Licensed to Cut Loose--post 8

Trying a different approach to the yellow at the bottom

During week 15 of working on this project, I tackled the bottom yellow section. I tried to orient the pieces so that I could place some blue in between some pieces; but, I didn't care for the effect. It was too crowded and too messy. The section didn't feel "right" to me. I removed those pieces and replaced them as I had previously. I still wasn't "sold." I decided, however, to continue working on the sky. I would let my brain think about that yellow base. I believed I would come up with an arrangement that I liked enough to keep.

In the sky, I liked the movement that using a variety of blue fabrics created.  I continued adding blue pieces to the sky. From time to time, I would stop and glue baste the pieces

Progress at the end of 15 weeks 

into position. 

I had another thought about the yellow fabrics at the bottom of the piece. I again removed the bottom yellow fabrics and replaced them in a different configuration. This configuration looked a lot like the way it looked at the end of 13 weeks. In other words, it was back to thinking about other options. 

By this point, I was down to a couple yellow fabrics and my blue options were also dwindling. I added a few small darkish fabrics to stretch the remaining blue fabrics. I studied how I had placed the fabrics at the top of the piece. I wondered if I could work in reverse order to achieve a look I liked for the bottom of the piece. 

Yellow section at the end of 13 weeks

I tried creating the feeling of rays moving to the right of the butterfly to give the piece some movement. I filled in the remaining spaces of the blue background. While I was pleased with finishing the background, I wasn't wowed with the results. 

My color consultants, who are my seven and eight year old granddaughters, weren't available for a consult because their parents have limited their daughters' screen time. I emailed the photo of the butterfly to my youngest daughter asking her for a critique. About two minutes later, she replied with an edited photo showing lines where she suggested removing some of the yellow fabric. 

Progress a the end of 16 weeks

She suggested following the lines of the butterfly a little more closely. I'll admit, I was dubious; but, I tried it. Most of the pieces are tacked in place with a little dab of glue. A few of the pieces are tacked with pins. Both were easy to remove. Over several days, I removed yellow pieces using her edited photo as a guide.

She was right. After I removed some of the yellow pieces, I was more pleased with what I saw. I placed a few blue fabrics next to the yellow; but, I wasn't as pleased with what I saw. I removed those few blue fabrics and let the piece marinate a couple more days on the design wall.

I was showing a friend my progress and she asked why I didn't leave that space that color meaning cream or white. Why indeed, was my thought! After all, I had unsuccessfully auditioned white fabrics to represent clouds in the background so I had thought about using a third color.

The top with the edit lines

My current thinking is that the light sections represent a transitional area between the yellow and the blue. I've spent most of the last week thinking about auditioning a variety of cream and white fabrics. 

Yesterday, I had a conversation with myself because looking at the project wasn't the same as working on the project. I placed some fabrics. I started with fabrics that had a little sparkle in them. These were Martha's scraps. She did love fabrics that glittered! I think I'm on the right track. I'll let the pieces marinate today and add more tomorrow.

Top with the pieces removed--progress at week 17

I'm linking this post to Oh Scrap. I have loved using up such a large number as well as variety of scraps in this project!

The Clark County Quilters guild virtual quilt show is now available to view. Please come and enjoy the show. The link is: https://quiltfestnw.org. 

Some of Martha's "sparkly" scraps

At the top of the home page, there is a tab for frequently asked questions. (FAQ) On that tab is a pdf that lists the makers of the quilts. If people want to see my entries, they would down load the file, scroll to my name, Terry Knott, and  look at the icons to see where the quilts are located. At the home page, they can click to enter the show or at the top of the page is a tab, Quiltfest Map. They would look at the icon and find the entry that way. My Star Patch quilt and Josie's girl quilt are the icons for two categories. People can vote for their favorite in the available categories. I plan to add this link to each post until the end of the voting period. There are 400 entries in the show so pour yourself a cuppa and stay awhile!

Regarding Covid:

Worldwide: 53.8M cases; 1.31M deaths

United States:  10.9M cases; 245K deaths

Oregon: 54,937 cases; 759 deaths

Cases are rising faster than they rose last week. In Oregon, the governor placed most counties in the state on a two week "pause" as she calls it. Pause means next Wednesday, gyms and restaurants will be closed. Only take out orders will be available. Not only are we strongly encouraged to limit interactions, we can't be in groups larger than six. It seems transmissions are happening when people remove their masks to eat. It also appears that the transmissions are occurring when people gather in small groups. Hospitals are almost at capacity either in terms of occupied beds or having enough staff to care for the patients. For the last three days, we've had more than 1000 positive reported cases each day.

Regarding the protests:

I don't remember reading about protests this week in the media. Maybe the cold weather and the rain have put a damper on the gatherings.

View of the transition fabrics from a distance

Regarding the election:

One campaign filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Michigan regarding the handling/counting of the ballots on election day. The media has reported there was no voter fraud; but, amended that statement to report that there is always a little fraud; but, we, the voters, shouldn't be concerned. Anyone committing voter fraud should be prosecuted fully under the law. Otherwise, more fraud will occur. The voting process should be transparent and fair to all candidates. The President conceded that Biden won the election.