Too Many Ideas - Is That Even a Thing?

I'm finally able to work on quilting projects (a little at a time) again after my shoulder replacement surgery. I made the odd choice to work on a quilt that I started about a year ago and haven't worked on because frankly, it bored me.

First of all the colors are not the normal colors I am drawn to, artistically. I like the colors, don't get me wrong - they just aren't my usual palette. I guess I was trying to stretch myself when I bought them. It took me rather a long time (a year) to even think about opening them up. I decided to make something simple (HA - you'll see in a moment how that worked out) so I designed a little paper- pieced square (IDEA #1) that I figured I could configure in several different ways. Only after making about 12 of them, I was underwhelmed, to say the least. So I put them away for a while (meaning a year). Then recently a former student of mine had a baby boy, and I thought I would use the squares for a baby quilt for him.

But I was still so BORED with it - I just couldn't get excited, until I had IDEA #2: to use old blue jeans to "jazz it up." But how to add this element? Well, we all know how my mind goes to circles, so naturally, I decided to make the squares into spinning wheels and use the blue jeans to frame them.

This was a good thing - I was finally excited about it now - kind of. After making a few and putting them up on the wall, however, I decided I wanted to use different sized wheels to add interest ( Idea #3) So using my trusty clammy rulers by Latifah Saafir in 12, 10 and 8-inch sized, I felt I had now added more interest to the piece. I would add borders in more denim around the 2 smaller sizes to make them equal the 12 inch blocks and they would look like they were floating. I liked it.

Now for some reason, as I trimmed the blocks to their different sizes, I saved all the trimmings. I thought maybe I could use them in a secondary piece. there were three sizes of trimmings left from the circles, and as I cut the denim squares to frame the circles, I noticed I could sew some of them together to make another fun block (IDEA #4) which I figured I may or may not use in the quilts, but when I saw it sewn, I knew I wanted to add it to the quilt. Getting better...but still not there yet.

As I sewed the blocks together, I felt it was still somehow lacking a WOW factor. So I put the squares on point (IDEA #5) instead of straight across. And suddenly I was completely in love - this was the idea that made it just right to me. I was now, finally, very excited about this quilt.

I started thinking about what I was going to do the the corner and "filler" triangles. Since there is already so much denim in the piece, it's going to be heavy, so I decided that instead of using more denim to frame it, I would use a neutral khaki. (IDEA #6 In the middle of the neutral khaki, I would sew some of the trimmings from the 12 inch blocks together (see below), and make little squares or circles to pull it all together. (IDEA #7) I still haven't made up my mind if I'm going with squares or circles - I'm leaning towards circles, of course, but we shall see.

I also noticed that as I trimmed the denim squares to make the frames for the circles, there was a leftover piece that was an elipse shape - kind of like (IDEA #8) an orange peel. And that some of the pieces I ad cut off of the circles to make them smaller were curved...so I trimmed the denim elipses with the curved trimmings and VIOLA - another block was created from the scraps! Now this one I won't actually be adding it to the quilt, however, but I will definitely be making a pillow from the blocks for sure. It will have to wait until I finish the quilt top, but still - I have been so excited as the ideas have developed on this quilt! Plus - I'm using up so many of the scraps and that makes me feel good as well. Also - I am loving the quilt, which is the main thing.

In general, I'm not much of an improv quilter - I usually have a pretty strong vision of where I'm going with my designs, and whenever I have tried to just sew with no idea where it's going I usually get sleepy and quit, but I would definitely call this an improvised quilt. In my mind, I started in the desert and went through the beach and the forest and ended up on the mountain top! Here's an in-progress photo - I still have more squares to make and I need to trim around the different wheels to make them the same size still, but so far - well, am I allowed to say I think its really really cool? I'll share again when it's all sewn together. But to me - if it weren't for all the evolving ideas, this piece would have been a snoozer to make and a boring, unexciting finish that I did not love. Now I really love it, and can't wait to work on it and to see the finished product! And all because of a bunch of ideas.