I Got Sunshine.

 
I've had this quilt sitting out waiting for a photo for about a week now. But it's been one of those weeks where the spare moments are spent...well, actually I can't remember many spare moments. But all the unspare moments have been spent doing good things that make me glad to be here. 
Yesterday, for just a second, the clouds came across the sun, and I ran the quilt out with the baby to try and get some shots, but quick as a flash, out came that hot, hot sun again, and all my photos, except for the sweet ones of my girl, had dark, leaf shaped shadows over them.
She was so lovely, playing with that sand like she was discovering it for the first time, it wasn't a complete waste!

So today needed a plan. First, this morning, seeing that there were more clouds than yesterday, I put the quilt out ready under our tree house. As soon as the covered sun coincided with free hands, and nothing cooking on the stove, I came out with my camera and snapped a few photos. When they weren't really working the way I imagined, I went back to the old clothes line, hung the quilt out there and waited back inside for the sun to hide again.

This is my first do.Good Stitches quilt finish for the year. I asked the CARE Circle to make yellow cross and churn dash blocks. One of the reasons I picked yellow, apart from it being deliciously sunshiney, is that I thought it would read easiest as one colour. But I also didn't want to be too fussy, so that people could make from stash, and told people to use the more greeny end of the yellow spectrum if they wanted. When I put them all up on my design board, I was two blocks short of a complete quilt. And I just wasn't sure how I felt about it.

Where do you go when you're not sure about a charity bee quilt? Do you just push through? Change tact? I didn't like how the greeny yellows looked with the orange ones. Should I add a random blue cross as a feature? I couldn't find a single print I liked with these. Should I have the colours gradually shift across the quilt, or keep it random? In the end, my favourite layout was without the green tinge altogether. So I bit the bullet and made an all yellow quilt. I have eight blocks sitting patiently, waiting to see how they might fit in with the scrappy improvised blocks I've asked for this month.

So I think I learned a few good lessons from this happy quilt.
Firstly, I think I'll stay away from single coloured quilts blocks for future bee quilts. I really enjoy working with everybody's different tastes and fabric collections much more when the aim is to be colourful. Don't get me wrong, I think the quilt, and it's blocks are beautiful, and would have likely been great with the others also. I just have more fun with more colour.
Also, yellow. You can get yellows that look like pure yellow on their own, that become lemon or chartreuse or orange next to another yellow. Are all colours like this? I mean of course they are, but it still, for some reason, yellow surprised me.
Finally, I was encouraged today, even with a full house of kids, and a husband working long hours, and things to be at, and that hot, hot sunshine, I can find ways to be prepared and make the creative things happen that are important to me. I'm going to remember this each time life gets crowded. In fact, right now, I'm going to set up my clams at the ironing board, so that every little moment I get tomorrow, I can stand by my ironing window and glue clams to my quilt, ready to stitch down. It feels good to be able to do that now that this one is crossed off my list!

And oh! Do you like the back? I really wanted something bright, fun and unisex, so when I found this flannel on special at Craft Depot, a quilt shop near my mum's house, I bought up big so I could have it on hand for backing. It's so soft and sweet!