Slow Stitching Sunday - POTC Update

I've been playing with my Patchwork of the Crosses blocks again lately - and remembering how much fun these little English paper-pieced blocks can be!!!!

This is my current favorite ....

I just love the blast of light on the outside of this block with that strange yellow fabric!  It was a last minute substitution because the fabric I was originally using didn't work as well as I'd hoped.  My friends and I all agreed that this gorgeous plaid with all the same colors in it was the perfect fabric to frame the center....

I even fussy cut those darn stripes!!!  But as I was stitching down the first couple pieces, I just knew something wasn't sitting well with me - it just didn't give me that thrill of being "right" that I expected.  I put it up on the design wall and stepped back - and was totally underwhelmed.  Yeh, it was okay, but it was BLAH!  That's is always a deal breaker for me.

So I went back to the stash and just started pulling anything that might work...

To my total surprise, this icky yellow was the surprise winner - it just simply began to glow behind those fabrics!  I suppose the moral of this story is, never feel that you are so far along in a project that you can't back up and make changes if it's not working for you!

Here is another block completed.  I love the hot pop of these colors! I'm a little concerned with the lack of contrast, but it's staying as it is because I'm not unhappy enough to tear it apart and try to make changes :)

I have two more in process right now and then I'll have to go digging in the stash for more blocks - YUM!!!

Linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching, while watching golf to see if Tiger can play his way into the Playoffs this year.  NFL season starts soon, and I can't wait for Sundays with My Guy and lots of stitching and football - woohoo!!!!

Also linking up with Main Crush Monday @ Cooking Up Quilts and Tuesday Linky Party @ Freemotion by the River

Wishing you all a lovely Sunday!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Yes, I've Been Busy .....

I know I've been gone from the blog for a while, but rather than bore you with all the many and various reasons for my absence, how about I just share a couple of quick posts showing some of the Quilty stuff I've been up to?  Would you like that?  Yeah, I thought so *wink* =^..^=

Rosette #1 is complete!  

Since today is the Slow Sunday Stitching party over at Kathy's Quilts, let me start with the first month's Rosette from The New Hexagon - Millefiore BOM designed and presented each month by Katja Marek of Katja's Quilt Shoppe - it finishes at 36" wide!!!!! Although I popped a picture up on Facebook and Instagram to share when I finished it, I just today realized that I never shared it with all of you - bad blogger!!!

I chose to follow Katja's color scheme for this Rosette, using yellows, pinks and oranges - my current color combo crush!  Of course, this is all hand stitched using the EPP method.  You would think it would take ages to stitch all these pieces together, but amazingly it really doesn't.  I just stitch as I watch TV in the evenings and before I know it another round is stitched in place :)

Rosette #2 is well underway .....  some very yummy aquas and lime greens ummmmmmm!  The lime green is not quite such an acid in-your-face color in real life, but it seems to be a color that refuses to show up exactly in my photos.

The very center hexie has been sewn together, but the rest is just in position on the design wall for auditioning.  I believe I'm finished with the fabric choices on this one, although I'm not absolutely sure because I just changed out a fabric yesterday.  I must confess - I've been obsessing over these a teensy bit because they are so fun and have such potential for that WOW! factor :*)  I can spend days just picking out the perfect fabrics for each section.  Here is what my studio can look like after a day of fabric auditions...

Yes, YIKES!!!!

I had a hard time choosing the right fabric for the very center hexagon, just didn't seem to have a really eye-catching motif that was the right size and colors.  So I ended up cutting the template into 6 triangles ....

..... and then fussy cutting motifs to piece together a center design that made me happy ..... I have no doubt that is exactly what Katja would have done too!  Notice that I traced the outlines of the motif onto my template plastic to be sure the pieces are all the same.  The marks will wipe off later so the template can be used again on future rosettes.

I also fussy cut this same fabric to echo the motif further out in these little rosette stars ....

I think of these as fabric vases because they "hold" the wonderful "sprays" that fan out from their center :*)

You probably didn't notice a small difference in the "sprays" on the large picture above - here it is again with red circles to direct you to the areas I mean ....

 .... can you see that one is darker at the outside edges?  I took a black Sharpie Fine Point marker and blacked out the fussy white squigglies because I felt they were too busy.  Now the darker areas give it more definition and allow it to have more visual impact.

I'll be taking this one off the wall probably later today.  I clip each 6" hexie grouping together with wonder clips, like so ....

..... now it's all together for me when it's time to start stitching.  Wonder clips are my new absolutely FAVORITE tool - I use them for everything!

I also take a picture on my phone of how the finished section should look so I can refer back to it quickly and not turn a piece the wrong way.  Don't even ask how I learned this was necessary LOL!!!

Even this is not a correct look at the lime green - closer, but too dark!

Rosettes for March and April are waiting patiently for their turn on the design wall .....

I wouldn't hold my breath though - it may be quite a while yet before they get their turn LOL!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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