Someone else's design

I've been doing the "Moda U" year long quilting project called Selvages. I have mixed feelings about it. On the plus side, it's not too much work, and you finish one block design per month (making two blocks of the same design, and one of the double nine patch.) We're nearing the end, so I have a stack of the finished blocks, which is a nice reminder of just how much you can get done by working a little bit at a time.

On the other hand, the fabrics are just not ones I would ever choose. They are too traditional for my tastes, with lots of small flowers in greens and reds. On the plus side, I am often impressed how a block can transcend its individual fabrics (there's hope for the homely fabrics in my stash.) And the Moda fabric is a very nice quality -- silky smooth and robust.

The toughest thing for me however is the color scheme. The green/red/brown colors are not a combination I naturally tend toward, so figuring out how to finish this quilt is a challenge -- I tend to want to choose fabrics I like, and they inevitably don't "go". Luckily, the quilt shop has chosen fabrics for us, and I'll likely go with their choices, problem solved.

The best thing about this project has been learning to make all the different blocks. Working with someone else's design, color choices, and fabric choices is a good way to learn some new techniques, if not exercise your own creativity.