Second, the fabrics I had pulled for the upcoming mystery were stacked on the thread cabinet and making sad faces at me. These were not my colors or style of fabrics at all. My instinct said I would never be happy or even finish a mystery in this vein. And somewhere, long ago in my insight list I wrote:
Insight: Trust my instincts. That is why I have them.
Saturday was cold and rainy, the sewing room was warm and bright. Right off my creative muse changed gears and moved things around.Those fabrics for the mystery were turned into a pile of orange peel units! Big fat ones ready for applique on to a creamy yellow background. I added a few purple and blue prints to the scheme of things. My instinct is much more satisfied and happy with this direction. The combination smiles and says special little girl now.
I mentioned the 16 patch blocks last week, so in between other things, I did pull out strips and begin to cut them to length for a single block in different combos. I am not sure of how I want this one to play out, so I thought just a few variations would provide a bit of inspiration....or so I hope.
Anyway, my main task is to begin appliqueing the orange peel units. Then we can see if the instinct was right:)
Happy stitching.
11 comments:
You are one smart lady! I think of the few quilts over the years that I began but never finished. I think every time I did not trust my instincts. I do love that pile of orange peels. ~Jeanne
Love the orange peel fabrics. Will be fun to watch that! :)
Those are luscious colors/patterns for your orange peels! Always trust your instincts, they lead to beautiful finishes, every time. Happy Monday!
I think you already know the answer to that, Debbie.:)
You know your own heart and what brings you joy in the creative process. You are wise to go with that!
Yes, you should be making your quilts, not just something that you think might please someone else. If you follow your heart, anyone would love to have the quilt that is created.
I agree - trust your instincts. I have actually tossed out some things from my early quilting days (don't ask how many years they hung around.) I realized that I didn't like them and would never use them. (And if you know how much trouble I have tossing anything that "might" be useable--well....)
What I realized is that the weight of those was suddenly gone!
I don't trust my instincts. I look at them like the lights on the dashboard- they alert me to something that maybe true or not. I check it out and then make a decision. My instincts get polluted by emotions and pain at times and I need to cross check things before I jump. However, I have lived with a pile of the mystery colors for a couple of weeks and my gut still says no like. I think they remind me of growing up in the 50s and all the awful styles and colors that were around. So now, I have to decide what colors I will use or not do the mystery.
I loved how you solved your problem and boy, do I ever love those floral strips.
Boy, are you ever right. I succumbed to a mystery this summer. Didn't like the chosen colors, so I picked my own pallette. Made fewer and fewer blocks as new clues were revealed and never made the final two steps. I don't like the final design and now have this collection of block parts to try to incorporate into something else. No more mysteries for me.
Pat
Oh, your orange peels are making me smile! They sing Special Little Girl to me, too. My instinct is that you are on the right path with this one :)
It's hard to work on something that you don't like the colors or fabrics. I've only started one mystery quilt (and I do like the colors on it) since I've not liked the colors, and can't usually come up with different colors, if I can't picture the finished quilt. Yes, trust your instincts.
Good luck with the qpplique, the orange peel units look lovely in your chosen fabrics.
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