Sometimes You Change Your Mind

My Foothills Quilt top is done and I am very happy. For more info on this quilt-a-long by Mary Elizabeth Kinch go here. 

There I was, zipping along, sewing Foothills blocks into rows, using a dark green fabric for sashing. I was in a hurry, trying to get this done as quickly as possible. When I stopped for the day, about half finished, I took time to really LOOK--and I clearly saw the dark green sashing was just TOO dark. I loved these blocks but I did not love how the quilt was coming together.

I thought about it overnight, looked again in the morning, and knew I had to take all that work apart and change the sashing. Here are some options I considered as I "shopped" in my closet:

I liked the gray that is on top of the pile the very best BUT there was not enough fabric for the sashing and an outside border. None of the others were just right--if I was going to go to all the work to take apart a half-day of sewing, the replacement fabric better be perfect!

Here is the design wall with the dark green sewn part on the bottom and a strip of that gray on the top:

Yes, I really liked that gray so I used it on the top two rows, being sure I really did like it, Yes, much better:

So I spent some time unsewing the bottom three rows, removing the dark green. When the gray sashings for the middle of the quilt were all cut I had exactly enough gray fabric left to cut 1.25" wide strips for a narrow outer border. You know I had PLENTY of dark green strips cut. I made a narrow gray outer border, on the outside of the quilt, followed by the 2.5" dark green strips for the final border. I still have plenty of dark green strips cut and lots more of that fabric, so that will be the binding.

Lesson to be learned here: be sure you are happy with ALL your decisions going forward. Being in a hurry cost me lots more time over all. It's not that I didn't have any more options:

Considering a few more fabric options before settling on the dark green would have been time well-spent. 

Now the top is done, a medium brown has been selected and prepared for the back, and once I get it basted I can quilt it. You can bet I'll spend a little time considering my quilting designs before I begin--I learned that lesson a few weeks ago--I had to spend a lot of time removing quilting stitches I didn't like, two hours worth of stitching, because I didn't think it through very well before I began. Sensing a bad trend here...

Sometimes I make a quilt just because I love the design or the story that goes with the pattern. That was the case with this quilt. It won't be a class--the designer asked that no one teach her design as she loves to teach it herself and there is no printed pattern. Perhaps she'll add it to a book someday. For now I'm just glad I made it and look forward to coming up with a good quilting design to enhance it.

Let's quilt!

Barbara