Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Swimming in Strings

It seems last week's squirrel has morphed into a full-blown endeavor, worthy I think of naming it as my second String-along quilt.  And more likely to be finished by the end of Lori's String-along over at Humble Quilts!   When I last posted just a few blocks had been completed.

Over the weekend this happened.  Trying out some potential sashing and layout.

Though I like the idea of a pale yellow for sashing for these saturated blocks, I'm still constantly second-guessing myself.  The yellow pieces I currently pinned up on the design wall look way too dark I think. Several kind commenters on the last post have suggested black, which would add a bit of drama, though it might be too dark and somber for a 13-year-old girl.  I'd also thought of a deep purple, maybe?  What about three vertical rows of blocks then a row of sashing?

Or, another possibility, borrowing on the suggestions to use black sashing, maybe a narrow black strip between the rail blocks and the yellow sashing??  (The colors are more true in the following photo.)

 Can you tell design decisions are agonizingly difficult for this artistically challenged soul, especially with this array of bright in-your-face hues such as these.  Those same bright saturated batiks are energizing though, and so much fun to cut and stitch and lay each one next to the previous one!  I've probably stitched a little more than half the scraps on hand and plan to keep on until they're all pieced into blocks, then decide on a final layout.  You of course are invited to help!  Just leave me a comment on how you would take this jumble (jungle?) and create order from the chaos!  It's totally OK if you say you hate it, my husband took one look this afternoon and said "looks like scrambled eggs" ... though that was probably not what he was thinking, lol!  He's more of a green and brown guy.

Linking up with Lori's String-along at Humble Quilts.  Hoping to get back to my blue  strings (Sing the Blues Mama Lou) next month.  Not to mention my monthly mini for July which is still languishing somewhere in the design stage. 





12 comments:

Marilyn said...

I really like your idea of the purple as most young women(girls) like that color as well as some of us older girls(women). I also like the narrow black with the yellow. Black always makes things pop.

Debbie said...

Love the yellow....and the last photo is just right. Or three columns would be fine too:) My only caution is to not let the sashing width be too wide and overpower the beautiful strings. By introducing the black strip everything is framed. And a young teen will love the brights shown off this way. Like Sharon told me this morning....don't overthink it!

Lori said...

I love your bright and happy string blocks!! I'm a real fan of the black in there too!!
I get annoyed when I keep second guessing my design choices. Follow your heart and head!!

Wendy Caton Reed said...

Oh what fun! I like the yellow sashing too!

Angie in SoCal said...

Oh how modern that looks. Beautiful!

Kyle said...

All that lovely color looks like a crayon box. I bet when you get the last of the blocks done, you'll know what to do. I like the yellow in there.

Susie H said...

I love how lively your piece is. I like the yellow sashing with the thin black bordering it. The purple might please your daughter more though!

FlourishingPalms said...

I think you're on the right track. Just keep reminding yourself that a teen girl will love color. I'd keep away from black, myself, and go only with brights. Toss in some bits of white - not too much so as to make it a challenge for keeping clean - and mush it up! I'm still of the mind to keep out vertical sashing, or any kind of sashing, even if you think it looks chaotic. (Very big smile.)

Barbara said...

Oh wow...I love it. This is kind of a different style for you.

Nancy said...

Those are bright, fun blocks. I was going through my strings yesterday and at the bottom of the box found some log cabin/string blocks I made a number of years ago. One of these days I may pull them out and decide to do something with them.

Susan said...

Wow - I love this - I love brights...(maybe I'm still a teenager at heart?) Black tends to be an obvious all rounder as sashing - maybe not as wide as the yellow sample. Personally I don't like the narrow black and wide yellow...but I'm new on your scene!

Glenda said...

WOW WOW WOW and many more WOW's LOL Oh how I love theses string blocks fabulous colours and fabrics every where. I agree the black would add the XFactor but may be for a little girl I like the saffron with the black flange which makes the colours pop even more. I'm guess by now it is a quilt top LOL Cheers Glenda