Thursday, June 10, 2010

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!

10 comments:

Robin said...

Your latest crop is juuuuussst right! I like both the size and the background. I liked the blue a lot, but if you're going for night, that's not going to work. The stars should give the idea of night and still leave enough contrast for your black cat.

Unknown said...

I like that meduim one also but I don't like that check BG material you used.

Sandy from Thimbleberries said...

Kim,
I liked the middle size one. I can't wait to see it finished.

dianne said...

oooooo - my favorite of the greens is the PLAID!!!

does corn come out at night?

todiefro - dyslexian for "to die for"

Anonymous said...

My vote is with the medium. And the same fabric for the background is more to my liking than the scrappy look - even though I like scrappy quilts.
Nice story - thanks for the chuckle.
cindy

Brandie said...

Still loving the corn, impatiently waiting to see the finished quilt. I love them all!

Lovie said...

Take the Papa Bear Corn block and make a Hot Pad - perfect size to put a 8x8 baking dish on. The Baby Bear Corn block will make a great matching Pot-holder. And if you don't like any of the fabric, don't worry. Most likely you will spill food on it and stain it anyway. (That seems to happen at my house alot.) Good Luck with the rest of the quilt.

sunny said...

Oh I can't wait to see the finished corn field! Your corn is amazing.

Shirley--Knot-y Embroidery Lady said...

Build it and they will come...........

Liz in Kansas said...

Did you ever show the finished quilt for this? Here I am - one year later - and I made two blocks using your corn pattern. I hope you don't mind, but I couldn't resist using it in my Kansas quilt!