The Tyranny of Choice

It was a long long time ago when i first started thinking of making a patchwork quilt. I had put off the idea though because to start with I just found it far too difficult and overwhelming to choose from the fabrics, and designs and all the possibilities.

However, it has remained in the back of my mind as something to do and after a little innocent browse on ebay, I was kicked into action when I came across a seller who does small squares of Cath Kidston fabric in patchwork packs. I love those designs. So i bought some (perhaps that was a bit impulsive, especially when i already have a lot of projects on the go - but maybe it was good for me)

two of the designs included. they are cut from Cath's Haberdashery fabric and it is nice to have a samp - le it would be good to use for summer dresses.

I bought three packs of these and knew that it wasn't really enough, but felt I didn't want to go over the top. it was enough to start the ball rolling though and i managed to find some scraps of fabrics (and cut up some old dresses) to make enough triangles.

trianglation - i did these by cutting 20cm squares into quarters

Late last night was not a god time to start to put them together - but i did have an attempt and this was quite a revealing process. I have a lot of different patterns and colours here so it makes it hard to know how best to arrange them. I thought that random might be good because patterns might naturally form, but i think now that it might just look too messy so I managed to draw a design which will form overlapping star shapes.

it doesn't look much, but it took a lot of my effort!

When i tried laying out a couple of squares, i realised that I also needed to think about how i want to cluster my fabrics. I have grouped my triangles into colour but (especially with white background) there are lots of different designs in each set. my first thought was to mix them up as much as i could, but now I am thinking maybe clustering like fabrics together and having something more symmetrical would be nicer.

ARGH! who knows when i will commit to sewing my squares together, but I am pleased that i have made a start on this project.

yours, weighing up the options,
Emilia. xxx