Friday, February 15, 2008

wip friday


1 knit scarf
7 quilts
1 crochet blanket

with all this in progress, it's got even me wondering why I am on the way out the door to shop the President's Day sale at JoAnn's.


here is the start of the green quilt.

I've been hesitant to show it, because I am really not happy with it. I've been pondering what to do with it for weeks. Right now I'm wavering between trying to find the problematic area (if there is just one?) and fixing it, or cutting it all apart and just starting over.

hope you have a great weekend!

51 comments:

Marcia said...

I fail to see anything wrong with what you have made so far...It's wonderful. You really made me laugh out loud to day with walking out the door to JoAnn's sale with so much going on already...we are kindred spirits!

Katherine said...

That's a great wip list, Amandajean. Happy shopping at JoAnn's today!

Anina said...

7 quilts!!! I'm not surprised at all though.
As for the green quilt, I think it looks fine, but maybe what's bothering you is that it looks like there's a lot of yellow in there. I'd take away the fabrics that look yellow and just go for green and white. That's my two cents.
Have fun at JoAnn's!

The Calico Cat said...

I love that you used a left over popsicle. hav you considered using this treatment:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kicsoda/2159729880/
the green is pure coincidence.

yvette said...

Your WIPs look great in that photo! A few of them are looking not too far from graduating from that list :>

I'm too late for your Quilt-a-long but I look forward to joining you in the next one (please please have another one!)

Have a great weekend ahead!

Anonymous said...

I'm lovin' this green quilt so far. The only thing that catches my eye a little too boldly is that one tiny little rectangle in the center bottom fourth. Do you see it? It's so dark it's almost black. That's immediately where my eyes travel. You could either leave it there and add more below it to center it out, or you could remove that one piece. Just my thoughts... I still like it a lot though.

house on hill road said...

i think it looks good, but if you don't like it, you don't like it. trust your gut.

a friend to knit with said...

oh, i love your "to do" pile!
i really love it.........but i so agree with erin......you should love it!
have a wonderful weekend!

Emily Cole said...

I agree with Amber, I think there are two really dark rectangles too close to each other in that center bottom 4th... It draws a lot of attention to that area. The rest looks cool though!

Linda said...

My suggestion was to maybe add some more white (or lights) to balance the darks a bit. But again, you are wayyy better than I am at that sort of thing.

Was A helping you? Love the beads!

Hope you had fun at JoAnn's! I want to go, but I have told myself NO until I can get some more things finished that are on my list. But the lure of a sale....

lera said...

Lovely!

(The sales are very tempting, I hear ya!)

Anonymous said...

Just my humble opinion, it is a lovely quilt, don't get me wrong, but maybe the part you don't like about it are those few scattered pieces of solid dark green?

Unknown said...

Your green quilt looks great!! I don't know if I would change anything. I think I would just keep building on it. Good Luck

Sara said...

Hi! Just what you need - another 2 cents worth on this green block...
but for what it's worth:

Two pieces of fabric just grabbed me like they didn't belong there...

the first is the second piece of fabric from the left hand side - it has a lot of red in it...it just seemed out of place...

the other is a tiny piece with pink flowers - second on the right side of the block...

Other than that - I love it!!!

Roxanne said...

Ha! I just got back from Jo-Anns! Lots of good deals to be had!! I tried to keep the fabric under control and just stock up on neccessities like rotary blades, fiber-fill, etc.

The green quilt looks good! I think I agree with some of the previous comments that the balance seems a little off with the really dark fabric. But it still looks really cool. BUT if you don't like it you don't like it and it will haunt you in the WIP pile for ever...so you should do what feels right with it! Good luck!!

Beth said...

I am jealous of your ambition with all of those quilts!
When I look at your green quilt, I'm envisioning some sort of applique near the center where the dk green blocks intersect.

Anonymous said...

I love the way the green quilt looks. Just had to throw in my two cents; I wouldn't change a thing! I know how it is though. If you don't like it when you're making it, it just bugs you until you get it just perfect!

mikawendy said...

I agree, the green quilt is great, but maybe the yellow might be bothering you.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the monochromatic green and white print in the upper corner of the photo. I had sheets in brown and in yellow with that pattern when I was a kid. I stupidly gave them away when I moved into a house with a double bed--should have kept them and made stuff with them.

Anonymous said...

You know, I love the beginning of this green quilt just the way it is. And I'm not just saying that to be nice! I think as you build it out more things will just naturally balance out.

BUT it's you that has to be happy! If you are not liking it, it's much better to change it now. Maybe you could just step off this quilt and move to another color, and then come back to the green.

Dedee said...

I love how we all have different things that jump out at us on this quilt. For me it's the one long green strip. I would find more balance if it was broken up, although I have to say that I agree with the assessment the two pieces that are not reading green to me, they are reading a lot more pink.

Your to-do list looks like mine. I purposely avoided Jo-Anns today.

Have a great weekend!

Suzy said...

I think your green quilt is charming and really love several of the fabrics you used. Remember, there is no such thing as an ugly quilt. All quilts are beautiful. I don't know what kind of sewing machine you have, but if you have pre-programmed decorative stitches on your machine, have you considered "playing" with them on your quilt top? What fun! Quilty hugs. :o)

Robyn said...

I really like the potential of your green quilt; I like where it is going. But I think what sticks out for me is that green rectangle with the white around it in the upper left side. It's not thatit doesn't look good, there's just not enough white elsewhere to make it stick out less. Also, there are a couple of really dark rectangles that throw the "balance' a bit. I hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

I love it! Really I love the big blocks and the dark greens. It's gorgeous.

qusic said...

keep going with your lovely green quilt, I think it's too soon to say something about balance which will come in the end, I am sure. It is very much the same with me when I do a good quilt for the secomd time and stumble over my own feet, because I start to think.........and do not work from the gut.
I love your wip pile and am glad I am not the only one with so many wisp going and planning even more.

Louise said...

I love it except for the little very dark piece. My immediate thought would be to add a white border to make the lovely white background florals pop out. I love your WIP list - I did mine and actually scared myself!

Mama Urchin said...

I love the green quilt, as is, but I totally understand wanting something to come together the way you envisioned it.

Philigry said...

no, no, no, i ust love it! kepp going with it! beautiful! wow, seven quilt tops. you are amazing!

Sherri said...

I love it! Can you break down your discontent with it to just one area of it? For example, do you like the upper left quarter? The upper right? The lower left? The lower right? How about the centre?
I have been tagged and am now tagging you. If you're interested in playing along, please visit my quilting blog for the rules. I hope you get to the bottom of your discontent with it.

Anonymous said...

looking good. How about a border and see if it tones it down a bit for you.

Jeanette said...

How do you feel about green in general? If it is one of your less favorite colors that could be the problem.

I know for me, I made a blue quilt for my grandma. I hated it, I thought it was horrid, but she absolutely loved everything about it as did my friend who also loves blue. I think my problem with the quilt was mostly that I didn't like the color.

Now if it was pink, I probably would have loved it LOL.

I think your quilt looks good, I don't see anything wrong with it. I am just thinking that green isn't one of those colors that speaks to your soul and that is why you don't care for it as much.

Keep going, don't rip it apart, life is too short for that =0) Finish it and move on (Preferably to pink *big grin)

Anonymous said...

I saw the picture before I read the post and just said, "Ooooh, I like..." I know we all see our own mistakes so sit with it to see if it works or change it. It's beautiful either way.

Leanne said...

It looks fine to me I think there is always a point when there is doubt in a project and at the end it is fine.

Clair said...

I am having a good weekend at crazy mom quilts' house.

Annie said...

Georgous green colours - keep looking at it and your solutions will come.

Anonymous said...

Like your WIP and the green quilt but you need to trust your instincts...

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised (and a little pleased) to see that you, who usually have such an eye for these arrangements, also get stuck sometimes. In my (very inexperienced) opinion, it is the patches of solid green (and even darker green?) that throw this one off. Good luck.

dutchcomfort said...

You could consider changing some of the solid dark green pieces. Maybe exchange them with some fresh white or yellow greens, not all, because some are great. The quilt has everything in it to become stunning! Think about Spring, fresh grass, all the leaves on the trees coming out, maybe some purple from flowers added, or some more orange... You can do it!!
(or maybe you just don’t like green that much...)

Anonymous said...

I do love it too. :)

SuzyQSparkles said...

I continue to enjoy your seemingly random fabric placement. I wonder if what's not sitting "right" is that it doesn't look/feel "green" enough... there's a yellow/beige feel to it. Perhaps if you "let go" of it being a "green" quilt and just call it a "scrap" quilt? Otherwise, would some more green in the borders help it to be greener without re-working it? When all else fails, there's always "charity / gift" quilts for those that we don't "love"! Someone will come along and just fall in love with it, then you can generously give it to them! ;P

Amy Jo said...

I love the green....I think it looks just perfect the way it is! I want pics of what you discovered at JoAnn's!!

Kim said...

for the same reason I did, batting is 50% as is thread. Of course I got a book too.

Cheryl Arkison said...

Hmm, interesting comments on the quilt - so many greens and I love the range with all the tints and tones of green. Green can go from emerald to chartreuse, from olive to mint.
To be honest, what jumps out to me is the top row. Everything else is quite vertical, and that row breaks it up into horizontal. There is obviously nothing wrong with that, but my tendency would be to add more horizontal elements or remove it and make it all veritical.
Good luck, your monochromatic quilts are inspiring.

Anonymous said...

I've given you some blog bling.... It's on my blog. I think your blog is inspirational.

Sherri said...

After looking at the comments and re-looking at the piece, I agree with Cheryl - it's the top "horizontal" row that throws things off a bit. What do you think?

Liana said...

I loved the monochromatic yellow and I think the problem with the green is that there doesn't seem to be an even distribution of the dark greens...or it could be that you had more LARGE patches that you used than you did with the yellow... *shrug* I'm sure you'll figure it out though. it's been a pleasure reading your blog...

Ryan said...

I think your green quilt is beautiful, esspecially the random layout.
I think what may be bothering you is the similarity in tones, try looking at the photo in black and white, its a trick I use sometimes with my own illustrations and photos when they don't seem quite "right".

jodie said...

I think the darkest green is a little out of place. Maybe as the top grows it will balance out a bit if you continue to use the dark colour through out the project. Having said that, I still like it, I am a green fan.
Jodie

Cami said...

I really don't think you should change anything about it. I love it. The colors are amazing and just what I was hoping for when you said that the next one would be green. Very eye candyish, if you know what I mean.

Chara Michele said...

You have quite a few works in progress! I really like the green quilt, although I have to agree with Anina that maybe what is bothering you about it is the yellows mixed in... Just a thought, although I do like it the way it is!

Kristin said...

I agree with those who have commented that a) the top row being horizontal is in contrast with the rest, so either add more horizontal to balance or you may want to remove that top and make it all vertical, and b) that you may be unhappy because you just need more - as you add more scrappy fabrics, the elements that are popping out (maybe the dark green, or maybe the pinkish tones) will not stand out because they will be repeated more often.

That being said, I REALLY Like it. . . I love the rectangles, and how some are bordered and some not, and some are strips and some square. I also think your fabrics are fantastic and the mix of small and large prints across all the greens is lovely. I can't wait to see more.

berylthepearl said...

It is wonderful as is, very unique and the only one like it in the world. I love your blog site and all of your quilts and ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Beryl in Utah