From a distance and viewed through our social media lenses, it can appear that beautiful things simply slip into being. New fabric collections, clever quilt patterns, inspiring combinations of color and shape - they seem to bloom as effortlessly as wildflowers.

But in reality, there is Friction. With almost every quilt I’ve made, there are moments where I struggle to move forward, moments when I question my sense of design.

Where there is beauty, there is struggle. Like joy and sadness, both are part of the fabric of real life.

I struggled with this Diamond Wedge quilt this week. I worried that the bottom section of the quilt would not flow with the rest. After I sewed the purple edge blocks to create my color frame and set them on the design wall, it felt like such a hard break between the upper sections and the lower one.

The contrast X’s in the upper sections of the quilt are shades of blue. Moving to purple X’s was necessary for the bottom section, as a darker blue X would not contrast enough with the green diamonds. In fact, I wanted purple for the greens. The green/purple contrast is pretty and feels fresh to me.

So one hopes.

And this time, my hopes are realized. In my eyes, the transition between the blue X’s and the purple X’s flows thanks to the scattering of the colors. If I had instead made the change to purple X’s in a continuous straight line, it would have felt awkward indeed.

Sponsor of the Week

The Confident Stitch

Have you heard about the #FreeSpiritCoatStory contest? If you’ve been dreaming of making a patchwork coat, this could be just the push you need!

The Confident Stitch has expertise in quilting AND garment-making, so they’ve made a fantastic video tutorial to hold your hand.

Watch Kate's Quilted Tamarack Jacket YouTube tutorial, get more contest info or shop for supplies.

Today I’m sewing blocks into rows and rows into sections. Yay! Viewing the bottom section apart from the rest, reinforces my instincts. I absolutely love the green with the purple.

Between today and tomorrow, I plan to finish this quilt top and load her on my longarm too! I’m already anticipating photographing the finished quilt among the daffodils in our square. I see them from my window while I press these blocks. The flowers are waiting, waiting. Fingers crossed that it all comes together!