Listen to your instincts...

Yesterday I spent playing with applique patterns, fabrics and layouts. Following up with Monday's post, I haven't been happy with the quilt blocks I've made this winter/spring - there was just some feeling that this wasn't going to work for me - be it the pattern or the colours. The truth is, I've had a set of rich brown fabrics tucked away that have been calling me to applique. These have been sitting in their basket, and everytime I've thought about using them for my project, I turn them aside and choose something else. But they keep calling me - Penny! you like me! be brave! no, the patterns don't call for a rich brown flowers or leaves or hearts, and I can't for the life of me find any that do - despite flipping through a hundred magazines, a hundred websites, and a hundred books. And then I fiddled on EQ again - and I'm just going to do it. I'm going to try to stick with this and see how several work - not just one - here's a pic of the base fabric selections -

and one of my EQ layouts done in these colours - I'll likely be using applique patterns from various places - but mostly I'll be working from the Piece O Cake Applique Delights

Over the years, I've happily changed and made up my own colour schemes for pieced quilts - I don't know why that with applique I have such a hard time going my own way.

And now for something completely different, take a look at these wonderful creative pincushions - winners and entries from a contest by Piecemaker Magazine

http://www.interweave.com/needle/projects/Pincushion-2008-Web-Article.pdf

I just walked into my sewing room, and I felt I had to take a picture - this is what it looks like after my fabric throwing yesterday - and, I had cleaned it up at one point! At least the fabrics are off the floor, and the picture doesn't show the little ironing nook on the right where most of fabrics are kept -