Sunday, August 1, 2010

I said I wouldn't whine............BUT

Here's the thing: I just spent several hours selecting 8 fabrics for my first block.....lower left hand corner of center section, the oak leaves. I found myself desperately seeking for my sense of whimsy. I had one once.......surely I did. I must have. I played pretend as a little girl, and with my children when they were young. What the heck happened to it? That's my question. As gorgeous as Kim's quilts are, and obviously we all agree on that, or why are we here? I do not want to just copy hers fabric for fabric. For one thing it seems like a boring way to work, and for another, I want it to be "mine". I promised myself I wouldn't agonize, and over think things, but I'm pretty sure that's what I'm doing. Anyway, I managed to choose my four oak leaves, each different, my four buds, ditto, and a couple of the little stems that go with the buds. Each individual fabric is pretty, but do I like my resulting composition.......................I just plain don't know. If I wasn't dead on my feet from standing at my cutting table, I would have pinned stuff down, and taken a picture. I'll do it in the morning, and maybe you guys can tell me if I'm on the right track, or not. But how will you know, either? Does that make even a tiny bit of common sense to anyone? If not, I probably haven't expressed myself well, but I'll keep plugging away, and post that picture. Hope your fabric selections are going smoother, and not causing you so much angst. It probably doesn't help that it is 106 F at 4:30 PM. Our central air is really struggling to keep the house under 80.  I'm envying you Australian gals right about now. Michele

11 comments:

  1. Oh dear take a deep breath and just start, it will all come together.
    Well don't envy us to much in Australia the winter is only a blink of an eye here in Brisbane and I am already getting over knowing it will soon be hot again.
    I sooooooo miss living 3/4 of the year cool and not the other way around.

    Take care happy stitching
    Christine

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  2. Aw honey, you are overthinking this....this quilting thing is supposed to be enjoyable! I bet when we see the post we'll all be drooling LOL, Sandy

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  3. I'm sure your colour choices will be fabulous Michele, I agree with Sandy, you're probably overthinking!! As to the weather, I'm envying you right now sat here in cold and very wet Ballarat, roll on summer!!
    Lizzie
    xxx

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  4. Oh, someome needs a big sleepies! Everything will look fine in the morning
    Hugs - Lurline♥

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  5. Once upon a time we all would choose color with ease and delight. THINK like a child!!! Ask a kid for their opinion. Go with your gut. Don't make it such work and struggle. Have FUN with it. Choose quickly. Have a glass of wine or a nice iced tea. Just DO it... ; )

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  6. To start off on the whole choosing dilemna, just go for the same colours but in different prints for the first block. After that it gets easier, I just like a balance of colours around the block and that seems to work for me. I always start with just one fabric and go from thereto build it up.

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  7. Hi Michelle,
    I think you're going to be just great. Post that photo - I bet its looking great. No you don't want to copy out - thats boring - its like that time in school doing detention " I'm going to be good x 100 times" I'm sure your fabric choice will reflect your whimsy - we've all got it you know. Its like wearing two different socks just for the hell of it. And putting the purple & pink & blue fabric for the tail feather on a bird instead of the safe brown. Go for it!! & don't think too much, jump in, its easy peasy.
    Cheers, Kim McLean

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  8. Michele I had to laugh reading your post, sounds like me
    I had a good talking to myself and I know that it will all go together you have to stop looking at the one block , think all over picture. The quilt is balanced and will be cause I am choosing fabric from my baskets and all those fabrics go together.
    I plan on leaving the circles to later maybe after 1/2 the blocks and borders are done then I will go back and the colors I think are missing or let them be pops of color I want to add to the quilt.
    I followed Kim's lead on my color choices for a lot of the pieces in each block but sometimes I just went with them gut feeling...
    hopefully today will be a better day for you and you will just start stitching and stop thinking!
    Kathie

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  9. I think we all struggle over color....well maybe not Kim LOL. If you like how your block looks then go for it...it's your quilt not a clone :0)

    Crispy

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  10. I agree with every single one of these comments, but I know how you feel Michele. It drives me crazy to pick out the colors for the first block. It just seems like so much work if the colors aren't perfect. I always pick them out in the evening and sleep on them at least once before starting. That seems to work for me and they always do turn out great, so maybe it really is overthinking...

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  11. Oh my! You're leaps and bounds ahead of me. I *think* I have my background fabric chosen, I *think* I have my stem fabric chosen. I laid things out on the bed yesterday thinking a different perspective would tell me? Nope! I'm still second guessing.
    I really like Kathie's approach. Pull out what you think works..and save some of the little pieces to add later for balance?
    Maybe use Kim's idea too? Put on two mismatched socks, and just go for it? :)

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