Block 25 - The Carrie Nation Quilt

As must be clear by now I have not yet received the memo on how to write a successful blog. Often, what I like to do is to give the thought process that goes into what I make. And this is what I am going to give you today.

This is the block I made when I was at an all day sewing with my quilt group.As usual there was much back and forth and debate over which fabrics to choose. As I was dashing out the door to the Saturday Sewing I just grabbed the entire bag of fabrics that I have set aside for this project. Sue looked at the bag and commented that perhaps for our upcoming guild auction I should offer a "tour of the stash" - she said she'd pay money to see the entire stash of someone who had such a big bag of fabrics for just one project. Sometimes having a lot to choose from makes the decision making all the more difficult.

Pinkdeenster was also there and we had some fun giving input to each other on which fabrics to choose or motifs to fussycut. Her block turned out wonderful but I was less sure about mine. When I got home I was trying to take the photo before all the natural light was gone for the day. And in each photo those four purple squares jumped out at me. Last week I was in a quilt shop looking at fabrics to use for the applique motifs in my Dixie Diary project. The assistant watching me commented that it is really hard to do a two color project. Oh, I thought, is that the problem? Problem? Challenge? There is a difference.

I set up this shot, complete with the small hatchet because it goes with the history lesson for this block, to show the fabrics that I had wanted to use but could not make work. So I was "taking the hatchet to the idea of using those fabrics".

Now, I just casually threw these down on the floor and took one photo. And in that photo my main background fabric (the one that is in every block) photographed very well even though it did not really matter. Yet week after week I struggle to get a good photo of the block that shows that color/motif of that fabric. Just one of those unanswered questions. Another one is why I seem to have so much trouble holding the camera perfectly straight in front of the block. Were I able to do that then I would stop getting photos that make it look as though my block is not perfectly square despite the reality that it usually is.

The block this weeks marks, by number, entry into the second half of the project so perhaps it is time for another group photo. Whoops, I forgot to edit out the extraneous objects - oh well.

However, this photo convinced me that I am not happy with my blocks from the last two weeks. So I set out with another try to use that fabric with the violets. And this morning I finished the new version of the block. Small and dainty does not exactly represent Carrie Nation as you will know from your recall of history or reading of the Grandmother's Choice blog this week. But the scale of the pattern seemed well suited to the block and could provide an antidote to Carrie Nation and her heavy handed approach.

I think I am happier with this one even though all the flowers are not identical but, with the small scrap I had to cut from, using it this way preserved some for a potential later use. The green fabric is from the Moda Basic Grey collection and I have at least three slightly different green colorways. This one, although not quite the chartreuse green I really need, has a very satisfying hint of purple to it here and there. However, this is another of those times when the photograph does not truly show the block and fabrics well.

By the way, a shout out here for RCCheryl who gifted me with that fabric - the one with the beautiful little violets. It is always a special pleasure to be able to use a gift. Thank you!

Watch out for more postings this week as there is more to the story.