Wednesday, August 29, 2012

WIP Wednesday #15: Oh, Bother

You'd think after my experience on Alien Invasion, where I challenged an unborn child to a race and managed to get beaten by someone who was literally "born yesterday," I'd have learned my lesson. But, apparently not. 

I have a little girl due October 9, I want to make her a pooh quilt before she is born. Because it will be a focal point of her nursery, it can't be too simple; and being me, even though I only have 5-6 weeks to go, I am still working the design out. 

What I have: 

This is what I have so far. It's a 36 x 45 panel trimmed to ~25 x 32, and with "fast and easy" pinwheels that are perfectly sized to go along the sides (link). Sorry about the flash glare, it was late last night when I was taking these.


I still would like to sash the quilt, including a window box around the center panel like I did with Charity Quilt For a Princess, and have different blocks in the corners to break up the pinwheel theme.

What I still need to figure out:

Sashing: I bought a bright yellowish/orange honey-colored fabric to frame the print in, but now I am reconsidering because of its overall brightness (see below). It works well with pooh, but kind of fades out the pinwheels.


 I also have a blue in my stash that might work for the occasion:



I'm not sure I like the way it downplays the panel plaid, though.

I also saw a lighter solid that was a near-perfect match for Tigger's tummy, which I left at the store but am now considering going back for; It'd blend in a little with some of my pinwheel backgrounds, but keep the color pop effect.

And I'm at least considering just putting the pinwheels next to the panel plaid, I don't think they look half-bad that way. But I do think I want a little sashing around the outside before the binding, and it'd be nice if that pulled colors from something closer in.

Corners: There is a voice that whispers in my ear, four more pinwheels and I could be done; but when I first conceived of the quilt, I thought little suns in the corners would be cute. I'm not sure I am ready to give up on that yet.

I bought Moda marbles in three complimentary colors, and I was thinking about using the Evening Star pattern from the Summer Sampler Series. The bad part of this plan is that is incredibly inefficient and  involves paper piecing, but the good part is, I do like the block and it would look incredibly cute. Oh, decisions, decisions. Does anyone else have a simple sun pattern that they like using? I am definitely open to ideas.





And, that's where I am. Still wide open to suggestions on several fronts. Linking up to WIP Wednesday to see if anyone there can help me out, and to show off what I've got so far!


WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

7 comments:

  1. Such a cute quilt! The blue definitely makes the pinwheels "pop" more, which I like. But the Tigger-color is intriguing as well - might be the best of both (blue and yellow) worlds.

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  2. This is so cute! I love the pinwheels. I think I'd use the yellow sashing between pooh and the pinwheels and the blue sashing around the outside edge. Just my opinion, I'm sure it will be lovely no matter what.

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  3. I think it's super cute with the pinwheels. Enjoy the process of figuring it all out!

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  4. Perhaps the quilt is telling you not to do the sashing? That's what it's telling me! lol

    This took my breath away it's so sweet and happy!

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  5. If you don't get the quilt done, I'm pretty sure that with all of the other quilts that you and your mom have made for this baby, she'll still stay warm and cozy!

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  6. I love the yellow! Pooh has a way of making me so happy. I know you're quilt will have that effect on everyone! Go for something challenging in the corners!

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  7. Oddly enough, seeing the first picture with the quilt top laid out on your floor made me consider a very thin strip of brown or deep burnt orange like is in Tigger's dark stripes to define the plaid and pinwheel interface. I kind of agree with Dee above that maybe the pinwheel themselves are enough of a sashing border. If you do have your heart set on a sashing may I suggest repeating that thin strip of brown between the outermost sashing and the pinwheels and going with the yellow that you have that goes with Pooh's tummy. You'd be surprised how inserting a thin strip of dark will prevent that yellow from competing with the pinwheels. Now I have just confused you more and added two more borders to your quilt. (Hmmm... unless you just insert a thin brown and bind it in thin brown...hmmmm...) Sorry. Maybe this will spark some ideas of your own. Looks really adorable. The pinwheels were a great choice.

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