I had two ideas for the title of this post. The one I decided was too long was
How My No-Buy Pledge Both Ruined and Redeemed a Quilt.
Have you ever made a no-buy pledge, and were determined to only use your stash? I go through phases where I do this, sometimes to break bad buying habits, sometimes to save money for something bigger for the studio, sometimes to reduce my stash if it's getting out of hand, and sometimes just because it's a good creative challenge. I won't beat myself up if I don't hold to it, but when I set a no-buy goal, I try to stick to it.
When I started my newest UFO finish, I was on a no-buy pledge. I wanted to make a Celtic knot quilt, and I started out with these fabrics.
I bought these fabrics when I was brand new quilter, and I had no idea how much fabric it took to make a quilt. I saw the fabric online when I was searching for some Celtic knot trim for a dress I was making DD#2 to wear to a Renaissance Fair. It was easily the most expensive fabric I had purchased at the time, and maybe still is. Because of the price, and the shipping because I imported it from the UK, I was pretty skimpy in my purchase. When I was brave enough to start cutting it up, I realized I didn't have nearly enough fabric to make the size quilt I wanted.
That's where one of my favorite quilt books came in. I have made multiple quilts using this book, and if you ever want to make a Celtic quilt without applique, this book is gold.
I wanted to make this pattern, and use the fabrics from the UK in a pieced border. I liked the colors of the original quilt, but I needed to get them closer to the inspiration fabric. I was also trying to stick with only using stash, and I didn't have fabrics that graduated in color like I needed them to. I did the best I could with what I had, and started the quilt.
I was happily piecing the quilt, but when I started assembling it I was horrified. It was not coming out like what I pictured in my head at all. Determined to push through, I started making the pieced border. THAT was really a disaster! I hated it so much I unpicked every block I had made for the border! I decided the quilt center just didn't match the inspiration fabric at all anymore, and I was stuck. I did what most of you have done at one time or another, and I put the quilt in time out.
During a UFO challenge, I took the quilt center out and looked at it. How could I have made those fabric choices? What had I been thinking? Back in time out it went.
One day when working on a completely different quilt, I spotted a fabric in stash, and I realized the colors in it were a good match for what I had been calling the Celtic Disaster. I dug the quilt center out of the closet, matched it up with the fabric from stash, and realized I could make it work.
The fact that the fabric that matched was American Southwest style and the quilt center was Celtic didn't phase me much. I was trying to redeem a quilt I pretty much hated. I added the border, and set it aside again.
One day while buying some thread, I noticed a variegated thread called Santa Fe, and I realized it would match that quilt too. I'm always a sucker for variegated thread, so I bought it and put it aside to quilt Celtic Disaster.
I think I needed the time that the quilt was in time out to accept what it was, and not associate it with what it failed to be...what I failed to make it.
I obviously still have yet to use my Celtic fabrics from the UK. I have decided to make a medallion quilt out it, with that pillow panel as the center, put on point. I made some blocks that will be one of the borders, but I still have a lot of designing to do on that quilt. If I get a few of my deadline projects done, maybe I'll get that out and start working with it, but at least now I'll feel free to go in a completely different direction, because the disaster that was holding me back is over.
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