using what I've got

I'm feeling like I'm winning at quilting this month. I'm pretty jazzed about this latest milestone because it took no time at all. Except it did. A lot of time. These French braid blocks have been around since before I moved to this house. That's at least 5 years, probably longer, languishing in a "to be dealt with later when inspiration strikes" box. I can remember making them with no particular plan in mind, just wanting to play with the braid pattern to see how it works.

Well, since the flurry of making with my mom in November I pulled these out and threw them on my wall. Then they sat, and I wasn't inspired. Again. Still. I thought about adding a bunch of negative space in navy, some blocks with cute appliqué mushrooms, make a big big quilt. Then I realized I didn't want this one to be a big quilt; it doesn't rise to the level of "I want it on a bed" for me. And then I realized I didn't have any fabric on hand that would match to make any mushrooms out of - not a scrap of these to be seen. And then I realized what was feeling really good lately was being able to use what I had on hand to make things, without going out and getting more stuff. So. They got put away again, and I made a whole different quilt top. 

Directly after finishing that project, I realized I had hit the jackpot. The jelly roll jackpot. Similar to how easy it was to sash the stacks of bricks, it could be just as easy to do that here. What an elegant solution. I debated cutting strips of gray instead, but the gray I have on hand clashes with the gray end pieces I added on (a continued design regret since I did it, but one I am choosing not to remedy). It took a little bit of finessing because the bias edges had all stretched to different degrees over the years, but I managed and it took just an afternoon to get this albatross taken care of. 

 

Now of course, there is the question of backing the thing, but the decision of what to do with the braids has been made, and it will end up being a fun summery throw quilt.