Friday, January 31, 2014

Certainly scrappy - my Jersey Girl quilt




Well, I'm glad its done!

I love this pattern and I had high hopes for my fabric choices for this quilt.

About halfway through the process, I started wondering what I had been thinking.








I was thrilled when I read that Carrie's pattern for Jersey Girl called for light charms along with dark ones.

I had been saving a Road 15 charm pack and a Reunion charm pack for a quilt that needed a light scrappy background because I liked the lighter fabrics in these lines so much.

I think the text fabrics in these lines are really fun, so I was determined to use them in something and then along came the Jersey Girl pattern.








Once I started sewing together the two inch squares I had cut, I started thinking that there wasn't enough contrast between the light and the dark fabrics and that my light fabrics were just too busy for a quilt with such small pieces.

I hadn't thought about that before.

I don't know why.  It seemed pretty obvious at that moment.

.........Insert big sigh here.......

I was wishing I hadn't used these fabrics in this quilt.

I put it down for a few days.








Then I decided I might as well finish it up. 

All that fabric cut up and some of it sewn together.  Why not just finish it?

As I got farther into the pattern and the blocks were coming together, I started liking it more and more.  

The pattern wasn't standing out as much as I had imagined it would, but my fabric choices for this quilt weren't as bad as I had originally thought either.









 The more I sewed the better it was looking to me and by the time I got the borders on, I was pretty happy with it!

The darker parts of the blocks don't stand out as much as I as expecting and it doesn't have the same look as some of the other amazing finished Jersey Girl quilts I've seen so far, but I do like the look of it.

It was definitely one of those quilts that didn't turn out like I expected it to, but I guess that's part of the fun of it!

It's growing on me.









In a few days Sherri and Sinta will host the next Schnibbles parade.

As always, I'm looking forward to seeing the wonderful variety of quilts that can come out of a single pattern.

It's so inspiring to see the differences in what everyone chooses!


This weekend you can find me at the soccer fields every day for my son's regional tournament.

Luckily, this one is close to home.  Maybe I can even sneak in a little sewing in between games!

At home of course, not on the field!

    


22 comments:

carol fun said...

I LOVE this one! yes the fabrics are busy but all put together it is a happy bouncy exuberant quilt! Looking forward to seeing all of this months Schnibbles in the parade. Have a great weekend!

JoAnne said...

I was wondering what you were talking about--not liking it. Then I realized that when the pieces were smaller, it probably had a different look because the resulting quilt is wonderful. It's just "low value" like the last one. I will say that I do not love all my Schnibbles equally. Some of them just are more "problem children" than others. Some are sort of boring because they weren't challenging. In the end, I like some of the ones that challenged me better than some of the "easy, pretty" ones.

Jen said...

I love it! I think that about scrappy quilts too, until they're done, then they are beautiful!

em's scrapbag said...

I really like it! You can't go wrong with a scrappy quilt.

Darlene said...

Oh, I love it! Way to go!

Béa said...

Wonderful, I love your fabrics choice .

Carol said...

I really, really like it! It is very FUN!

Satu said...

I love your truly scrappy JG! I know your frustration during the process, because those individual small pieces might look totally different alone than they finally are together. A Super work!

Abby and Stephanie said...

I just love the mixture of fabrics. It's a scrappy bear paw. Jersey Girl -- cute name.

Denise in PA said...

So glad you are winding up liking it! I think it looks great - I love text fabrics too!

Nicole said...

It looks great! Exuberant is a great word to describe it. It is fun and jaunty for spring.

Carrie said...

I love it! It's awesome and wonderful and funky! I also love that you stuck it out and finished it, even though you weren't sure you were going to like it. (Life lesson? LOL) And it sounds like you learned something along the way - I love quilts that take us outside of our comfort zone and teach us something.

So good job! It's terrific... and if you don't want it... ;)

Judy said...

I think it looks awesome! I have to agree with JoAnne that there are some that I love and others that are okay! And as Carrie said if you don't want it!!!! Awesome Job!!

Candace said...

I love it, Michele! Mr. Squash is from NJ and he says it definitely reminds him of a Jersey girl in those fabrics! I'm so glad you stuck with your fabric choices!
Cheers!

Houseelf said...

I think like you that not knowing how something will turn out is part of the fun. I keep hoping to learn from my mistakes but... I think this makes a great I-Spy kind of quilt for little eyes to pour over the details.

Cheryl said...

I really like this quilt. Having the darks and lights not be too different gives the quilt such a fun scrappy look!

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

I really like it! Patiently waiting for the February Schnibbles announcement. I would like to join the fun this month if I like the pattern. :)

Wendy said...

Your Jersey Girl is bright and happy , but I totally understand how you were feeling, because I had almost the same thoughts while making mine...a little too bust, not enough contrast in some areas, but I persevered and now that it is done I am happier with it. Like JoAnne said...they can't all be stars,

Tiinatei said...

Thank you for visiting my blog and your comment! I love the srappy look of your quilt, I like to call yours The Real Quilt! It's full of joy!

Tiinatei said...

Thank you for visiting my blog and your comment! I love the srappy look of your quilt, I like to call yours The Real Quilt! It's full of joy!

Anonymous said...

I think it's gorgeous!! I love that fabric too, I have a FQ bundle stashed away waiting for just the right project to come along :)

Dee said...

I feel exactly the same way about my Jersey Girl quilt. I was kind of wishing I had used 1 light background like others had because mine doesn't have as much contrast. But by the time I had finished I liked it a lot more. I do think your blocks are pretty easy to pick out and I like the bright colors in it. I'm glad you grew to like it as well!