Seeing Purple

I have a group of friends who have been in my life for about 15 years and I don't think any of us would have guessed the life long friendship we have all formed. Part of this is living close together and our kids all being the same approximate ages.

I have made quilts for most of the kids in the group, with just three remaining. I know I need to get on correcting that, so I started with a little girl one year younger than my eldest daughter. This little girl LOVES purple. Her entire room is purple. Sigh. I am not so into purple.

I was thinking of a specific block and then decided I wanted to have the quilt done for her birthday (right before Christmas) so I needed a more practical, faster quilt. Then I remembered the giant star I did for my daughter's teacher in grade one and decided to do a giant, purple star.

I made all the blocks and then started playing with the layout. This was the first attempt and it just wasn't doing it for me.

That's a lot of purple. I was going for a darker side of the star (more blue purple) and a lighter side of the star (more pinky purple).

I struggled a bit until I switched to taking black and white photos on my phone to heighten the contrast and allow me to focus.

This let me find balance.

And here is the layout I eventually went with. I think I may have switched one or two before I actually pieced it.

It is definitely purple.

I am on the final binding stages so it will definitely be done on time, and I think I want to avoid purple for awhile!

I know she'll love it even if it is not my most favourite quilt I've ever made. Stay tuned for finished pictures of this quilt. It is growing on me the more I see it, especially now that is is quilted and has some borders to take away from how much purple there is!

Lynn