Thursday, January 30, 2014

Balance!

Hi all!
I chose "balance" for my word because I'm always striving to keep the various aspects of my life balanced. Not necessarily succeeding, but striving! :)

I have a box full of leftover strips and random pieces conveniently located under my sewing table, so I pulled exclusively (and pretty blindly!) from that. I wanted to create a busy, uneven stripe look. 
I went from here: 
Where it sat on my design wall for a week--should I add a border? What color? Should it be pieced? Did I have time to play around with borders? Was that a crash and a cry from the kids' room, and should I check it out, or stay in my studio and assume everything is fine? Did my email just ping? Ten more work emails to deal with before we leave on vacation tomorrow. (Are you starting to see why I chose the word I did?!)


This morning, with the end of the month deadline looming, I jumped in. Cheery gold letters, because I want balance to be a happy thing, not a threat. Tilted stacked letters, because it adds humor to the idea of achieving balance. Gold thread straight quilting lines because I do love straight quilting, and I'm often too chicken to use bright colors on bigger quilts--perfect to try it here. 
And the binding and flange? Proof that I'm learning balance. I participated in the Challenge, found my 15 minutes to play on several days to make it happen, but didn't make myself crazy by trying to figure out a border. At the same time, I couldn't just leave it with no border and only binding, so I added in the flange. Hooray for compromise! (With 5 year old and 2.5 year old boys at home who seem to constantly bicker, perhaps that should be my word next year...) 

Fun challenge! And I've really enjoyed seeing everyone's word and interpretation!
Ellie Q

p.s. Have to share one more thing...my almost 5 year old has taken up quite an interest in quilting, which I love. He likes to pick out fabric and decide how big of a piece we'll use and where it will go, and then we sew on the machine together. Here are his latest four blocks; I think he's got a future in making fabric, don't you?!



8 comments:

Helen said...

Your word is perfect for any young mom! Trying to juggle the demands of others and still stay centered yourself is quite an achievement. BTW, this quilt doesn't need a border...looks great as is!

And sonny has obviously inherited the quilt gene.

Willa said...

Delightful solution!

Helen in the UK said...

Your son has a great eye for colour and shape. How fun that you can work on these blocks together. Maybe you could make some more together and then make him his own quilt out of HIS blocks :)

janequiltsslowly said...

Well done! I love the teetering stack of letters! And the color. Your son has definitely inherited a great sense of design, of course he has the "play" thing nailed.

Unknown said...

What a great word! I should have thought about balance for the New year. Also love the quilt itself with it's slightly out of balance stack. Great parody for most of our busy lives. Your son will always remember those special moments he spent with mommy.
Happy Quilting!
Kathryn A.

roccagal said...

just a perfect word choice for your life and a perfect execution! great job!

fiberchick said...

Great quilt and word for your busy life. Your son has got a great eye!

Margaret said...

A happy, gentle reminder ... love it!