If Goldilocks Had Been a Quilter . . .

If Goldilocks had been a quilter, there might have been another verse in the old folk tale that would go something like this:

After she'd eaten the three bears' breakfasts she decided to see what else the three bears had been doing, so she walked into the living room where she saw three quilt blocks laid out on the coffee table.

First she picked up the corn block Papa Bear had made.

"This corn block is TOO large," she exclaimed.

So she picked up the block made by Baby Bear.

"This corn block is TOO small," Goldilocks whined. "And the scrappy sky background doesn't make the corn stand out either!"

So at last she picked up the block made by Mama Bear.

"Ahhh, this corn block is just right," she sighed.

But unfortunately Goldilocks wasn't a quilter. In the real world, though, the conversation I had with myself was very similar. After looking at the very large pumpkin and corn stalks on the design wall since last weekend while waiting for the fabric I need to complete it--which STILL hasn't come, I decided to experiment with different sizes. The first experimental block was the smallest one with the scrappy background. And, of course, I didn't like it at all. I think it would have worked okay if it wasn't scrappy and if there was more definition between the green in the corn and the blue background, but it just wasn't what I wanted anyway--too small. Next I decided to try making a block that was three-quarters the size of the original block, and I think I'm happy with the result. I was worried, too, about the lack of contrast between the green and the blue, so I decided to try the star-on-cream fabric. I kind of have an idea that this is a night time scene, and I think the little stars are as close as I can get to the idea of night. I LIKE the blue though.

Here's a last photo of all three block sizes so you can see the difference--it's hard to tell in the above photos with no real size reference. The largest blocks are 10" (finished); the medium blocks are 7-1/2" (finished); and the small block is 5" (finished).

Time, now, to announce the winner of the six Pansy Park patterns--Cara! Woo-hoo! Cara, please email me your mailing address so I can get those out to you soon. Thanks to all of you who entered.

That's it for tonight--us corn farmers need to get to bed early!