Quick and easy was thrown out the window in no time. Keeping it simple was replaced by 'just one more'! One batch of blocks was just not hitting the spot. About the only thing that remained the same was black and white.
It's the way I like to work. Plan...what plan?! Make it up as you go and in the end it'll look like I knew exactly what I was doing or wanted. One thing always leads to another working this way.
These blocks were the starting point. They provoked me, prodded me and in the end forced me to 'make them pretty'. They were intended to be a part of my Optical Illusion quilt from last year, but didn't quite make the cut. How could they...I totally messed them up!
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| 4" blocks |
I framed the center blocks with the 1" strips and added the outside border to make each block 7 1/4". Not real sure how I decided on that size!
I also had some black and white strips cut, so I quickly made some nine patch center blocks for another added element. I like where this is going!
I placed them on my design wall, twisted, turned and wracked my brain to make it work...it didn't. I considered using solid black and white squares to 'grow' it bigger, it just wasn't working.
Back to the drawing board in my head again.
Which resulted in these blocks. I picked white as the background so that the quilt didn't become heavy. I didn't want the quilt to become weighed down with dark, black would not have been a good choice!
More blocks were still needed. Really? Where did the 'quick' finish go?!
That block on the bottom right...it was a valiant effort on my part. I thought I could introduce the polka dot fabric in to the design, but it wasn't meant to be. Talk about weighing a quilt down! It felt like a lead weight and they were quickly set aside.
I kept making, experimenting, trying to make this 'quick' quilt come together. A few improv, some wonkyness and some normal blocks made the final cut. In the end, I used ever piece of white I had on hand! I just barely, barely made it!
It should end up to be about 40" x 54", not huge, not small...just right! It has a scrappy, graphic, funky vibe to it. When I started it felt like a race car theme was developing.
That was not at all where I wanted this quilt to end up! Luckily, I don't think it did! For now, it is sandwiched, pinned and ready to quilt. One day it will happen.
All blocks deserve a second chance. They need not sit in a dark corner, on a dark shelf, way in the back, forgotten. A little imagination, determination, configuration...and time on your hands can develop and evolve in to something amazing!
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