more pinwheel decisions

i'm still refining my fabric combinations for individual pinwheels in my "groovy liberty" quilt. i had the above combo picked out as one of my paler sets, but i needed to swap that bottom print into another set, so i ended up with this combo instead:

this one works, too. actually, looking at these photos they both seem to be good combinations, but i needed the art deco print from the top set in a different place. i needed it here: 

this swapping around of fabric in sets isn't a problem. what was a problem is i cut some of the chambray pieces too small. yikes. 

i discovered this when i sewed it to a tana lawn piece. every now and then i have pieces that don't match in size and i have to pull out a ruler to determine which is the cultprit, the larger or smaller one.

the ruler says it's the chambray. this probably happened because the under layer of fabric wasn't lined up when i was cutting. i do try to be careful, but these things do happen.

i used all the chambray to cut these pieces, so my only option was to make-do the best i could. i unpicked the set and moved the chambray piece over so that there would be a shortage in both seam allowances. spreading it out like this means there won't be a large discrepancy on one side or the other. if i do have a piece that's short in the seam allowance, i usually add another seam just inside the seam allowance for extra security to guard against unravelling.

i had two pieces that turned out this way. all fixed up. this wasn't such a big deal and was easily dealt with. i was having a good time piecing the pinwheels until . . .

i started joining sets the wrong way. oopsie.

apparently i wasn't paying as close attention as i thought to the direction i was sewing pairs together. i had to fix a couple of those. 

this first half of this set looks great.

then i realized i turned half of them the opposite way. and i did some of my test blocks in the opposite orientation, as well. oh, dear. i sized up how many i have going each direction to determine which way was less unpicking. looks like the top pieces are getting redone.

there was a time when i considered doing the dark chambray pieces one direction and the light the opposite direction. but when i completed more blocks and laid them out together, the bigger picture of the secondary pattern emerged and i changed my mind. but then i didn't pay attention to which way i was turning the pinwheels. it's alright. it can all be corrected pretty easily.

here's the last decision i need to make right now. i was considering sashing and cornerstones so the pinwheels could be separated and stay pinwheels. i was thinking of using the "capel" print in black as the sashing and this red "summer blooms" print for the cornerstones. that's been my plan for days.

but i finally laid it out together (before cutting, thank goodness) and i don't think i like it. the chambray background effect is lost and the color story changes. so now i'm rethinking what i could do instead all over again.

this photo shows the sashing/cornerstone look with the fabrics i was considering and the way the different block orientations looks together. yeah, i don't think this is what i'm going for. thank goodness for unpicking and more ideas.

this is one of the challenges of quilting - getting my vision to come alive in fabric. sure, it's frustrating sometimes, but its also fun and rewarding when it works out. when i know what i'm doing, i'll report back.