For the love of fabric

Was there ever a fabric that you truly loved.  I have had a couple fabric true loves in my time.  This post is about one in particular.  Using this fabric, I had made a wall-hanging.  I had pieced and sewn it together and sandwiched it with batting and back and had actually begun to quilt...but while quilting, it struck me as being wrong.  So, I set it aside.  It was too soon to make any decisions concerning my love.  I needed time to heal the hurt in my heart of making something I thought I would love...but didn't.

What fabric is this?  Alexander Henry's the Ghastlies.  I saw this fabric and was inspired.  I knew I had to make it my own.  As you can see, the color scheme is mauve.  Yes, mauve.  Strange...I know it.  But love is like that.

Fast Forward half a year or more later.  I was cleaning out the closet in my sewing room and came across it.  So sad.  So rejected.  But...could I make it better.  Did I have the strength of will to undo all that had been done and start again.  Changing and cutting where it was necessary.  Cutting the blocks I had once lovingly assembled.  Un-picking the stitches I had hand quilted.  Un-picking the stitches that held the blocks together.  It was a hell of a lot of unpicking.

I did it.  I knew that the fabric was worth saving.  That my hard work making these string blocks was worth saving...at least partially.  What was it that made me not love this quilt as much as I should have?  First it was the dark grey sashing.  It is too much of the same.  All the colors blend and the panels don't stand out with their spooky scenes that are so fun to look at.  My String quilts just became a blur.  The 2nd problem was...it was huge.  It really was too big for a proper wall-hanging.  So I knew I had to chop it down in size and change the sashing.

What was the result of this tearing down to make new...

So much better.  The white sashing allows the cute scenes to stand out.  My Beloved Sister complains that the pink is not Halloweenie enough.  But I maintain that mauve isn't exactly typically Halloweenie, so I'm okay with the pink.  Besides I have a plan to put a little more spook in it to make it less sweet....but that's not until the quilting is finished.

My soul is content.  I salvaged the fabric I loved and I think made it into a much more usable piece.  Where I sacrificed the most was my string blocks.  They were what started this whole journey...but they were just too big and couldn't be salvaged in their entirety.  I think I'll make some throw pillows and that way I can really showcase how awesome they are in all their 15 x 15 inch glory.  But...in a wall-hanging 10.5 x 10.5 inch blocks is really what it needs.  One benefit of cutting everything down is that I feel the scenes really benefit from being smaller.  I can focus in on a smaller portion of the scene.  Focused is better.

So, I am happy.

Granny Square Pic of the Day

Thanks for reading!

Heather