd made.  And now the layout looks (almost) like this.  I made 18 extra blocks thinking I would go for an 8 x 9 layout but it seemed too wide so I've left it (for the moment) at a 7 x 9 layout.

I know there will be some more rearranging of blocks tomorrow.  And them I'm hoping to sew these them together soon so I can move on to the red Buckeye Beauty.  While this quilt is not one of my favorites I think it will be okay.

I'm linking this post to
> Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
> Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework
> Design Wall at Patchwork Times
> Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag
Thank you for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
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January's Goal: More Buckeye Beauty Blocks

I once took a drawing class in which the professor gave us the assignment to use texture to create interest in the drawing.  She told us that if we are bored with our mark-making, the viewer will recognize it and our drawings will project that boredom to the viewer.

I remind myself of that as I sew quilts.  If I'm bored while creating a quilt I imagine if it will also be boring -- a ho hum quilt -- to those who see it.  Somehow, I think our emotions -- excitement, interest, enthusiasm, or boredom -- move from our minds, through our hands, to the fabric, the quilting, and the finished quilt.

I can't say that I'm bored with this quilt but I don't have much enthusiasm for it.  I personally like  blue and green together but there's something not right with this quilt as it is.  (Too many lights and too few mediums?  Too many light/dark blocks, not enough light/medium, medium/dark blocks?)  Yet, I'm committed to sewing more blocks to see what I can make of it.  At this point I have 7 blocks by 8 blocks (minus 2).  The blocks will finish at 6".  Were I to stop after making 2 more blocks, the quilt would finish at 42" x 48".  Certainly large enough for a baby quilt, but then figure in the shrinkage from quilting and washing & drying and it might be a mite small.

My goal in January is to make 18 more blocks and play with layouts.  Perhaps some of the blocks will not be used and the quilt will stay the same size or become square.  My goal does not include choosing a border (which the quilt may or may not get) nor sewing the blocks together but if I get that far, all the better.

This first week of January has been hectic.  My daughter who wasn't able to come for Christmas came for New Year and spent five days with us.  She left on Wednesday (the day before I had a colonoscopy - ugh).  I'm always sad to see loved ones go.  At my age I never can tell whether it might be the last time I'll see them, so I savor the moments. 

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal - January Goal Setting Link Up at Elm Street Quilts.  From the number of quilters linking up (113 right now!) there are lots of us ready to set goals and play with fabric again.  Click through to see thumbnails of others' goals for January.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.

--Nancy.
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Dividing the Buckeye Beauty Blocks

I started making Buckeye Beauty blocks months ago.  They were a jumble of colors, which I usually love, but the layout seemed unsettling to me for some reason.  (Click the link above if you want to see the jumble.)

I decided to try dividing the blocks into two groups:  cool colors (primarily greens and blues) together and warm colors together.   I haven't done anything with the warm colors but I laid out the greens and blues. 

I realized I had a lot more green than blue blocks and that I was lacking blocks with light centers, so I set about making some more blocks in the blue/green range.

They're not sewn together yet.  I don't know whether I'll like a quilt with blues and greens any more than I liked the jumbled-colors layout.  I'll sew these together, lay them out, and then decide.

I have a little time to sew this week but I/we have some other higher priority activities to finish before next week.  There's no deadline for these blocks or this quilt so a little time here and there, now and then works.

I'm looking forward to both older daughter and her family and younger daughter coming for Thanksgiving.  It will be exhausting having three little ones here (ages 4, 2 1/2, and 10 months) but the joy of spending time with those "babies" will more than make up for any tiredness.  What fun!

I'm linking this post to
Let's Bee Social #151 at SewFreshQuilts
Midweek Makers #46 at Quilt Fabrication
Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

I hope you're having a great week.


--Nancy.
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Buckeye Beauty Block Play

I've been playing with the Buckeye Beauty blocks again.  Lynn Roddy Brown's original quilt (scroll down at this link) had blocks with both light and dark centers sewn together slightly differently.  In her layout all the light centers went in one direction and the dark centers in another.  Something about my blocks with that layout bothered me so I cut and sewed more blocks with dark centers and tried a layout with only those.

I wasn't sure I liked all darks any better than I did my original lights and darks.  Something  doesn't work, in my opinion. 

With more darks to choose from I tried the light/dark layout again.

I think this might be a go.  (Unfortunately my vacuum ate one of the light-centered blocks this afternoon so I'll have to figure out which one and either remake it or unstitch a finished dark-center block and restitch it as a light-center block.)  There may be one or two blocks I will change out and there may be some changes in the block placements.  This quilt will also get a border, probably green, maybe plaid, or maybe brown.  I suppose I should try out border fabrics before I sew the blocks together?

This is probably not a quilt I will ever love but I don't dislike it.  I know that I'll make another, different quilt in the future for the little guy who will get this when it's finished.  For now he can lie on it, spit up on it, play peek-a-boo with it, and cuddle up in it when winter comes.  It will withstand all of those and endure for many years (unless it gets lost like his sister's quilt), until he outgrows it.

I'm learning that every quilt will not be spectacular.  We hope they all will be but some quilts will be fabulous quilts, some will be great quilts, and some will be okay, everyday quilts.  But they can all keep someone warm, and perhaps warm that someone's heart because of the love that was sewn into every seam and stitch.

Happy quilting to you.

I'm linking this post to
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework
Moving It Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag
Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times
Thanks for hosting, ladies.  I appreciate it.

--Nancy.
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Busy Buckeye Beauty

I think this quilt of Buckeye Beauty blocks is one of the busiest I've made.  When I look at the photo from a distance they look star-like to me but up close and in person . . . whew!  My eyes bounce all over the place.

I planned for 42 6" blocks plus a border.  These are the 42 blocks, not yet sewn together.

I looked at the layout above for a few days and then today I pulled the green ones and laid them together.  Hmm.  Better, but still bouncy.  And maybe a little boring? 

This was a quick change from the layout of all blocks and a quick photo.  You may (or may not) notice that the top row is out of arrangement with the rest of the blocks.  The blocks are not identical:  the light centers are oriented in one direction diagonally and the dark centers oriented in the other, and the 4-patches in the corners are arranged differently for light and dark blocks.  

I'm trying to decide whether I really want to make this (in either multi or green) for a grandbaby quilt.  Maybe it will work if I just make some changes in future blocks.  Maybe the really light lights are too light.  Or maybe it is just too busy.  Or maybe there are too many different greens for such a small quilt.  I can't quite put my finger on why I'm not happy with this quilt/these blocks.

There were six red blocks which I laid together.  Still bouncy but since red is my favorite color, I like them better.

I guess I'm still scouting around for the perfect block/quilt for my grandbaby boy.  If not this quilt, I know I'll find one soon.

I hope you have a great weekend.

--Nancy.
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Green Buckeye Beauty Blocks

These Buckeye Beauty blocks make for a busy quilt, don't you think?  Maybe too busy?

These are 6" blocks.  I think a 6 x 7 layout with 42 blocks and a border would be a good size for a baby quilt.

I'm linking this post to today's Rainbow Scrap Challenge at soscrappy.  Click over to see how others are using green scraps.

--Nancy.
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It's About Value

When placed together the pattern of these Buckeye Beauty blocks is beginning to emerge:  diagonal rows of light centers and dark centers with a checkerboard where the corners meet.

My usual process for making a quilt like this is to pull a bunch of fabrics, cut shapes, sew them into blocks, then lay them out.  After a good many are made, I decide which ones work and which don't and whether I need to make more and what colors.  With 13 made I have 29 more to go.  I expect these will change places as new ones are added.  Because this quilt is about value, I'm thinking of unstitching the one third row down, third from the left.  I think those two fabrics are the same value!

The idea for this quilt came directly from Lynn Roddy Brown's book, Patchwork-play Quilts:  Make the Most of Scraps, Spare Parts, and Leftovers.  Early in the book she discusses value, something I haven't paid much attention to when choosing fabrics.  Her strategy is to pair fabrics in light and medium; light and dark; or medium and dark.  I'm all about color, but after reading her thoughts, I began noticing.  Her explanation was so clear and the photos helped clarify what she was saying.  Then when I saw her "Buckeye Beauty" quilt I decided it might (or might not) work for a little boy's quilt.

Buckeye Beauty blocks are usually sewn all the same which creates a strong one direction diagonal.  Lynn has rearranged the blocks so some have light centers and some dark.  The four-patches on the corners alternate, too, depending on the centers.  The layout then creates diagonal rows of lights and darks and a checkerboard in the corners where the blocks meet. 

Lynn's blocks are 8" but I like baby quilts with smaller blocks so I changed the size.  These blocks will finish at 6" so they are a little smaller.  Using a 6 by 7 layout the quilt will be 36" x 42", without borders.  I love the fact that I can use small scraps for this quilt, and I can imagine it becoming really scrappy with several different fabrics of the same color and value per block.

I'm making progress on my star quilt.  I finished cutting the colored strips for the next border today.  They're laying alongside the quilt and tomorrow I'll play with color placement.


I'm linking this post to Let's Book It - May 2016, Oh Scrap!, WOW, Let's Bee Social, Moving it Forward Monday, Scraptastic Tuesday, and Design Wall Monday.  Thanks for hosting, ladies.

Thanks for visiting!
--Nancy.
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Buckeye Beauty Blocks for Rainbow Scrap Challenge

I've been wanting to participate in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) at Kathy's Quilts for a while but couldn't decide on a block I'd like to make in a dozen different colors.  But I have a baby quilt to make and baby's mom thought greens would be good.  Then I saw that the RSC color for May is green.  This month I'm in!

So here are three green (and --sorry to include it--one brown) Buckeye Beauty blocks.   (Ignore the tape holding them to my wall if you can.)  This is a super easy and fast block:  two 4-patches, two half-triangle squares.  It has just 11 seams if you cut and sew each piece separately.

They're pretty scrappy, and will continue that way.  I'm trying to use just two fabrics in each block but the blocks may get scrappier if I have all but one square or triangle of a fabric, in which case I'll substitute.  I'll also be using other colors.  I can't make myself do a baby quilt in just two colors.

These blocks are really a try-out for a quilt.  There's another block I'll probably make before deciding which I like better.

I'm linking this post to Scrappy Saturday at So Scrappy.  Thanks for hosting, Angela.

--Nancy.
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