Aria Quilt Course Correction

Thanks for all your input on the colors for my Aria quilt. I was stuck on the idea of keeping this quilt in one fabric line, which I normally don’t do. It limits creativity, and in this case made it impossible to come up with a cohesive color palette.

I love this line by Benartex. But although I had bought yards and yards of fabric, there wasn’t enough of the various coordinating support prints. Maybe I should’ve just made a whole cloth quilt from the feature fabric, which I love. Ha! I will have enough to use on the back, so that may happen after all.

First, I apologize for the bad pictures. The right section of my design board is under a soffit in my studio, so that portion is always darker, even when I try to remove the shadows.

So, doesn’t it look better? Maybe not perfect, but certainly passable. I left in a couple of dark blue pieces above, but added in others in lighter shades. The smaller rows across will be done in blues and greens while the block rows will use the feature print plus several coordinates from the line PLUS a few other golds, oranges and teals pulled from my stash.

closer view, right side

closer view, left side

If the pieces look wonky, it’s just the way they are pinned on the board. So far the piecing is right on the mark. I hope to get it all pieced by Friday so I can begin basting it on Sunday. Saturday is a big family gathering here, so there won’t be any sewing time then. I would really like to finish this by month end, less than 10 days from now, so I can count it as a finish for my 2016 Finish-Along Quarter 2 goals.

Darla thinks I should be cleaning up my fabric stash. Too much fabric is all mixed up. But for now it will stay. We are hoping to begin the living room remodel (and kitchen refresh) in July.

Right now, we are waiting for the final bid for the living room work. We’ll be ripping out the fireplace faux brick, hearth, mirrors (so eighties!) and carpet so we can re-do the fireplace. There will be new tile, a gas insert and mantel for the fireplace.  The fireplace will be flanked by new built-in cabinets and shelves. The TV will go above it and speakers and lighting will be added. Hardwood floors will be laid in the living room, stairs and upstairs hallway to match what is already in the kitchen. I got Bruce a new recliner for Father’s Day, and we have one other newish chair we plan to keep. Other than that, we will get new living room furniture, rugs, etc. And we’ll replace one interior door going down to the basement.  The other doors and closet doors will have to wait until next year to be updated. And we are still waiting for the rain gutter contractor to install heat tapes and do some minor gutter and soffit repairs. With all the rain we’ve had in June, they got way behind in their scheduling.

And finally this summer we will paint the kitchen, add a new fixture over the dining table, and add sliding shutters for the glass doors. We gutted and remodeled the kitchen about 10 years ago, so it only needs some cosmetic refreshes. These planned changes have kept me busy watching remodeling shows, pinning pictures, saving brochures and paint chips and visiting showrooms. On my Pinterest account, I have a board for Living Room Remodel and one for Lighting. Not only am I compiling choices, but building a budget. We are sort of striking while the iron is hot and Bruce is working, before officially re-retiring.  But it has cut into my sewing productivity these last couple weeks!

I hope your summer is going well.