Monday, February 11, 2013

Easy Street Update...

Quote for the Day:
"Creative clutter is better than idle neatness."
~author unknown

On Saturday, I started laying out the "Easy Street" mystery quilt blocks.  I thought I had counted and recounted and then counted the blocks again.  However, when I had the blocks all laid out, I seemed to have a problem...


Just in case you couldn't spot the empty hole made by the missing quilt block, I marked it for you!  LOL  It seems I only made 8 of block "B" instead of the 9 that the pattern called for.  :(  

So I dug through the fabric that I had used...this is why I don't put the fabric away until the quilt is COMPLETELY done...you never know when you may need a piece of those exact fabrics.  Luckily, I had enough of the fabrics left over to make that ninth block!  :)


After making that last block, I put Season 2 of Downton Abbey in the DVD player and started joining the blocks together to into a top.  Between Saturday and Sunday afternoon's of sewing, I was able to get about 1/2 of the blocks sewn together into diagonal strips...and 4 episodes of Downton Abbey watched!


I'll be honest with you...I'm not "feeling" this quilt.  It looks "okay" in the pictures, but in person I think it just looks like a bunch of scraps with no discernible pattern.  Scrap vomit.  Yeah...I think that's what I'll name this quilt!  LOL

I wish the gold, red and brown were more prominent and the green less prominent.  I wanted this to be an Autumn quilt, but is just looks like another Christmas quilt to me.  Since this was a mystery, you don't know what colors are going to go where, so you don't know which color is going to be the most prominent, or what the quilt will look like till the mystery is over.

Oh well.  It'll be okay.  But I seriously think this is the last mystery quilt I will ever participate in.  From now on, I'll wait till the reveal and then decide if I want to do the quilt or not.  

Loretta  

9 comments:

  1. I always wait until the reveal to decide if I'll make the quilt or not. Why do all that work for something you might not like?

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  2. I love your colors! I'm with you about never putting stuff away til the top is finished...you just never know. I actually love mystery quilts...the uncertainty keeps me motivated. Your top is lovely...very autumn.

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  3. Hmmm, a few too many arrows for my taste... Maybe if we ever live in a bigger place I could try learning to quilt.

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  4. I feel the same way about the Easy Street top I just finished. It is my first mystery, and I don't think I will do another one:(

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  5. Oh, don't give up on mysteries. I loved the first one I did when it was finished. I hated it while I was doing it. I am actually hosting one on my blog right now. Small and simple. I know what it will look like and I am still fretting about my fabric choices!! It is the nature of the beast.

    How about a gold and then a red border to pull out the colors you want to see? I like what I see but it is awfully intense. I think a narrow gold border and then a 5 or 6" red in a fabric like Connecting Threads "mirage" or a marbled fabric would work. JMHO. It is a beautiful quilt.

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    1. Mary, Thanks for your encouragement and advice on the borders. I like the idea of the gold and red for borders, so will try that.
      Loretta

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  6. Well, I love your Easy Street! I think the colors in the photos look very autumnal! This was my first mystery quilt I ever participated in, and I had a very positive experience. But, I can see your side as well. I am now participating in Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt in Quilt Makers magazine. We will see how that one goes?

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  7. I'm with you, Loretta, about waiting until a mystery quilt is revealed before making it. I, too, was disappointed in the proportion of colors in my quilt. I thought the color that required the most fabric would be the dominant color... but it wasn't.

    Anyway, I think your quilt is very lovely. I'm impressed that the lines of grey/black blocks almost seem to curve where they run into the blocks with yellow patches toward the center. (I can't remember if those are A or B blocks.) But I generally agree that our Easy Street quilts show better from a distance (or in a photo) than up close. As someone said about mine, there's someone out there who would love to have it!

    It's been interesting to read the responses to this mystery quilt. Some love it, some like it, some don't. Maybe we'll like our own better when they're finished. I can hope!

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  8. IMHO, I would add red, gold, and brown borders on it, since you have already sewn the blocks together. If you hadn't already sewn them together, I would say add sashing. I am Sash you know;)

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