To quote Quiltdivajulie: A squirrel is a sudden distraction that pulls us away from projects already underway. Something so exciting that we drop what we’re doing to enjoy the unexpected. The term comes from the movie UP where the dog named Doug is talking and suddenly his head whips to one side and he shouts SQUIRREL and he’s off to chase it.
I don't even remember now what I was working on when a couple of squirrel projects distracted me. And they appeared almost simultaneously. First I cam across the pattern called Remixed Geese, from Robert Kaufman Fabrics.
I've never been one to follow patterns. I'd rather design a quilt top on my own. This year, however, I've found following patterns to be about the only way to keep sewing. I need someone else to work out the dimensions and color palettes anymore. Not always, but more often than not. So sad. It's partly my health issues but I suspect it's also got something to do with my ever increasing age. I seem to be slowing down overall. Could be that over ten years of dealing with chemical sensitivities is taking a toll too I suppose. {sigh}
I won't be following the Remixed Geese pattern exactly, more like a guideline. I've decided to substitute white with black prints for the geese and use heavily saturated colors for the background patches.
I thought these "families" of geese would be good to assemble between seams of other projects. Mostly I've found that once I get started on a set of geese I just keep going until every thing I've cut has been pieced.
I still haven't been able to figure out precisely how many families I need for the layout in the original pattern. I'll just keep making 'em until I feel like I have enough to begin plugging them in as outlined.
The other squirrel works better as leaders and enders to sew between seams. I just have to keep enough patches cut ahead of time.
I'm calling this Glowing Hourglasses for the time being. Each hourglass block/unit will finish at 5 inches. They could end up being a quilt of their own or they might end up as a border treatment on a quilt yet to be started. For now I'm just making them. 😉
Geese and hour glasses, they are both so lovely, and I like your solids and colours at the outsides of the geese.
ReplyDeleteWhat a glorious bright rainbow of colour you're working with right now. I'm absolutely with you on the inability to work out sizes and quantities as I get older (oh, and I'm blaming residual chemo-brain too). The only way I can get the job done these days is to draw pictures and take measurements off those, or actually make samples till something's the right size! Still, whatever works, right?
ReplyDeleteBoth of these count as VERY worthwhile squirrel projects. I especially like the way you've chosen to personalize your flocks of geese! (I need to cut a leader ender project - I've been without one for a while now)
ReplyDeleteI thinkmI may have a SQUIRREL moment seeing that flying geese top! The colors are wonderful, and I like your rendition better than the pattern. It will be so pretty when you get to the lay out stage!
ReplyDeleteBoth are absolutely terrific, but I really like the flying geese one, because I like flying geese a lot. That's going to be a great quilt.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how geese can be squirrels At The Same Time?!? (I may have to tie myself to my chair to keep from starting some geese just like yours!)
ReplyDeleteFlying Geese is one of the most difficult blocks I know! I´m impressed of your work!!!!
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