"Can't See the Forest for the Trees" syndrome

This was supposed to be a finished, albeit, extremely busy Linus Quilt. Do you see my dilemma? To rip or not to rip, that is now the question.

This is the perfect example of one of my weaknesses. I get so involved with the minutia (ha, I've not used that word in a while), I forget to check the overall precision, hence "Can't see the forest for the trees."

Quilt Guild Meeting

Gotta show the pretty tulips! There's a little red teddy bear in there somewhere. I dug around my 'stuff' and found a second one to join him.

Yesterday was quilt guild day and the program was Hunter Star. These are the batiks I chose. I made just 4 blocks, keeping my project do-able. The instructor (thanks Joy!) did not use this book, but I had it already and would recommend it. This book by Jan Krentz, is beautiful, based on the Hunter Star. This pattern can be made a bazillion ways, and her book is plum full of lovely photos and ideas.

The sample packets of batting (below) are made from corn -- one is 100% corn, and other is 50% corn and 50% cotton batting, marketed by Mountain Mist. Interesting - they both feel good to me. The one with cotton in it had a bit more 'grab' to it. Recently on a mail list, they were talking about another new type of batting made of bamboo fibers.

This is my unquilted project. While the layout looks complicated, it was not (as is often the truth). I DID use a nifty 45 degree diamond ruler that helped keep the angle accurate. The light streaks were coming in the window, a very welcome sign that spring might be showing up eventually.

Two questions, for now

I am wondering ...

How many names are on your Bloglines?

1. I currently have 107, and keep whittling them down to under 100, only to put them back on, or I'll find another "too good to lose" site.

2. When you type any word beginning with the letter "Q", does it come out "quilt"?

Wow, three posts in one day - What's wrong with me? Am I normal?

Done

Another project bites the dust, along with about 15 yards of fabric! Yeah. It's quilted (on my DSM), and ready to be folded up. Maybe I'll take it for next Show and Tell. I'm a little disappointed in the thread I used, and realize I let someone else tell me what I should have used. With a quilt that has so many very lights and very darks, I had wanted a medium blue thread, but was talked into a lovely variegated dark, and a lovely variegated light (both cotton). Since I couldn't figure a way to transition from lights to darks, I just continued with the dark, and of course, it shows every wobble. It's OK, and will be a very good usable quilt.

Somewhere in my past, I had a very nice thread, purchased from JoAnns, that had two colors intertwined. That particular color was a brown and a tan, which helped to blend a quilt that was again, dark and light. I was hoping to find it at JoAnns recently, but NO. BTW, yesterday I was at JoAnns and had a spool (1200 yds) of varigated thread in my hand at the checkout. I had my coupon in hand for the 40% discount, and before the discount it rang up to $10.18 -- FOR ONE SPOOL OF THREAD???? I put it back. When arriving home, I checked my Connecting Threads and hey, similar varigated spool is $2.95. What the hey?

This Star pattern came from Bonnie's excellent instructions - she calls hers "Star Struck." This went together very well, and even the tiny triangles were saved from the quick corners. I still have the reds, all sewn up, for another project. Thanks Bonnie!

Here's a closer shot of the swirls, and also of the back, using plaid stash fabrics. I only spent money on the thread and batting.

Is this a little 'busy'?

While I LOVE to have a kid quilts include a lot of visual 'stuff', these blocks are just a teensy bit, 'over the top'! LOL I've made only half of the blocks, so I'll try to tame the other half with calmer strings.

Hopefully it will be finished in time to be included in the Linus Project, at the end of the month.

It's looking like it's supposed to!

Finally, it's coming together. Several bloggers have ASKED me to keep posting my continuous struggle. This has been WORK!

The top photo colors are not accurate, but you can finally see what's happening with the lights, darks, and the shaft of light radiating from the upper left.

The bottom photo colors are close to true. And I LOVE this corner. Three more to go!

The new part is a 2.75 inch (half of the block size) inner border and the colors blend from light to dark. The pieces are joined diagonally, so they hit the seam perfectly - tedious but rewarding. At first the border pieces were approximately 1/3 of each color on each side -- no good at all. Had to redo them to get a pleasing visual ratio.

There may be one more border after this, made up of half square triangles, again, blending in value from light to dark.

I think I'm going to like it! LOL