Monday 8 June 2015

Thrown for a Loop AKA Plan B

My neighbours are expecting a fifth little boy in August and OF COURSE I am making them a quilt. The dad is an airplane mechanic and so I was delighted when I did a pull for a quilt using this adorable Ann Kelle fabric with planes. I love the bright blues and the pops of orange and yellow and lime green. I chose a Greek Cross block to use and was so excited to get to this project.
This pull makes me so happy!
But. But then I ran into the expectant mom and she dropped some not-so-subtle hints about the colour and theme of her nursery. Soft green walls, blue and green decor and an animal theme because the baby's name will be Noah.

Oh poop. So I did another pull and came up with this:
The Kona colours are: Spring, Asparagus, Seafoam, Lake and Stratosphere.
The thing was, I was just not feeling it. And I didn't know what to do. Should I make two quilts? That seems overly ambitious considering the long list I already have. Should I make a double-sided quilt? Except the sides don't really compliment each other. Do I make the quilt I want to make and ignore the mom's hints? That seems wrong too.

I couldn't quite figure out why I was so much less enthused about the new pull. Then I thought if I resorted the pull to make it closer to what I might have wanted to see then maybe it will speak to me more. This is Pull #2 of Plan B:
Kept the Ann Kelle turtles and owls, the sheep and those awesome Laurie Wisbrun special order lions. Changed out the greens, keeping Asparagus but adding in Leprechaun. Now I'm liking it A LOT more.
The next step to take it to choose a pattern. My Greek Cross plan will not work with these fabrics because they're so much larger scale that the other pull. I'll spend some time on Pinterest and see what speaks to me. This quilt is probably destined to be my first at the new house anyway, so I do have some time. I think the challenge of doing my quilt fabric pull from a stack of Rubbermaid bins instead of my usual shelves is part of the problem.

I'm going to keep the other pull aside for another quilt in the future (this was my husband's suggestion). 

Any suggestions for this green/blue quilt? A fairly simple pattern that allows these prints to shine? I'm loathe to make the same pattern I've been using lately.

6 comments:

  1. What about keeping it simple and doing diamonds or squares? I personally would still use your first fabric pull! When I was a new mum I used blankets everywhere not just in my little ones room, we had them in the car for at other people's houses, downstairs for tummy time, EVERYWHERE! Plus it might be a nice way to include dad in the whole baby thing, I sometimes feel like daddies get left out a bit x

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  2. Your fabric pulls always make me want to jump in the car, drive (for some time) to your place, and raid your stash! So much fabric-y goodness. It's tough when our initial vision doesn't match the desires of the parents. It sounds like the mom had an inkling you might make a quilt (gee I wonder why...) and would like it to go with the nursery. Though she doesn't know what she's missing with that first pull... so lovely!

    Here are a couple ideas for you... discard as needed!
    http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2013/04/v-and-co-reverse-hopscotch-done.html
    http://bheitland.wix.com/zenchic#!order-online/photostackergallery0=27
    http://www.redpepperquilts.com/2012/03/echo-et-al-patchwork-quilt.html

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  3. What about something simple like 4 or 5" squares?

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  4. And I like everything Jenn suggested. Good luck deciding!

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  5. I agree something simple. The second pull though lovely, seems flat. Done up I'm sure it will look lovely.

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  6. I made a quilt using similar animal fabrics and I made a strip quilt of varying widths. It turned out quite well - wish I knew how to post a picture of it. Anyway, simple is always best - stripes or squares, sashed or plain. Whatever you do, it will turn out and look great!

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