Who thought
last week's idea wasn't a very good one? Not thought through very well? Dubious? A little too in-your-face loud? Poor color choices? Destined for failure?
In case you're wondering, my hand is up. Way up.
Initially, I was happy with the tumbler top, all proud of my design...but the more I looked at it, the less I liked it. I absolutely
love these fabrics, and this combination has worked well for me in the past...but this time? Not so much.
The pink stripes were too dark, and too big. I'm not a fan of larger blocks, especially with smaller kid quilts. I know they go quickly (which was one of the reasons I was using 8.5" blocks), but the proportions always seem off to me, and that was the case here.
Then I ironed it, and the little barely-noticeable ripples at the edges turned into waves. Not Hurricane Igor waves, which my friends in Bermuda tell me got to
forty feet off the reefs this past Sunday, but more like gale-on-Lake-Michigan waves. I've never done wavy before -- at least not like this. Not sure if it was the bias edges on the tumbler blocks or just me sewing it together a little too
quickly enthusiastically, but it was bad. I was not proud.
Figuring I could correct my mistakes with the next two tops, I laid out blocks for another, this one with green sashing and pink and yellow tumblers (I'm not posting a picture of it because I don't want to blind you). Ack! Yellow in quilts is tricky to work with, and it turns out that yellow -- an almost-neon canary yellow -- especially in big, wide bands, was so loud I couldn't stand it. Seated next to another large swath of pink stripes, the two began a battle for attention that was downright frightening.
I know I said I liked in-your-face loud, but even I
have my limits. And small children don't deserve to be put in the middle of a color fight every night when they're trying to get to sleep.
I looked at the piles of pre-cut tumblers I'd spent a whole afternoon slicing, and in a
que sera sera moment, came up with Plan B. It's not very original, but at least it won't have those little girls fearing an attack from a large yellow and pink monster.
Plan C may be different still. I originally didn't want to make waves among the sisters by making three different quilts that could be interpreted (or misinterpreted) as one being better than another -- but then I realized
I don't have to live with the fallout, so why not mix it up?
I may still make some waves, but they can't possibly be as big or as bad as the ones in that tumbler top.
