'the evolving quilt' or 'when winging it goes wrong'...

I've discovered that following a pattern through to completion ''as is'' is
easier said than done.
The more of the quilt I see taking shape, the more possibilities become
obvious. It's at this point that I lose focus and tend to begin to meander
down 'the road less travelled'. Sometimes the path becomes so narrow that
there's nothing left for it, but to pack it away for later and head for some
new scenery all together.

But enough of that, that's not my problem this time! This time I'm stuck
because I DON'T have any particular pattern in mind. Never did...rather,
I'm trying to stretch and evolve a set of blocks that I just put together
willy nilly, and they're not cooperating. I'm not sure what to do next
because I didn't have direction to begin with.

They are snowball blocks, which is simple enough, and each is sashed with a
different color compatible with the colors in the 'snowball'. Trouble is,
now I'm stuck. I can't decide what to do next. I can't just sew them
together, because the quilt wouldn't be big enough. I don't have enough of
any of the materials to do alternate squares or anything very large. It
would take several sizeable borders to bring it up to decent twin or small
full size. To top it off, I think the blocks are humbuggy, not colorwise,
but graphically. I'd make it into a crib size, but we're talking florals,
not very baby-ish.

How can I make this thing a respectable size and add some pizzaz in the
process??? Ever come up against this one, and what did you do?

chipper :-/


--
http://home.triad.rr.com/chip16/

Gee, Chipper, after looking at all the creative quilts on your website
(not to mention that lovely garden) it should be US asking YOU for
pizzazzy design advice! LOL
I would suggest working on something else while these blocks
are displayed on your design wall, maybe they will start talking to
you eventually? Oh well, it works for me.
Mickie

"Chipper" wrote in message
om...
I've discovered that following a pattern through to completion ''as is'' is
easier said than done.
The more of the quilt I see taking shape, the more possibilities become
obvious. It's at this point that I lose focus and tend to begin to meander
down 'the road less travelled'. Sometimes the path becomes so narrow that
there's nothing left for it, but to pack it away for later and head for some
new scenery all together.

But enough of that, that's not my problem this time! This time I'm stuck
because I DON'T have any particular pattern in mind. Never did...rather,
I'm trying to stretch and evolve a set of blocks that I just put together
willy nilly, and they're not cooperating. I'm not sure what to do next
because I didn't have direction to begin with.

They are snowball blocks, which is simple enough, and each is sashed with a
different color compatible with the colors in the 'snowball'. Trouble is,
now I'm stuck. I can't decide what to do next. I can't just sew them
together, because the quilt wouldn't be big enough. I don't have enough of
any of the materials to do alternate squares or anything very large. It
would take several sizeable borders to bring it up to decent twin or small
full size. To top it off, I think the blocks are humbuggy, not colorwise,
but graphically. I'd make it into a crib size, but we're talking florals,
not very baby-ish.

How can I make this thing a respectable size and add some pizzaz in the
process??? Ever come up against this one, and what did you do?

chipper :-/


--
http://home.triad.rr.com/chip16/

Oh my, Merry is right. You have a color sense that is wild and exciting and
asking us for help is odd....
Its hard to say what you should do because invariably what we can say is
what *we* would do... but again Merry is right, put those blocks up on your
design wall and give them a chance to talk with you... perhaps put some
sashing material up between them as a test. The first one may be all wrong
but give you an idea of what might be just right. Maybe it needs another
pieced block to go between the snowballs, or maybe one solid block. It might
need to be turned on point...
Have fun, and let us know what you decide. This is my favorite and most
frustrating part of the quilting process.....sometimes...
Diana

--
Queen of FAQs
Royal Peace Maker
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44
"Chipper" wrote in message
om...
I've discovered that following a pattern through to completion ''as is''
is
easier said than done.
The more of the quilt I see taking shape, the more possibilities become
obvious. It's at this point that I lose focus and tend to begin to
meander
down 'the road less travelled'. Sometimes the path becomes so narrow that
there's nothing left for it, but to pack it away for later and head for
some
new scenery all together.

But enough of that, that's not my problem this time! This time I'm stuck
because I DON'T have any particular pattern in mind. Never did...rather,
I'm trying to stretch and evolve a set of blocks that I just put together
willy nilly, and they're not cooperating. I'm not sure what to do next
because I didn't have direction to begin with.

They are snowball blocks, which is simple enough, and each is sashed with
a
different color compatible with the colors in the 'snowball'. Trouble is,
now I'm stuck. I can't decide what to do next. I can't just sew them
together, because the quilt wouldn't be big enough. I don't have enough
of
any of the materials to do alternate squares or anything very large. It
would take several sizeable borders to bring it up to decent twin or small
full size. To top it off, I think the blocks are humbuggy, not colorwise,
but graphically. I'd make it into a crib size, but we're talking florals,
not very baby-ish.

How can I make this thing a respectable size and add some pizzaz in the
process??? Ever come up against this one, and what did you do?

chipper :-/


--
http://home.triad.rr.com/chip16/

Chipper: I can't suggest anything because I don't know what your blocks
look like. All I can coment on is your finished quilts... WWOW!!!! I also
took a peek at your garden. WOW!!! again. Like Micki said, put them on a
design wall and they will talk to you. I had a quilt top that told me I
don't want to be quilted by SITD. So I put it on the spare bed till I
figured out what quilting I wanted to do. Oh.. and that Wild cat quilt, if
it gets tired living in your house it can come live at mine.

Kate T.
South Mississippi


"Chipper" wrote in message
om...
I've discovered that following a pattern through to completion ''as is''
is
easier said than done.
The more of the quilt I see taking shape, the more possibilities become
obvious. It's at this point that I lose focus and tend to begin to
meander
down 'the road less travelled'. Sometimes the path becomes so narrow that
there's nothing left for it, but to pack it away for later and head for
some
new scenery all together.

But enough of that, that's not my problem this time! This time I'm stuck
because I DON'T have any particular pattern in mind. Never did...rather,
I'm trying to stretch and evolve a set of blocks that I just put together
willy nilly, and they're not cooperating. I'm not sure what to do next
because I didn't have direction to begin with.

They are snowball blocks, which is simple enough, and each is sashed with
a
different color compatible with the colors in the 'snowball'. Trouble is,
now I'm stuck. I can't decide what to do next. I can't just sew them
together, because the quilt wouldn't be big enough. I don't have enough
of
any of the materials to do alternate squares or anything very large. It
would take several sizeable borders to bring it up to decent twin or small
full size. To top it off, I think the blocks are humbuggy, not colorwise,
but graphically. I'd make it into a crib size, but we're talking florals,
not very baby-ish.

How can I make this thing a respectable size and add some pizzaz in the
process??? Ever come up against this one, and what did you do?

chipper :-/


--
http://home.triad.rr.com/chip16/

Hullo Chipper
Mmmm ...

If you don't have enough of any of the individual fabrics to make full
alternate squares, do you have enough to do 'pieced' alternate squares?
What I mean is, could you use the fabrics in the snowballs, to make -
for example - four patches or rail fences (four sets of three strips
each turned through 90 degrees) or Roman stripes. As the snowball
itself is not a busy block, this should be fine. Also, you could use
the smaller pieces in the alternate blocks to provide visual links
between the snowballs' differing sashing . If you don't have quite
enough fabric for these, you could at this stage introduce one or two
'new' fabrics.

If you set blocks on point, the quilt will always turn out larger. So,
if you decide on a satisfactory - for you - method of doing an alternate
block, you could do the whole thing on point. Your outside setting
triangles could be plain ones of any 'new' fabrics you introduced to the
alternate blocks, if you are still running short of fabric.
HTH
..
In article , Chipper
writes
I've discovered that following a pattern through to completion ''as is'' is
easier said than done.
The more of the quilt I see taking shape, the more possibilities become
obvious. It's at this point that I lose focus and tend to begin to meander
down 'the road less travelled'. Sometimes the path becomes so narrow that
there's nothing left for it, but to pack it away for later and head for some
new scenery all together.

But enough of that, that's not my problem this time! This time I'm stuck
because I DON'T have any particular pattern in mind. Never did...rather,
I'm trying to stretch and evolve a set of blocks that I just put together
willy nilly, and they're not cooperating. I'm not sure what to do next
because I didn't have direction to begin with.

They are snowball blocks, which is simple enough, and each is sashed with a
different color compatible with the colors in the 'snowball'. Trouble is,
now I'm stuck. I can't decide what to do next. I can't just sew them
together, because the quilt wouldn't be big enough. I don't have enough of
any of the materials to do alternate squares or anything very large. It
would take several sizeable borders to bring it up to decent twin or small
full size. To top it off, I think the blocks are humbuggy, not colorwise,
but graphically. I'd make it into a crib size, but we're talking florals,
not very baby-ish.

How can I make this thing a respectable size and add some pizzaz in the
process??? Ever come up against this one, and what did you do?

chipper :-/



--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

OK... brain died early last night .. .thats suppose to be Mickie.. not
Merry...
Maybe I had Merry Christmas on the brain.. who know..
Sorry Mickie!
:-)
Diana

--
Queen of FAQs
Royal Peace Maker
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44
"Diana Curtis" wrote in message
...
Oh my, Merry is right. You have a color sense that is wild and exciting
and
asking us for help is odd....
Its hard to say what you should do because invariably what we can say is
what *we* would do... but again Merry is right, put those blocks up on
your
design wall and give them a chance to talk with you... perhaps put some
sashing material up between them as a test. The first one may be all wrong
but give you an idea of what might be just right. Maybe it needs another
pieced block to go between the snowballs, or maybe one solid block. It
might
need to be turned on point...
Have fun, and let us know what you decide. This is my favorite and most
frustrating part of the quilting process.....sometimes...
Diana

--
Queen of FAQs
Royal Peace Maker
http://photos.yahoo.com/lunamom44
"Chipper" wrote in message
om...
I've discovered that following a pattern through to completion ''as is''
is
easier said than done.
The more of the quilt I see taking shape, the more possibilities become
obvious. It's at this point that I lose focus and tend to begin to
meander
down 'the road less travelled'. Sometimes the path becomes so narrow
that
there's nothing left for it, but to pack it away for later and head for
some
new scenery all together.

But enough of that, that's not my problem this time! This time I'm
stuck
because I DON'T have any particular pattern in mind. Never
did...rather,
I'm trying to stretch and evolve a set of blocks that I just put
together
willy nilly, and they're not cooperating. I'm not sure what to do next
because I didn't have direction to begin with.

They are snowball blocks, which is simple enough, and each is sashed
with
a
different color compatible with the colors in the 'snowball'. Trouble
is,
now I'm stuck. I can't decide what to do next. I can't just sew them
together, because the quilt wouldn't be big enough. I don't have enough
of
any of the materials to do alternate squares or anything very large. It
would take several sizeable borders to bring it up to decent twin or
small
full size. To top it off, I think the blocks are humbuggy, not
colorwise,
but graphically. I'd make it into a crib size, but we're talking
florals,
not very baby-ish.

How can I make this thing a respectable size and add some pizzaz in the
process??? Ever come up against this one, and what did you do?

chipper :-/


--
http://home.triad.rr.com/chip16/

"Diana Curtis" wrote in message
...
OK... brain died early last night .. .thats suppose to be Mickie.. not
Merry...
Maybe I had Merry Christmas on the brain.. who know..
Sorry Mickie!
:-)
Diana

That's ok Dana! We knew who you meant.
chirper

"..Mickie Swall.." wrote in message
...
Gee, Chipper, after looking at all the creative quilts on your website
(not to mention that lovely garden) it should be US asking YOU for
pizzazzy design advice! LOL
I would suggest working on something else while these blocks
are displayed on your design wall, maybe they will start talking to
you eventually? Oh well, it works for me.
Mickie


What a nice thing to say! But my quilting inspiration comes from the folks
here. Otherwise it would be a lonely enterprise!
chipper

WEll, everyone seems to think I need a design wall, and I suspect you're all
right.
My QIs mean well, (at least I tell myself that), but everytime I put my
blocks on the carpet they re-arrange them, and NOT artfully, if you know
what I mean. I think it has something to do with playing hide the rattley
mouse under the pretty fabric....
My sewing room is small, but I guess I could do something retractable with a
curtain rod over the closet mirrors....
Thanks all!
chipper




"Kate T." wrote in message
...
Chipper: I can't suggest anything because I don't know what your blocks
look like. All I can coment on is your finished quilts... WWOW!!!! I
also
took a peek at your garden. WOW!!! again. Like Micki said, put them on a
design wall and they will talk to you. I had a quilt top that told me I
don't want to be quilted by SITD. So I put it on the spare bed till I
figured out what quilting I wanted to do. Oh.. and that Wild cat quilt, if
it gets tired living in your house it can come live at mine.

Kate T.
South Mississippi


"Chipper" wrote in message
om...
I've discovered that following a pattern through to completion ''as is''
is
easier said than done.
The more of the quilt I see taking shape, the more possibilities become
obvious. It's at this point that I lose focus and tend to begin to
meander
down 'the road less travelled'. Sometimes the path becomes so narrow
that
there's nothing left for it, but to pack it away for later and head for
some
new scenery all together.

But enough of that, that's not my problem this time! This time I'm
stuck
because I DON'T have any particular pattern in mind. Never
did...rather,
I'm trying to stretch and evolve a set of blocks that I just put
together
willy nilly, and they're not cooperating. I'm not sure what to do next
because I didn't have direction to begin with.

They are snowball blocks, which is simple enough, and each is sashed
with
a
different color compatible with the colors in the 'snowball'. Trouble
is,
now I'm stuck. I can't decide what to do next. I can't just sew them
together, because the quilt wouldn't be big enough. I don't have enough
of
any of the materials to do alternate squares or anything very large. It
would take several sizeable borders to bring it up to decent twin or
small
full size. To top it off, I think the blocks are humbuggy, not
colorwise,
but graphically. I'd make it into a crib size, but we're talking
florals,
not very baby-ish.

How can I make this thing a respectable size and add some pizzaz in the
process??? Ever come up against this one, and what did you do?

chipper :-/


--
http://home.triad.rr.com/chip16/

Thanks Patti! I've always thought a roman stripe would be fun to do. The
snowball fabric was a remnant and most of the borders are what I have left
of one yard pieces. But I could combine them willy-nilly that way and use
another fabric altogether for the remainder of the block...Besides, I love
stripes, so working them into this wouldn't make me cry at all. I think
I'll try the rail fence and roman stripe in EQ5 and see how it goes. My
first mistake was probably in bordering all the snowballs, since it isolated
the corners design wise, and made such strong color statements in several
different directions to boot....but it makes for an interesting challenge.
Must go! I hear the rattley mouse!
You know what that means!!!
chipper


"Patti" wrote in message
...
Hullo Chipper
Mmmm ...

If you don't have enough of any of the individual fabrics to make full
alternate squares, do you have enough to do 'pieced' alternate squares?
What I mean is, could you use the fabrics in the snowballs, to make -
for example - four patches or rail fences (four sets of three strips
each turned through 90 degrees) or Roman stripes. As the snowball
itself is not a busy block, this should be fine. Also, you could use
the smaller pieces in the alternate blocks to provide visual links
between the snowballs' differing sashing . If you don't have quite
enough fabric for these, you could at this stage introduce one or two
'new' fabrics.

If you set blocks on point, the quilt will always turn out larger. So,
if you decide on a satisfactory - for you - method of doing an alternate
block, you could do the whole thing on point. Your outside setting
triangles could be plain ones of any 'new' fabrics you introduced to the
alternate blocks, if you are still running short of fabric.
HTH
.