Indecision

Indecision always slows me down.  I think the reason so many of my quilts-in-progress get laid aside is because of indecision.  (Do you call quilts in this situation unfinished, having a time out, quilts in progress, laid aside, UFOs?  What's your name for them?)  These quilts are usually ones that I dream up myself or that I have to make some decisions to finish them and I get stuck.  This way or that?  This fabric or that?  Sashing this width or that?  And all the other decisions that go into a quilt.  When I have enough of these quilts-in-progress they become a cycle of picking up where I left off, again and again and again.

The quilt I'm getting ready to unstitch is Baskets of Plenty but I need to make some decisions before I pull out my seam ripper.

This is where I left it:  borders around each block, sashing, and cornerstones are all stitched.  The angel at the top is prepared but I don't think I stitched her down, so at least there's that. 

The problem is the brown sashing.  And maybe the burgundy borders, too. 
The brown color's wrong and the fabric itself is even more wrong.  I bought it on sale at JoAnn a few years ago.  It was such a great price that I was sure I could use it for something.  It's all cotton but it's both course and rough, almost scruffy.  I could leave it but I would never be satisfied.  Sadly, I don't know what fabric, or what color, to replace it with.  A darker brown, better quality fabric?  Grey borders instead of burgundy?  Or...?  I nearly always think of primitive quilts with dark colors.  Would this quilt work with medium tones?   If you have thoughts/ideas about borders and sashing for these blocks, I'd love to know! 
 
One of my problems is not being able to truly envision how a quilt will look before it's finished.  I guess I have an impaired imagination, or at least impaired mental vision.  It's rough when you have to sew something to be able to see it, then not like it and have to unstitch.  Anyone face that challenge?

But maybe my biggest problem with this quilt is that these blocks have become precious to me.  They were part of Cheri Payne's last sew-along on her Facebook page.  She provided the pieces of the patterns and we all chose how we wanted to use them.  It's always a bad thing when preciousness happens because objectivity flies out the window.  Who can be objective about someone or something they love?

I've also been scouting around for backing for Time Flies.  This is a quilt that won't get unstitched, thank goodness!

I'd like to find fabric that relates to time: clocks, hourglasses, watches, sundials, even dandelion clocks (you know, dandelion seed heads?).  I'm hoping for fabric with red/in the red range and perhaps grey, black, and/or tan.  I've been trying to think of other time-related images.  Ideas, anyone?  I saw Michael Miller's Vintage Treasures Children at Play fabric and considered play-time and the idea that children grow up so fast, as in time flies, but decided the front of this quilt wasn't quite playful enough for that fabric.  I'm sure some fabric will turn up.  I just hope it does before I finish the quilt that's in the hoop now!

I hope all is well in your part of the world.

--Nancy.

A Risky Goal for April

More often than not my One Monthly Goals are conservative--the minimum I know I can accomplish in a month.  But when I get started on a goal I'll keep going and usually go beyond my original intention for the month.  I also often choose some aspect of quilting that I would let linger, resulting in a longer-than-necessary process.  And when I set a goal, it's one I know positively that I can accomplish (barring any illness or calamity) because I have everything ready to work on it.

This month my One Monthly Goal is to layer and baste a quilt in preparation for quilting it.  That's an easy goal except the only thing I have ready to meet the goal is a top and the batting--no backing.  And I'm not sure which top!  I'm crazy to put this much pressure on myself because it means making creative decisions with materials I don't have at hand.  Below are the options.

Time Flies.

Possible backing options are a print fabric with red/black/grey/tan--if I can find one; the leftover plaids sewn together--if there are enough; solid red; solid grey or black; a print with clock-related images.  I don't have enough reds to make a scrappy back.  I think it would fun to see a print on the other side.

Linda Brannock's Flowers.

This still needs a border and I have the fabric--it's in the washer now--and then I'll have to cut and sew it onto the quilt. But what backing fabric for this one? I thought a folk-style print would be great, but where to find one, especially in colors and a pattern that would work with this quilt?  Other options include a putty-colored fabric with or without a print; a red print fabric.  Or...?  Maybe a neutral....  This quilt is so busy that maybe a calm fabric would be great for the back.

Buckeye Beauty.

This is a small quilt.  The blocks finish at 6" and I think the border is 5", for a quilt that's about 46" x 52".  A red back?  Dark red?  A red print back?  Again, I don't have enough reds to make a scrappy back for it.

Anyway, layering and basting one of these quilts is my One Monthly Goal for April. 

(Do you come away from this post thinking that I like red?  I do!)

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal April Linkup at Elm Street Quilts.  Thank you for hosting, Patty.

--Nancy.

Time Flies Has a Border

Time Flies now has a border, completing my One Monthly Goal for August, 2021.

I was fairly certain I would use the strips of red fabric left over from another quilt for the border.  They were just 6½" wide which was perfect.  When I realized I didn't quite have enough I improvised and used 4 leftover hourglass blocks and an-already-cut-apart shirt that was almost a match.  I had to cut several strips--very carefully so I could align the stripes--then sew them and cut to size.  I don't notice the difference from a distance but it's obvious when close.

The border improves what I think of this quilt and how much I like it.  I didn't like it much before the border. 

I probably made a bad choice in the way I measured the fabric for the border.  Instead of measuring the whole quilt top, I counted the blocks, multiplied by 6, added ½", cut the length, pinned, and sewed.  I'm sure that's an unconventional way to measure a border knowing that even though a block is supposed to be 6" doesn't mean every block is 6".  But the quilt is flat all the way to the outer edges.  Perhaps I'm getting over the idea of a quilt being precious.

By the time I finish a scrap/scrappy quilt I see all the ways I could have improved it, perhaps with fabric or color choices, or the placement of either, block placement, or in some other way.  It's so with this one.  Sometimes I take parts of quilt tops apart to improve them, but it's a habit I'm going to try to break.  If a top was fine when I folded it to await quilting I'm going (to try hard) to leave it and just layer, baste, and quilt.  (I'll let you know how that works when I pull the next quilt top out to layer and baste it.)

Already I'm wondering what fabric to use for binding.  Maybe one of the lighter reds in the center blocks.  Or maybe one of the plaids, or just the red striped shirt fabric, though I don't really want to cut up the rest of that wonderful fabric for a binding.  Hmmm.  I have a long time till I have to make that decision.

I'm linking this post to
> One Monthly Goal August Finish Link-up at Elm Street Quilts.
> Finished (or not) Friday at Alycia Quilts
> Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More
> Can I get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Thanks for hosting, Patty, Alycia, Wendy, and Sarah.

I hope you're staying healthy!  Covid has certainly created a mess.  My younger daughter is a nurse who works in an ICU caring primarily for Covid patients.  She's so ready to be done with Covid.  In fact, I think she may be suffering from PTSD because she's see so many horrendous medical procedures and so many deaths.  She said the cases are rising to the level they were when Covid was last at its worst.  Around here, people behave as though we're finished with Covid -- no masks, no social distancing, and who knows about hand washing.  My daughter has had the vaccine and she continues to wear a mask and tries her best not to be close to people.  The vaccine may help the symptoms be milder but it certainly doesn't prevent people from getting Covid. 

Take good care!
--Nancy.