Monday 26 April 2021

Slicing and dicing

This is just not happening for me.  I don't remember when I last got so comprehensively stuck (actually, I've just looked back and it was 2015!)

Here's how it panned out.  I made another chunk I quite liked.  I tried it on the left, I tried it on the right.  Not happening.  I tried it at the top of the piece I already had.  That seemed like the best thing I had tried.  It looked like this.
I put it away for the weekend, came back to it today and realised I didn't really like it at all.  I tried adding in HST squares, half white shirt, half coloured.  Nope.  I tried using the white shirt with a centre strip, so that it echoed the shapes of the string blocks.  Now, that's an idea that I liked and that has possibilities, but it didn't work here. 

So...I took all three chunks apart.  You can tell I was fed up because I didn't even bother to unpick, I just ran my rotary cutter right along the offending seams.  I have sliced off the dark strips too.  

I don't have any idea what I am going to do next, but that's all part of the process, right?  I am choosing to be okay with the fact that my process currently involves going backwards!

16 comments:

Quiltdivajulie said...

For me, the busy-ness of the asymmetrical string blocks didn't play well/fit with the simplicity of the tulip blossoms (it worked beautifully in Ann's quilt but since I didn't want to make mine look just like hers, I could not find a happy marriage between the two disparate elements).

What do all of your tulips look like without the string blocks? (I love that bottom row).

I found that to make myself happy, I had to let the tulips be the star of the show instead of struggling to be heard above the noise of the string blocks. Just my thoughts - I know you will find a way to make this challenge work for you.

Cheryl said...

sometimes a quilt needs a time out. I do like the row of tulips on the bottom! You'll figure it out! You always do!

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

I think a bit of time away from it and looking at it again today was smart. I am now curious about the balancing of all the piecing and wondering if each chunk has its own space further apart from the others if the rest of the are can be filled in with simple patchwork squares or something to let each composition breathe a bit? Just my current musings. I'm confident that you'll find the right combination.

Kim said...

Gosh, sometimes quilts are a whole lot of work, aren't they. The to-ing and fro-ing....what to do. Keep playing....(is playing even the right word?). I know you will come up with a quilt that pleases your eye.

Robin said...

So frustrating. I had a quilt I kept trying to "fix". Put it away for a while, tried again and again. Decided to give up on it but not throw it away. Got it out a year later. Took the stuff off of it I liked and threw the rest in the garbage. I'm not implying that you should throw this away - not at all! I'm just saying I've been there and it is not a fun place to be

Julierose said...

If it doesn't "feel" right take some tame out from it...just do a few little fun items--that may rest your mind...sometimes we get too close to our works...
hugs, Julierose

Mystic Quilter said...

So frustrating when this sort of problem crops up! I do agree with Julie's comment on the row of tulips at the bottom, I really like these. I think the solid chunks of fabric seem a little out of place, the other blocks are beautifully busy. Is there something you could work on here?

liniecat said...

Those horizontal strips do seem to segregate your flowers harshly, though maybe a stone colour may have looked less strident? So sorry this one is giving you more of a struggle, as a therapeutic activity it's not working is it so far LOL. Time out might well ease your stressing at least I hope.

Wonder how it would look if all the flowers were in a 'bed' at the bottom, maybe with blocks staggered, like in a real flower bed? Maybe interspersed with single or pairs of stripey blocks rather than 4 pieced together? That way the stripes might suggest more colourful 'flowers'
More blummin work of course .... but they do say a challenge is good for us!
Hmm ... nuff said!!

Marly said...

I know one of the characteristics of a modern quilt can be asymmetry.
String blocks are asymmetrical by their nature, and these are powerful. Humans, probably by nature, like symmetry. Perhaps you could think about balance. It's just an idea to help solve your dilemma.

Wendy Caton Reed said...

I just love watching your quilts evolve! I find it very inspiring. I find whenever I play too much with a layout, I almost always go back to the initial one. I need to put more thought into my strategies!

patty a. said...

You did what? Well, if you are not happy with it then you showed how brave you are by taking the rotary cutter to it. I do like the black with the piece, but not the white.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

I'm guessing many of us have been in this spot, I know I certainly have! When things don't feel right to me, I grab a coffee, and my camera {tick} and have a bit of a think. At the moment both the tulips and the clusters of 4 string blocks seem to me to be separate quilts, but I'm confident you will work your magic and make them all gel! {not much help am I?}

Pinkadot Quilts said...

Keep going, it looks great! I want to see where this one goes......

Ann said...

Perhaps this is two quilts... or a front and back. I love your tulips and your strings but they compete here. Sorry.

audrey said...

Actually, I can see the tulips as a border surrounding the strings inside. I'm a border person though! That doesn't seem to be your thing, but however you resolve this, kudo's to you for posting about being stuck. If it ends up being two quilts like Ann suggested, so be it! Not the easiest thing in the world to write a 'stuck' post and then, gah! you get all our suggestions which are probably annoying! lol Best of luck to you moving forward!:)

Monica said...

Well, my 2 cents, the issue was that the solids drowned out the piecing and prints. Partly because the white and dark contrast was so high, and partly just all the negative space. If you want the strings and tulips to shine, maybe some light prints, stripes or plaid would be worth trying.

I love this quiltalong, it's exciting to see you mixing it up!