Sunday to Sunday!

Leaving on Sunday and coming back the next Sunday!

I am going on a quilt retreat!

I am signed up for two machine quilting classes and I plan on listening to some lectures and browsing over 60 vendor booths! 

"Ostentatious" will be displayed along with 13 other quilts from PTQ guild for this year's guild challenge. (Which is being offered as a Giveaway from this blog! Comments on this update will also get you entered.)

I'm supposed to be packing and getting ready for this upcoming trip, but I'm too excited and can't keep focused!  Sooo... I'm starting another quilt top 😁.  Well, the planning and cutting out part. Then the pieces will go with me next week just in case I need a second project (first project is my brother's black and white) to keep me busy during "down" time (I guess vendors and teachers need sleep during these events. Go figure 😋.)

This is the picture that caught my attention. I LOVE scrappy and I have plenty of fabrics to make it happen. This pattern was published in the Fons & Porter's Scrap Quilts Spring 2015 magazine.

Quilt by Christine McCourt
Machine quilted by Gina Jane's.

 

Yes, I have plenty of fabric. Purchased because it caught my eye and I had to have it.  Or purchased because it was a "good deal" (clearance or yard sale) and I might never see it again.  And of course, fabrics given to me by generous friends, I never say no!!

Fabrics from so many sources makes for a motley collection, that's for sure. Yet, "scrappy" has an implication that anything goes!

That's not always quite so. 

For me the most time consuming part of making a quilt is getting the fabrics together.  This time gathering from my stash wasn't as difficult as it usually is.... I thought...

The pattern calls for 15 fat quarters in assorted dark prints.  I used "Calico Butterflies Kaleidoscope" print I had purchased a few years ago while working at Joann's. (I did a Google search and believe it is discontinued :( so I will have to use it wisely 😊)

With so many colors, it wasn't so difficult picking out 15 prints. 

They're not perfect matches, like the orange could be a bit more rust, but it works for me. The floral is #15 and I'm wasn't planning to use it as a focus fabric.  I cut all the pieces out according to the directions... Except the brown which is intended for the background.  I couldn't wait to see how it was going to look together and laid the pieces on the background...

Yuk!!

Maybe the background should be solid and not a print. I'm thinking it probably needs to be a darker richer brown. But that's not something I have in my stash at the moment. 

So, I'll switch to a light background.

Much better, but still not completely happy.

... Maybe the floral should be a focus fabric!

Not quite right.

 I don't like the floral as the 4 squares and there's too much turquoise...

My solution to this dilemma is to play with the pieces, repositioning over and over,  for as long as I need to until it's right for me. And take pictures (my phone camera is my best friend!) Then step away, serve myself another cup of coffee, and come back a few minutes later for a new look.

I've finally found my "Yes" placement by adding two more browns and putting the floral on the corners.

With this layout, I want the floral corners to be a whole square, not four triangles coming together.  I'll have to re define the blocks and do a tiny bit of redrafting to make it work.  Should be easy enough.

So, my guild has a contest each year.  You put money in the pot, write down your goals for the year, and at the end of the year those that have completed all their goals get a chance to win the money.

My goals this year:

1.  Give a quilt away (hoping that will be my brother's black and white quilt, but not ruling out one that's already in progress.)

2. Keep a quilt for myself (I usually give them away.)

3.  Sell a quilt. (Maybe this floral focus scrappy quilt will be up for sale in the near future!!)

Ok... Now I better start gathering the supplies I need for the classes I've signed up for! Lol, at least it's a check list to keep me focused today 🤣.