Bright, isn't it? And this picture doesn't really do it justice. If I look at it from the right angle in full sun, the orange and the green do a little dance. Really.
Very early in my quilting career I was enamored with loud kid prints. This was made from a bunch of "Wiggly Garden" fat quarters (Cheri Strole, Moda). It made me dizzy to look at it, so it never made it to fruition; it went into the famed "Duffle of Doom," the bag in my closet from which flimsies rarely return.
Fast-forward to yesterday, and the announcement that my step-nephew and his wife are expecting a boy in a few months. Rather than start something completely new (which is TOTALLY my preference, but I'm fighting it), I dug first into the UFO Ziploc pile (yes, I know I'm still procrastinating, but in a good, productive kind of way). Finding nothing too terribly inspirational, I went for the Doom Duffle and rediscovered the Wiggly Horror.
It has potential, but not in its current state. I won't be held responsible for blinding the infant with offensive color choices!
The orange stripes were initially added to make it wider, I think, and obviously have to go. I'm just not sure if I want to replace the orange, or take those strips out all together. Before I reach for the seam ripper, I thought I'd best weigh my options first. And for that, there's Photoshop.
A little messing with some adjustment layers, and I have a few alternatives:
Meh. The light blue, even if I match it to what's in there, doesn't do anything for me.
Neither does dark green, though it's a slight improvement.
This one's the front runner so far. I like how the purple pops, and if I get it dark enough, it won't do the tango with the other colors like the orange did.
Or I could remove the strips all together, which changes the proportions a little. I'm not sure I like it skinnier -- this option may take some other adjustments, like removing a column and adding it as a row, which would mean a hunt for scraps, as it's shy one 9-patch block.
So Step 1: Rip out the orange strips.
Step 2: Audition new strip fabrics, or decide if it looks OK without any.
Step 3: (maybe) Look for some scraps to make up a new 9-patch block.
Step 4: Find three or four fabrics I'd forgotten about while I'm searching for scraps and (Oh! Don't these look good together!) pull them out just to look at. Pile them on the sewing table and make a cup of coffee. Drink it while looking at the pretty pile and think about what I could make with them. Get excited about the possibilities for a new project, and find sketchbook and colored pencils. After ten minutes or so of sketching, decide the design would look so much better if I did it on the computer. Fire up the desktop; read some new quilty blog posts before getting started, check in with Fresh Modern Quilts for some inspiration, answer a couple work-related e-mails, and consult Facebook to catch up on the day's happenings. Play with quilt designs in Illustrator, decide PowerPoint is easier for what I'm trying to do and start over. Realize my coffee is cold, and when I walk back into the kitchen to warm it up, find the floor littered with fabric I hadn't put away two...no, three hours ago.
Step 5: Remove sleeping cat from open bin of fat quarters.
Step 6: Regretfully return pretty pile of forgotten fabrics to their respective bins.
Step 7: Resume scrap search.
4 comments:
Funny, but step 4 is true for me too. I like the purple.
Step 4 would totally happen at my house, too! I'm putting in another vote for purple.
I like the purple.
In all honesty, I would prob. take my rotary cutter to it and cut it into 5 different sized pieces and "float" them on a neutral background, perhaps a light gray.
I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
If it were mine I would take out the strips and then add 2 side panels/borders about 5" wide. Possibly a solid color.
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