What was I thinking???

I've had the Sunbonnet Sue/Overall Sam quilt pin basted now for nearly two weeks.  Have I even touched it?.....No!  I was dreading it!  I had come up with an all over heart-on-a-vine type quilting design for it, but that was a far as I had gone.  Didn't even want to think about it!  And I put in the spare room, and closed the door!  Didn't even want to look at it!  Sheesh!  Something's wrong here!  But what!?!

Then I got on the blogs this morning and it hit me like a lightening bolt!

You know how sometimes you just have to hear someone else say it.....and then it all makes sense.  You can be thinking the thoughts, but they are all jumbled in your mind.....but the minute someone else says it......there!  That's it!  THANK YOU!

There I was on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog, and over the weekend she was making a baby quilt.  And (I think it was Saturday) she was having a devil of time making sense of the sashing.  She was feeling obligated to incorporate the minty green color scheme of the baby's room.  And it just wasn't happening for her.  The green didn't look right, and colors to complement it didn't work either.  No matter what combo she tried, it just wasn't good.  Kindof put her at a standstill.

And then she realized she needs put her own look to the quilt, so she could be happy with it.  And it turned out beautifully (of course it did!....her quilts always looking amazing!)

So I was really thinking about the Sue and Sam quilt after that, cuz I KNOW the reason I don't want to deal with it is because it is not ME at all!  Nothing about it is anything I would normally do.  I was totally trying to make a quilt my MIL would think was pretty.  And was second guessing myself the whole way, cuz let's face it......her comment on receiving it is going to be "Well, it's about time!".....so does it really matter what I think she might like!?!  NO!  I should be making something I want to work on.....with choices of fabrics that I would normally pick......so I can love every minute of doing it!  This was my lightning bolt moment!

Then, I was still browsing blogs, and came across a new one (to me) and whammo......another bolt!  Karen at Little Pieces of My Life had a Sue and Sam quilt right there for me to find.....and love everything about it!  Oh my goodness!  I'm so very happy right now!

I've just spent the entire afternoon unpinning and then seam ripping the entire top of the Sue and Sam quilt.  It is now back to single blocks, and I'm digging through the stash right now to put some fun colors and patterns with the blocks!  No more solid pink!  Whew!

The thought of all that pink, and all the perfect quilting it would need through the solid parts.....well, it was just a nightmare to me!

And Karen's setting will totally work with my blocks.....each of which is a different size, because of the aging and fraying.  I can add a bunch of rounds like a log cabin block, and still keep them on point with off-set rows.  I'm so looking forward to this now.  I will post a pic when I have some put together.

In the meantime, I've been working on my Roll-Roll Cotton Boll quilt from Bonnie.  I got a late start to the mystery, and only had the first two segments done before it was finished by Bonnie.  But it turned out for the best, cuz I needed to make changes to it, but there was no way to know what to change until it was over, and you could see how it all came together.

First off.....there is nothing king size in our house.....that is just way too big for us!  So I knew I was going to have to scale it down to a queen at the most......and this was where the tricky part was.  How do you know midway in a mystery what percentage of pieces you will need for a different size!?!  There's just no way to tell!  So, I was glad I was late.

As it worked out.....I totally skipped the string blocks and decided to sash the pieced blocks instead.  I also changed some color schemes a bit.....no red.  Instead, I did the 1/2 square triangles with neutral and brown.  And I put them on facing out......which gave the inside blocks a kindof spinning effect!  Love it!

In the pic, I was trying out the different combos for the sashing and cornerstones.  Have decided on the pink sash and brown stones, which is good, cuz I don't think I have enough of the browns for the sashings.

I will still use the border pieces that were cut on the first segment of the mystery!  Love the way they look!  I'll have a bunch left over, but maybe I will do something with them on the back.  Will post more pics when I get more of this done!

Hope you're having a great day!

regan