Blue in the Corner Must Go

It's been a quiet, overcast day that lent itself to stitching.  I was bound and determined to finish up Round 5 of the paper pieced challenge quilt and I did, after a fashion. I used this round to add some purple fabric to make it more rectangular because I want the length to be longer than the width.

At this point, it is 60 inches by 72 inches.  The rules for this round are simply that it must contain rectangular blocks. As I posted, previously, I took a Carol Doak's pattern of a tulip and changed it from a square to a rectangle.  I'd already made 26 of them but had to make two more once I lengthened the sides.

I also needed four corner blocks and picked one with points that I thought went well with both the tulips and the arrows in round three. 

If I had this to do over, I wouldn't use the pale cream against the coral. 

It doesn't have near the ommph I'd prefer against the yellow.  I almost used purple, instead, since I had a lot of purple scraps.  I thought the purple and coral clashed but upon reflection, I think purple would have been the much better choice because it would have connected the purple in the the border to the corner.  And it wouldn't really clash too much.  By using the cream, I lost some of the dramatic arrow shape and that was the whole point of choosing this pattern. 

I also would have used a different color than the blue against the green leaves in the corner. 

I think that makes the green leaves in the corner less distinct.  I would have prefered to put yellow where the light blue patches are but am just about out of yellow. I ordered some more, yesterday, and it should be here in a few days.  I wouldn't be hard to exchange the blue for yellow and I think I will do that when my yellow arrives if it still bothers me.  Something about that blue in the corner when the rest is yellow is jarring.

I think this is really pretty fabric.  It is Kona Bay Miko-03 from 2006. 

You can still find quite a bit of it, online, and generally at a good price.  I honestly don't much care for the way it feels because it is so metallic but with a nice backing and soft batting it should be fine.  

At any rate, here is the quilt, at this point after I shut down my Beloved Janome:

Yep, that blue in the corners has to go.  It will look tons better when the entire border is yellow (with the tulips).  If I start having nightmares about the corner blocks, I'll fix them, too.  They aren't that difficult. 

Evelyn came in with me for awhile to keep me company.  She is pretty comfortable in her skin. 

I continue to heal from the poison ivy, thank goodness.  I woke up at about 4:00 this morning and my arms itched so I took 50 mg of antihisthamine.  The result was that I overslept.  Husband was up moving around, taking a shower, etc., and I was dead to the world (probably snoring but he learned a long time ago that I don't take well to being told I snore - the liar!!).  About 6:30 a.m. (it is unheard of for me to sleep so late), Pearl came in to snuggle.  She gave me lots of kisses, pressed up beside me to sleep, herself, and brought her toys to share.  By the time I fully regained consciousness at 7:30, I had four of her stuffies on my pillow and she was repeatedly throwing one of them at me to get me to wake up.  Having the face of a bunny that has been removed from its body and soaked in spit hit you in the eye is such a charming awakening.  When she sat over me and warbled and sang, I knew it was time to get up.  Truth be told, I love it that she does things like this.  It is a great way to start the day to be told that someone loves you enough to share their dismembered bunny head.  And since Jezebel adored the thing and carried it around for years, it is doubly special. 

Willie, Tarka and Julia ran into an ice storm in Kansas City, on Sunday so they stayed an extra day with a mutual friend before heading for home, today.  By all reports, Willie seemed to have recovered and all is well with him.  I know Julia will be glad to get home after being gone for three weeks. 

Happy Quilting,

Penny, Evelyn and Pearl