Central Coast Colors

Central Coast Summer

Watching the Olympics has indeed been good for finishing some hand sewing!

Big stitches in the border.

I used a stencil and a white chalk marking pencil to mark this design onto the border of my Central Coast Solstice quilt. Pamela asked me about measuring the sides of the quilt and calculating how the design would fit. That kind of perfectionism is for others, and for machines; my quilt designs are a little more organic, you might say. Start at one corner and work toward the middle, then start at the next corner and work back to the middle again. Where the two meet up, add or subtract or modify a design element to make it fit!

Add another diamond in the middle to fill the space!

I moved around the perimeter of the quilt, and the little difference in the diamond orientation means that all four sides are slightly different. If I'd done two opposite sides, then the other two opposite sides, they'd match each other... oh well! Another lesson learned! 

Doesn't it look charming on the bed?
This is my sewing room/guest room,
where I can admire it easily!

I sewed together the blocks for Easy Street. 

I have put a lot of time and energy and fabric into this quilt top, but I don't love it. My fault: I toned down the colors recommended for this mystery quilt, and I should have toned down the background, too, to give the design more contrast. I love the pattern, but  I don't want to work on this anymore. I made a backing for it, and took it to the charity team for my quilt guild. They'll long-arm quilt it for me, then I'll bind it and donate it to the guild for our quilt auction this summer. It's a win-win situation: the quilt gets finished and benefits someone else! Out of my UFO pile, and my conscience! 

So, what have I learned from these projects? (Maybe if I write it down I'll remember?)

1. When making a mystery, pay attention to the contrast between the colors I choose. If I choose colors different from the recommended colors, especially, try to achieve the same intensity/value as the recommended hue. (Then my Easy Street wouldn't look so mushy.)

2. Before assembling blocks from all the components I've made, stop and look online at what others are doing. Try some of the block variations others are posting to see if they suit my composition. (Turning some chevrons around in my CCS blocks would have made stars inside the blue rings, but I wasn't about to take the blocks apart and resew them!)

3. If it looks like I'm making setting triangles for an on-point setting, stop and lay out the blocks and decide if I like the blocks that way, or if I prefer a straight setting. Then I won't have to take apart those setting triangles and remake them into full blocks. (Ahem.)