Am I Wonky?

Ok, so I'm trying out the Wonky Log Cabin quilt along with Quilt Dad (see the button on the sidebar). These are great for getting some stuff DONE! However, I am also learning some hard lessons.

First off, let me explain that I see myself as very out-of-the-box, non-traditional, nearly a closet hippy type (never mind I missed that time by at least 10 years). I love innovation! I love color! I love NEW! Or so I thought.

Next, I was so excited by this quilt-along because I thought it would help me develop my scrappy, frugal side--we're talkin' major stash buster here. How green of me, don't you think? Maybe.

Lesson 1: It turns out I am not scrappy--I tried, tried, tried to be scrappy for the Scrappy Christmas Block Swap--the pattern called for at least 16 different fabrics. Now I know that I prefer a very controlled number of fabrics (Turning 20s are impossible for me), say 3 or 5. But I thought, monochromatic rings, I can do that. Hmmm. Turns out I NEED to make them not only the same color but the same value if possible. Not too scrappy.

Lesson 2: Wonky--I can do wonky! I'm kinda wonky (read non-perfectionist) already! Oh, oh--to get wonky I need to trim lots of fabric = waste. Couldn't quite do it.

My solution? Cut the strips wonky in the first place so trimming is kept to absolute slivers of fabric. Whew! I was relieved to be making progress!




I can't wait to make more blocks--maybe on Friday I can--I rediscovered a WIP that was going nowhere (possibly because of my refusal to select a variety of fabrics--these are indeed 4 different but terribly similar pieces here), so not only do I get to practice "WONKY" I get to finish up a quilt I started as a gift last year. Check out the great truly wonky (and sometimes scrappy blocks on the quilt along flickr group--just click on the button at the side).

Scrappy Christmas Block Swap DONE!

Woo hoo! I finally got a day off from work--it was great to just sew. And since I'm a little late on my Scrappy Christmas Block Swap (see the button on the sidebar), I just dove in. It took 3 shows of "Campion" on Netflix to finish them. I really like this Scrappy Hedgerow Block pattern from Oh! Fransson--her quilts are all fantastic. And I've always like log cabins and square-in-a-squares. HOWEVER, I have discovered that truly scrappy is very difficult for me. I've never been able to collect "15-20 fat quarters" for a single quilty. I always narrow it down to 3-5 fabrics. I thought this one, with its monochromatic rings might be easier for me, but it bothered me to mix types of fabric (non-Christmas with Christmas, shiny with not, lights and darks). I really wanted to at least make the rings all light or all dark. As a result, my favorite pair is the last, with its outside ring all the same fabric.

I've now joined the Old Red Barn Co. Quilt-a-long--Quilt Dad is doing a wonky log cabin quilt. Again, I don't know if I can do 15-20 FQ, but I am going to try my best to just use my stash and be a bit more spontaneous. Funny, because I really think of myself as an out-of-the-box kind of person, but I just can't mix batiks and asians, or mod and traitional! We'll see what happens next!