Tuesday 18 July 2017

Patience is a virtue

It has emerged during my quilting/blogging life that I am not the most patient of people (hand quilting aside). So at the start of a project, when I'm feeling my way, I occasionally  need to take a deep breath and remind myself that it always begins like this: with the germ of an idea but not much more, and definitely not with a clear plan.  

That's a roundabout way of saying that I am still groping around, trying things and discarding them, sewing, unpicking, resewing.  As a result, I'm not sure how edifying these photos will be, but nonetheless here they are.

I messed about for quite a while with these bits...

 



Finally I decided that big piece was just too much brown all in one place, so unpicked it and turned what was left into this.


I'm wondering about using the fabric on the right to fill in a few spaces.  I can't get carried away as I've only got 1/2 metre, but I'm playing around with how it might look.  


I am making the hourglasses in a range of sizes, which I like and will keep doing.  I am also slowly adding in extra fabrics. What I haven't yet worked out is whether I want to keep going like this or throw something else into the mix. If I keep fiddling then at some point it will all become clear, but until I have a lightbulb moment I'm keeping the seam ripper close at hand.

Linking up with sew stitch snap share today.

13 comments:

patty a. said...

I like the way the half square triangle section play off the hourglass blocks. I agree with you that a change in scale of the blocks would be a good thing. The beige fabric looks a bit flat, but in small doses or scattered similar to the mustard triangles, it may work.

Ann said...

I agree with Patty about the triangles/hourglass blocks. I've seen some utility quilts with repeated units in different sizes that simply chopped them off when they butted against the next section.
I'm not sure I get the new fabric although a solid might be helpful in such a low contrast quilt.

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

That is funny....considering the name of your blog!

Janie said...

Hourglass blocks are delightful.
I saw your last post with your hand quilting, always beautiful.

PaulaB quilts said...

I think the added mustard pieces at the top left balance the others nicely. I don't really understand about the beige piece. It's really coming along well now. Keep up the good work!

Ann said...

I didn't express myself clearly either. I didn't think you were going to use big pieces of the beige. It's just that I have trouble visualizing quiet quilts. I do see that a solid would stand out, even in grey. And with fabric as quiet as your previous choices will make a good contrast. My opinion is to try it. What's the worst that could happen?

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

I like seeing your mug beside the blocks in the second photo. I can just visualize you having a cuppa and thinking through what you have in your palette.

Julie said...

I envy people who can make hourglass blocks, and lots of HST blocks and still keep the points. It is a very restful looking piece so far. Thanks for linking to Sew, Stitch, Snap, Share.

Audrey said...

This was such an interesting post. I get that you start small but I think I just finally realized you are working basically 'blind', playing with little tiny seeds of ideas. The ones that grow obviously depend heavily on your fabric choices and of course those instinctual design decisions you sharpen with each subsequent quilt project. every quilt you make continues to amaze me--where you start and where you end up!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Like Ann, I'm not sure about the introduction of the light color nearly-solid looking piece. I prefer the mish-mash of prints and stripes in the various hourglasses etc. And like Yvonne, I noticed and smiled when I saw the mug in the photo. I do that kind of pondering, too.

Doris Perlhuhn said...

I like how the dark fabric underlines the soft colors. And for the grey fabric - in small pieces perhaps it will work.

Mystic Quilter said...

So late in reading posts, Kaja your hourglass blocks are just so lovely. I have been sitting here a little while just looking at the colours, for some reason they're taking me back to childhood days, I don't know why. Perhaps dresses worn when I was little, or those lovely older style dresses that Mum used to make, soft colours, very Springlike. Whatever is triggering the response I'm having, I'm finding it very moving.

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

I don't have to ask what "the point is" because i can see you have kept all your points. Like mystic quilter above me, it reminds me of tea dresses, and my granny - and thats a good thing