Saturday, April 17, 2010

Quilt Angst and a Giveaway!

The array of fabrics above represents almost two hours of choosing, so if you don't like them, please refrain from commenting or I may become violent. Thank you. :)

I'm sure we have a fabric shop around here somewhere, with lovely fabric collections for quilting, but I'm impatient and cheap, so I went to Jo-Ann's, where the cottons were all 40% off. What I saved in money, I spent in time. In spades.

Oh, but have I mentioned that my new work location is about two minutes away from Jo-Ann's? I can drive from the front of the building to the parking lot of Jo-Ann's without even making a turn. Handy, that.
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So, my grand plan was to find one fabric I really liked, and then play off of it to pick the others. I went marching in there with Care's words playing in my head: "You really can't go wrong here--just pick fabrics you love!" Oh, I was so confident! And then...oh boy...trouble.

First I found a floral with a retro flavor in hot pink, yellow, black, and grey. I pulled out some polka dots in pink, an abstract print in grey...and then I started to struggle. None of the yellows seemed right except for another dotty design, and it was starting to look like too much. Then, suddenly, the whole thing just started screaming EIGHTIES FLASHBACK at me, so I walked away.
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My next attempt was a Cath Kidston inspired palette of red and sky blue. I was up to about six fabrics before I realized it was looking more patriotic than Kidston-esque. Scrap that.

Well, okay, I love red. What if I keep the red and ditch the blue and see where that goes. After much pulling and discarding, the pile ended up being red, white, grey, and black. It was the closest to complete, but then I got nervous about it looking like a quilt for a Chicago Bulls fan. Sigh.

I so wish I had taken my camera along for this! That place looked like a hotel room after Guns 'n Roses got done with it!

Finally, FINALLY, due to divine intervention (or an untied shoe), I spied this almost Liberty-like print tossed on one of the bottom shelves. --cue the chorus of angels-- I had found my muse! The next five fabrics practically flew off the shelves to join the pile. The next two? A little more difficult. And then, inevitably, I got stuck. Anyone want to guess which were the last two fabrics to get picked? If you do, I'll send you a little prize.

In other news, after a frustrating search on the internet for either a local Bernina dealer or a website selling attachments for my particular machine, I decided to email one of the internet parts stores for some answers. As I was composing my email, I started to type "Activa 230, Patchwork Edition" when it hit me: I have a machine that's for making quilts. I took another look at the attachments that came with it and look at what I found! Boy, do I feel like a numbskull.

So I guess I'm ready to start cutting. I feel faint. Be sure to skip on over to Care's to see how easy she make it all look. She needs her own show.



17 comments:

Sonia said...

lovely fabric!! We are getting a joann's sometime this summer (no date has been set yet). I'm so giddy with excitement, i'm sure i'll be there when the doors open on the 1st day. LOL

Care said...

Eeeeeek! I just bought a yard of that very same Liberty-esque fabric yesterday because I could not LIVE without it! Not that I have a plan for what to do with it.... :o)

I love your fabric choices -- your quilt is going to be fabulous!!

2WeeMonsters said...

I love your fabric choices, especially that Liberty-esque muse of yours! I wish I had the time to join the quilt-along, but at least I'm following along avidly. Yes, quilts have been that terrifying to me!

I'll play your guessing game too. In the top photo, from left to right (excluding The Muse), I'd guess it was number 1 and number 8. I'm curious to see what they really were!

Anonymous said...

ok...I know I'm not an official participant in my "DP"'s quilting project, but I have to interject here...what is NOT mentioned about the Joann's expedition is that I WAS THERE! I HELPED (I'm assuming, but you know what they say about THAT!). She really did agonize over the choices, and I REALLY liked what she came up with...and i was there...
gerry...

Mrs Swan said...

trying not to read the comments first but post colors grey and zebra were last? I like it I could never ever ever ever ever pick out coordinating fabrics like that.

Anonymous said...

Love it all. As for the last ones picked....I'm gonna guess the zebra print and the olivey one with the diamonds.

Can't wait to see the final product!!

Mags

P.s. I always get the funniest words for verification, lol.

Care said...

Gerry... You rule. YAY for being on board and supporting the epic project! :o)

Anonymous said...

I too would vote for the zebra print and the olive one with the diamonds.

Good luck. I will say the closest I ever came to a quilt was when I used to yarn-tie them with two bedsheets, batting in between.

Linda

Anonymous said...

6 and 7... 'cause you were worried about it being too bright? Cheers
Lynda

KLS said...

Love the muse fabric, that is so unique and super pretty.
Bonus points for having a patient husband.
Mine would have been alseep in the car, LOL.

My guess for last picked:
Zebra
Gold

lorena said...

I would say fabrics #1 & 4. Hope you're at least having some fun during this process. ;)

Paulette said...

I absolutely love them all! Especially the Liberty-like one, but they're all great. Your quilt is going to be amazing!

Unknown said...

# 2 and # 9, I see the color are matching. I believe the result will be very perfect.

Anonymous said...

I guess the zebra print and the olive.

Robyn

Susan said...

I've been there. I've spent ages agonizing over colors. And have ended up walking away a couple of times too! Way to stick with it!

I would guess your last ones would be the zebra and the bluey-purple diamond one. I'm very curious to see if anyone guesses right! What a fun idea.

QAMom said...

I'm going to guess the zebra print and the dark purple one (4th from the left). I think they all look great together though!

Liz said...

I'm guessing 7 and 8, the gray and the olive batik-y one. Love the muse fabric!