a Work-in-Progress

I am partial to that word “work-in-progress”. It sets such a forgiving and patient tone, don’t you think? That is definitely the attitude I’ve needed for this baby quilt, since I have constantly second-guessed myself in the making process. I think that I have struggled in part because I really, really want it to be lovely for my friend and also because I don’t have much experience with soft color schemes.

In the beginning I planned to transpose the Nineteen Thirty quilt medallion on a continuous background of small squares patchwork, like the below digital mock-up but with the patchwork filled in all the way to the edges. Only the design did not seem to have the same pizazz in a soft color scheme without strong value contrast. Plus, the small circles felt unmoored.

I got pretty far in cutting and sewing the patchwork squares for my original idea before feeling the urge to return to the true Nineteen Thirty medallion, complete with background fabric. In the original medallion context those small circles were delightful. I don’t want to give that up!

When I arranged the fabrics like this, I could see that the slightly greener grid fabric would make fun little circles. It provides just enough contrast to embellish, but not overwhelm this sweeter rendition.

So, tada - a second Nineteen Thirty Medallion! Finally I feel confident and fully satisfied with the colors and shapes. It’s pretty and cute, just as I had hoped.

But, how to finish off the quilt? My friend has requested a rectangular quilt, approximately 40” x 60” for the crib.

I had thought that I could surround the medallion in the small squares patchwork that I had already sewn, like so. But in my opinion, this feels disjointed. There is a disconnect between the center medallion and the surrounding patchwork because the patchwork is much lower value than the medallion. If I had made the medallion first, I would have used far more of the solid aqua fabric and darker aqua prints in the patchwork squares so that it would have blended better with the center medallion.

I asked my friend for advice, and she suggested adding pink to the patchwork squares. Here I’ve tested out that idea by overlaying cut squares on my already-sewn patchwork. The pink helps, but I still feel like it is not good enough. So - - -

I have traded out the patchwork for a solid border. This is a bold move for me, because it is so simple. Simple is not my strength. But in this context the center medallion gets all the attention. I can imagine the finished blanket in the crib, where it will look beautifully serene as befits my friend’s style.

Don’t worry, I have a plan for those patchwork squares!