You know how it feels to start out really excited with quilt possibilities -
To dive in with both feet and both hands - pulling fabrics, pressing cutting, setitching pressing, making...
And then when only part way in your vision for your project blurs and you just can't see the forest for the trees?
I made my first set of blocks with gusto - where the colors were the main event, surrounded by neutrals at the edges. All was looking fine until I laid them out together and it went BLAH.
It was at that point that I started thinking of what else could spice it up a bit.
I tried sashing. Boring.
I tried an alternate block of a different pattern. Nope.
And this project sat in time out all through the making of my blue string Stardust quilt that DID hold my attention, though I knew this one was on the back burner at all times, little block kits sitting there in their little basket - mocking me.
And I thought...."What if?"
What if I did some positive/negative placement of the colors and the neutrals so they were opposites? How would they play together?
Yesterday I laid out what I had made before just to see how values and variety were playing.
I think I like it! I'm liking it more and more!
So now I'm excited about digging back into this with gusto.
Sometimes projects just have to sit in time out while we work out in our minds what would make us happier with them.
You don't have to stick to a quilt idea just because you haven't come up with a better idea yet.
Sometimes quilts need a time out for their own good. And for yours. Even if that means the pieces sit there and mock you until you get back to them.
Yesterday's done batch.
The center squares are from the pre-cut squares bin - some I've been saving for years and they need to see the light of day.
If you are interested in this little block, it's called X-Plus and was in my January/February 2023 Addicted to Scraps colukmn in Quiltmaker Magazine.
Of course, the magazine doesn't show my cutting directions with the Essential Triangle Tool - if this becomes a PDF pattern, I'll include several ways to tackle flying geese units so you can choose your method.
Yesterday's Four Patch Fun haul!
So happy to be pulling in the second color now.
And guess what happened yesterday afternoon??
Susan's Retreat Group arrived from all over - unpacked lickity split and set up their sewing spaces!
It's been a week without anything pretty on the design walls so I'm thrilled to see Moonflower blocks in progerss looking so pretty.
They'd only been there an hour and had unpacked, set up, and sewing was starting! YAY!
I bet Susan has this done this morning!
And it's great timing. Because it hit me when I opened my phone and looked at the date - just what day it is today.
Quiltville Quote of the Day -
I will always remember where I was as this day unfolded. Getting my kids off to school while living in Waxahachie Texas.
It couldn't be real, it didn't seem possible - I was in a stupor for weeks. It still hurts my heart deeply.
Where were you on this day? What were you doing when you heard the news?
Today - so much to do today.
My phone is dying. It won't connect to my cell network. We've tried everything and I'm leaving for NYC tomorrow.
I promised the ladies a road hike after brunch. And then this afternoon I've got to head to Boone to see what is up with my phone, possibly a new phone - before I head out tomorrow.
Talk about down to the last wire, but my phone is only connecting through wifi right now. No network. Not good. Auuughh.
Have I packed yet? Nope. That will happen tonight.
And I overslept this morning - til almost 8am! That never happens.
Okay. Of to handle Thursday -
Have a good one!
I was walking out the door to head to work when the first plane hit the first tower. DH called me shortly after to tell us the second plane hit the second tower. We lived in the Chicago suburbs at the time, under the flight path to ORD, and I will never forget the beautiful clear blue skies, without a single cloud, and the quiet skies, not a plane in sight. It remained so for days . It was the last time I remember our country being the UNITED States of America.
ReplyDeleteI was on my treadmill, my 83yo mom was visiting for a month, and DH was driving to his college classes. I too was in a stupor. And now to have the assassination of Charlie Kirk to break my heart...he was exactly two years younger than my eldest, which brings the heartbreak home in a real way. I wish we could all remember how to disagree with common decency and not anger and hate.
ReplyDeleteWe were at our daughter’s house on 9/11 helping her get the kids ready for the first day of school. No TV in that house before school but her friend called and told her. We took the kids to school and were convinced they would be safe. Her friend was afraid to send her son on the bus and kept him home that day. We will never forget!
ReplyDeleteSome projects have to 'marinate' until you realize your instincts were right. Ellen Thompson
ReplyDeleteOh have a wonderful trip and a safe one...
ReplyDeleteWe expect to see progress on your Hexies when you get home.
Have a wonderful day 🌹
Blessings 🙏 💞
I was sitting in 3rd grade math class (and I'm not trying to make anyone feel old). The secretary knocked on the door and our teacher stepped out into the hallway. She came back in crying and we all asked what was wrong. She told us a plane flew into a building in NYC and I don't think we comprehended what that meant. I do remember one kid asking if we still had to take the math quiz. the priorities of an 8 year old!
ReplyDeleteTeaching middle school in Washington DC...actually saw one of the planes go past. Long morning of getting kids to their parents; praying all were ok. Very long ride home since my husband was active duty, and the other teacher in carpool had police officer as a husband.
ReplyDeleteThis is always a bittersweet day for me...it's the birthday of one of my sisters, one of my brothers, and my first grandson. I was in the garden of my house in Pittsburgh, PA when one of my sisters called me to the TV. Horror. And my husband was at a conference in D.C. at the time...I'll never forget my shock and panic. Jane DeYoung, Santa Rosa, CA
ReplyDeleteI was up watching my Morning news on that day. My teenagers were gone to school already. I Will always remember seeing the 2nd plane hit the building and the towers crumbling down. Hope they can fix your phone quickly. Changing phones is a pain.
ReplyDeleteI love the block behind your quote of the day. Is it one of your patterns, Bonnie?
ReplyDeleteI had no work appts that morning, so was having a leisurely morning at home. I didn't have the tv on (normal for us) & our son (23 at the time) called & told me what was going on, so the tv went on & I was watching as we chatted. I remember so clearly hearing him say "what happens next?" I also remember telling him that our country is now at war & I was confident they knew exactly who was behind it, that we all have to be on alert from now on as we don't know what or if anything else was planned against us. That morning & the Covid shutdown in a 20-year period, both unthinkable. Now Charlie Kirk - he was assassinated because they didn't like that he was getting through to young people, teaching them how to think & analyze & not to just accept what is stated online, and elsewhere, but to make decisions themselves. There is no good side to this - he was a young man with wife & young kids who should have had the rest of his life...I could see him running for higher office someday as he was so adept at getting people to turn down the hate speech and just listen & think. If our country looks at what just happened and does just what he worked so hard to teach us all maybe we have a chance. Throw out the hate speech, the negative thinking and be thankful that we live here, be kind to others, and be responsible for our actions & thoughtful of others...and LIVE that way. I'm praying that what just happened will be the basis of a wave of change here in our country - if it does then I'm sure Charlie would approve from heaven. Deb
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful trip and take time to take care of yourself!
ReplyDeleteLots of fun blues blocks, I've had to put projects in timeout at times & sometimes it's been me 🤣
ReplyDeleteI was home in upstate NY. My husband, a mechanical engineer, was working in NYC at the time at JFK Airport. I couldn't reach him as the cell tower was down which I didn't know at the time. I knew he had a meeting in Manhattan. It urned out we were fortunate. He was safe. To this day my heart goes out to those who lost their loved ones on that most horrible of days.
ReplyDeleteI often sleep on it and then it hits me, wondering why I couldn't figure it out previously lol. Then I can sleep under it.
ReplyDeleteI was at work on 9/11 we had a little side room with a TV and a treadmill. We all crammed in there and watched. Phones hardly rang and only one customer that day probably because they didn't turn on their TV or radio.
Take care on your trip and good luck with your phone.
You always have a way of putting things! I have a project that has been stuffed into a box for quite some time that is nothing but 1/2 square triangles. It's a Christmasy color, so maybe this year it will get brought back out. I always do the wall test. I can see the design wall when I walk back to it from my bedroom, and if I like it, I roll with it! Otherwise it gets taken down and back to the design board!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get everything done in time for your trip! I will miss the daily catch-ups but have a great time for me! :-)
Happy stitching and safe travels!
I was a Lt Col assigned to HQ AF Space Command in Colorado Springs. Getting dressed to leave for work, listening to NPR. Heard the news, yelled to my husband to turn on the TV. My husband (also a Lt Col) was set to retire in November. My office was hosting a group of retired individuals who had been instrumental in Space and MIssle development for the US. Many were enroute to CO for the gathering - they were stranded all over the US as planes were grounded. I was so worried about them as most of them were in their 80s - but they were super resourceful and all managed to get back home. The attack changed all of our plans and priorities.
ReplyDeleteSomeone in my lab had the news on (shouldn't have). He told the rest of us and we all watched as the 2nd one fell. My family was scattered and I could not get ahold of my husband. He had been sent home from his oil refinery and didn't tell me for hours. I don't know why I watched it over and over again but it was so unreal. Today is always a hard day for our country.
ReplyDeleteI was on my way to my way to the Fraser Valley Quilt Guild in Vancouver,BC and I heard it on the radio. I turned around and went home. When I got home I was too anxious to stay so I went to the meeting. It was my first time there. No one could believe what was happening. It was a very somber meeting. Wendy , Sechelt, BC, Canada
ReplyDeleteI'm a work from home mom and my husband called me and told me the pentagon got hit. I turned on the tv just in time to see the second tower hit. All day I had to fight myself because I wanted to go get my kids and bring them home. I knew they were safe at school, we live in rural Indiana, but I just felt like they would be safer at home. It was a struggle. I cried most of the day watching the tv but couldn't tear myself away from it.
ReplyDeleteOn Sept 11th I was living in NY 70 miles north of NYC. My daughter was in Binghamton with roommates from NYC who could not find their families back in the city. My son was working in Detroit and his Canadian fellow employees could not get back across the border to home. My best friend was on a flight that put down in a city far from home with no way to get to her family. My nephew and his wife were both military working at the Pentagon with their children in the daycare there that day. I will NEVER forget. God Bless America. We all cried in shock at the attacks of our country.
ReplyDeleteI was at work- ICU RN, bathing my patient in room 1, I had the TV on for them to hear what was happening, not expecting to see what I did....... one of the day shift RNs came in, she had family in the NYC area, and couldn't get thru on the phone......then as more things unfolded I had to decide about sending my kids to school- as a single mom , they were in 3 different schools spread all over town, and we were not far from Camp Pendleton and the San Onofre plant ...if those were targets, how would I get to my babies???
ReplyDeleteI was in northern VA at work, watching the devastation in NYC via Internet. Shortly after, we heard the Pentagon was hit, ran to the back windows of our building where we could see the smoke from a few miles away. We then learned a 4th plane was still unaccounted for. Our agency went on 12 hour shifts and provided support to the military and federal officials for the next 3 weeks. One of my staff lost his wife in the Pentagon. One of my friends from grad school perished in the WTC. I will never forget.
ReplyDelete