How things evolve

I woke up really early this morning and decided to look at some old magazines. I haven't done much lately and my creative juices have run kinda flat of late. I revisited a couple patterns in some of the magazines that struck my fancy when the magazines were new. Some potential quilts may emerge from this effort. Have you ever sat back and looked at your work over time? I noticed a trend and yet subtle changes in mine. Still a scrappy person. Must be my nature. My family says I won't walk away from a fight. Have learned to control some of my frustrations as I age. LOL I like the overall look a quilt gives you. Not a real matchy matchy person. My shoes never were the same color as my clothing.

This is leftover pieces from a quilt top used for a cover for my small freezer. It gets things set on it in my kitchen and I didn't want the top of the freezer all scratched up. The leftovers are to be a table topper for my coffee table that my husband uses all the time. Another project that needs finishing pronto. Note to self practice machine quilting on this topper.

Here is one of my first large efforts with scraps. Yes I have made many others, but this was my stubborn side saying I can do this and the free motion quilting in the snowball block section.
There is a feathered wreath in the off white blocks. Not great but everyone has to start someplace.
The challenge was the first I made to myself after I quit work. You see I was a garment sewer and I made quilts with squares and quilted them by machine for years. Also did some hand applique. This was a first of making something as scrappy as it turned out.

My choices in fabrics have changed. I am in the process of changing my way of thinking into stepping outside the box and making things work together. I never was one to buy fabric just to go together to make a quilt. My Grandmother pieced these blocks together in the late 40's and early 50's by hand. I finished it a couple years back and then machine quilted it. See these are not my colors of choice, but they are pleasing to the eye with it all finished.

So many times I feel like we get stuck in a trend at the time. Batiks, blenders, calico, or solids can all work together. I looked at my stash this morning and yes I need to straighten it up, but what do I expect out of it? Well my expectations have changed since I got all this. My choices take on another role at this time. They are there to support each other until they are all used up. I can see a few new additions need to be added as far as color and texture choices. I also see a trend of color choices I need to expand on. More lighter colors and tone on tones need to be added. Have you looked at your stash. Is it outdated? Can you add to it to make it all work together?

Evolution is a big word. It has a lot of good and bad connotations. Something maybe as a whole doesn't appeal to you now, but in the big scheme of things maybe that ho-hum fabric you bought in the 90's can work as a stepping off point in your next quilt. Challenge yourself to look at your stash and previous purchases as a new way to look at the bigger scheme of things and maybe your outlook will evolve with you. Chris