First the good news - I've finished piecing the top of my current project!
Next stop is the skinny border to piece, cut and sew on - I can't tell you how delighted I am with this one! It is an absolute pleasure.
However, things are not all rosy in the garden - I have hit a hitch of the first order with regard to the Scatty Stars Christmas Quiltalong quilt. I knew that there was something not pleasing to my eye when I posted the other day, and that the quilt looked austere - I could have used the word disconnected or flat instead.
Not the fault of the design, but of my fabric choices - and big sister Helen who was up for the weekend put her finger on it right away, saying, 'It's too 'checkerboard' all the contrast is between the star blocks and the rail fence blocks, not the stars and the rest of the quilt. If the stars had a different background they would jump out much better.'
Everyone should have a big sister Helen.
So - what is to be done about this? I can either
(a) press on with the quilt as it is, and have something which will get on my nerves everytime I see it
(b) stick it in a cupboard unfinished in a grump, kicking the cat on the way
(c) rescue the situation now by redoing the star blocks.
The latter sounds wildly drastic but this is something I would contemplate for another reason - it has crossed my mind on more than one occasion as to how I am possibly going to shoehorn the blocks together.
Because the first few star blocks are a bit 'first-time' on the seam allowances (not to mention having pressed the life out of them with all that means with regard to the incredible shrinking cream fabric) so perhaps this is not quite the nuclear option that it might first appear to be.
I still like the idea of yellow & cream for the stars, and for the star background, a dress fabric that I have had tidied away for years. I have four weeks to the next QAL Saturday, so I have time to get back up to speed. I may even incorporate these stars into the backing...see, I'm feeling better about it already!
The other option for Scatty Stars might be to make new railfence blocks (much quicker) using different colours in toning colours to the stars rather than contrasting. That way you would have a fairly neutral quilt that would look good anywhere.
ReplyDeleteCurrent Project looks great by the way. It is very "graphic" looking to me and the overall design stands out beautifully.
rescue the situation now by redoing the star blocks.
ReplyDeleteOh, poor you. I know how frustrating it is to put two sets of blocks together, step back and think "oh b*gger, that doesn't look how I expected". Consider yourself a Real Quilter because, trust me, it has happened to all of us at some point.
My thought was the same as Sue's - DO NOT remake your star blocks. Make new railfence blocks which will not dominate the stars so much and put the RF blocks towards another project (cats cannot have too many quilts, you know!).
PS: your "not a nine patch" quilt top looks wonderful.
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