Tuesday 29 April 2014

decluttering & decisions

Whenever I have a new fabric or a fragment of an idea in mind, sometime after 4pm & sometime before getting dinner sorted, I sit down with a glass of vino & enjoy looking thru' my latest quilting magazine or one of my patchwork books, admiring & drawing inspiration from others. And I am thinking alot of us still get our inspiration & creativity from the old quilts, yes? We can make something similar, or we re-interpret the traditional into a modern- fusion version, or we use them as a beginning & then wander off along our own creative path.

 
The other day, on a bit of a mission, I sorted thru' quilting magazines I had in a box under the spare bed and another recent pile that was inhabiting my fabric shelving. The odd one did date back to 2001 I must admit! (Hey, that's what happens when you don't move house for over 40yrs -you should see my husband's garage!).




Decluttering I think it's called! and admittedly the modern minimalistic look can be very pleasing. There's now a lovely restful empty space on my shelving unit! No wonder real estate agents do this when selling your house, your home. It's like a blank canvas!  But I digress...
I did find several patterns in those old magazines that still appeal to me - for another quilt/another time. Right now thou', I do want to use some old vintage sheets & pillow cases that were also cluttering up that shelf..


and a small, but pretty selection (that's in the postal system somewhere) from the new Dreamin' Vintage range by Jeni Baker @ http://www.incolororder.com/. The internet dispenses a daily dose of inspiration too and I came across a couple of ideas that appeal. So,while things are still very much in the planning stages in my mind, I'm thinking along the lines of either largish retro flowers like this one -

RFQ-3

or something like Jeni's 1/2 Square Triangle Sampler quilt -

Dreamin' Vintage Half-Square Triangle Sampler Quilt

I don't have patterns for either idea, am sure I can wander along a similar path with my own version, but before I start cutting any fabric I still have questions... I am wondering if my old vintage & the "new" vintage will blend nicely together? and do I throw in a low volume selection? or have just one main background colour? And then, of course, which way do I go with the pattern - retro flowers? or 1/2 square triangles?  Decisions decisions! Your thoughts?
Oh, and all the magazines?
well, I've donated them to the local op shop.
(thanx to Melanie for the suggestion)
Linking up with Lee's WIP Wednesday

8 comments:

Lucy Casey said...

New to linking up with Lee but wanted to share that I love the retro flowers and would choose a low volume as well. I loved your description of the design process. I have the problem of laying in bed trying to fall asleep with all these ideas running through my mind!

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Thanx for popping by & reading.. glad my working out processes were of some interest. And yes, I too am leaning towards the retro flowers idea. L

Suz J said...

You might just need to wait and see what the fabrics look like together once that package arrives in the post. There are often just too many options within the quilting world... it certainly doesn't make it any easier to get things done. Well done on the organising though, must be an autumn thing, as I've been searching through old magazines too.

Ann said...

I'm fretting over vintage sheets from Jeni too this week! I agree with Suz above - you should get a short list of ideas together but definitely wait till you have all the fabrics together to make a final decision. Good luck!

CapitolaQuilter said...

Good for you tackling and decluttering - I need to so badly. sometimes those old magazines have ideas in them to put a fresh twist on but inspiration for new projects is not the problem!

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

thanx! I often wonder how others finally decide "this-is-the-one" !! I do enjoy taking my time in that planning stage.. auditioning/ making up a trial block/ rejecting, etc it's all fun! L

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Yes I'm glad to have passed the mags on, happy that someone else might enjoy them. L

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Yes, that final decsion can be tricky, but it's been made ...My friend Glenys popped in with a copy of Retro Flowers, & we are both going to make it now, which will be alot of fun! L