A Creative Trial and Error

When Teri and I (Kara) began our In the Garden quilt, the plan was for Teri to make the whole quilt since she would be teaching it in the states, and I would make individual block projects and/or shop samples. The quilt is finished and you can read about it here, but I am slowly chipping away at the individual blocks. The most recent one that I have finished is the violet block.

Having just a block is not as attractive as a finished project when it is on display in a store, so I wanted to create a little wall hanging out of this sweet set of violets. Deciding on a wall hanging was the easy part, but figuring out how to do it and what materials to use? Now that was the challenge. What I started with was not what became the end result, so I thought I would show you some of the ideas and trial layouts that I had before I was happy with the outcome.

My first idea was a mix of patchwork with a little crazy quilt embellishment. I gathered fabrics and trims in purples and greens.

I had a surprising amount of different trims
in these two colors.

A selection of coordinating fabrics.

Checking to see if the colors are good.

Idea #1

Idea #2

Idea #3

Idea #4

Idea #5

I was just not liking my original plan and everything I tried wasn't turning out the way I thought it would. Walking away from it was the best choice since I wanted to chuck it all out the window. My thinking time is when I walk the hounds so while we were walking, my vintage lace collection came to mind and I decided to give that a try when we got back.

"Try the lace Mom!"

This crocheted trim seemed like it had potential. In the end it didn't make the cut, but I liked the green velvet frame.

With the velvet frame, but not sure where to go from here.

This lace seemed like a better fit along with a yarn-dyed piece of fabric.

And the winner is...

A different lace and even a different purple fabric than any of the ones I had originally chosen,
but I was finally happy with the look.

The challenge with this block was to do something that would highlight not detract. Everything I had tried was just too much competition for the simplicity of the violets. The green velvet ribbon makes a nice frame and the lace is a good, texture contrast with the cream-colored wool. I felt that they all played nicely together and would make a really, sweet wall hanging. In a perfect world, it would be quilted, bound, and hanging on my wall, but Christmas and our daughter's wedding at the beginning of the new year have made sure that hasn't happened. At least it is a lot closer to being completed and hopefully you have enjoyed seeing the process from start to almost finished. 

How do you decide what works and what doesn't when you are creating? Do you draw out a plan or just start cutting? Do you have a tried and true method? We'd love to hear about your creative process and maybe your process will help someone else!

If you would like to make your own set of violets please click HERE to purchase the pattern.