Whew, it's done!

I think it is going to work! Here is E's completed quilt top. I actually really love it, and more importantly, so does she. It was such a long journey of confusion and self doubt for me to finally arrive at this pattern and combo of fabrics, but I am really pleased with the result. Just another confirmation to always listen to my gut. I think it is really sweet, does justice to the lovely fabrics, but doesn't overpower. And for as busy and bold as the fabrics are up close, I think they present a really almost subtle affect. I was so determined to finish this quilt before baby #2 arrives and I'm so glad I did. Now to save up for the machine quilting required to actually have it finished and ready for use! It is huge, there is no way I'm quilting that myself! I'm a little crazy, but not that crazy!

You just have to go with it

I decided to try hanging some batting to stick my fabrics on, just to see what was working or not and what should go where. It was pretty slick. So this is what I have ended up with for my daughter's quilt. I ended up pulling a different fabric than the one I thought, and I think it is good. So now all I have to do and sew, sew, sew!

Major Rueage

I finally took the dive to commit to a pattern for the much - agonized - over quilt for my daughter. I decided to pull a few fabrics out, bring an "editing eye" to the project and also greatly simplify the over all design. I'm still happy with that decision, however, after doing all the cutting I, of course, had to lay out a few blocks to get an idea of the effect. Here enters the problem. Instead of the lovely pinks, my daughters favorites, coming out, they are completely over powered by what I thought would be the secondary and merely complimentary fabrics. As you may see from the photo, the pinks really do recede when alongside the greens. This does not make me happy. I may have found a solution in pulling in the fabric that is along the bottom, which seems to bring a bit more equilibrium to the pinks and greens. I plan to substitute it for the most grievous green (in my opinion) which is the furthest to the right. When you take a few steps back, this one, believe it or not, stands out the most above all the other fabrics. How can it be that that sweet, subtle polka dot print could pop so much next to those bold busy pinks?? If you know, please enlighten me to save me from repeating this error in future!
Addendum: I neglected to mention that all of this cutting and progress only happened because of a quilting day with my good (and only) quilting friend. Cutting goes so much faster with two! Thanks B!