Cranes, Continued

Today I am working on assembling my paper pieced Crane quilt. I have had the cranes (all 98 of them!) done for a while, but have been working out placement on graph paper and border colors on the design wall. I made a felt design wall big enough to accomodate the quilt, but since I still have the paper foundations on, they won't stick! So, am using the good old cork board wall that needs pins. I decided to use a white sashing so the cranes will float, then have a complementary (but different) block at the sashing intersections. I used Batiks that I got from Sew Batik for the blues, and Sew Batik was at the show in Nashville, so I stopped by thier booth and asked for advice on what would make the dark and light blues pop. They came up with the yellow, which is printed with a vine pattern of light and dark blues. I thought it would work, but it looks kind of muddy to me when I put it up, although I do like the contrast. I also had a 1/8 yard piece of a gorgeous hand dye in blues and purples that I like better. But of course I only have 1/8 of a yard of it, so I don't have enough for all of the little sashing blocks, and no idea where it might have come from. I have a tendency to select colors that all play so well with each other, that they don't stand out. But there is a lot of contrast between the white and blues already, so I guess I could go with a blender for those little cornerstones. Hmmmmm.

I have heard that if you take photos of a layout, it will help you decide what looks best...still not sure! The theme for the quilt was Peace on earth, so I tried some greens in the sashing corners but didn't like it. Was thinking of doing an applique small round world in blue and green on top of the light blues in the sashing corners...too distracting.

Quilting may not do much for the butt, but it IS good mental exercise!!!