the last row

I don't know if this ever happens to you but sometimes it just seems too good to be true. The quilt almost pieced itself.  I was on such a roll I did not even stop to move the purses hanging on my design board. This was fun--the way it is supposed to be. Not bad huh?

But then I realized that the key to the whole quilt was the last row. At the top. This is what would make the quilt sing if it is done right. Or it would relegate the quilt to just another color study. Oh--what to do?

I take some time away from the quilt. Get out my fabrics. And start to play. I want a hint of light to counteract the dark purples. Enough purple. Isn't the quilt intense enough as it is. I pull out a few fabrics--not the ones I thought I would use but maybe they would work. Let me try.

Hard to tell from just one block isn't? Yeap--time to drink some coffee. Finish a few other projects in the studio. Should I clean for a while? Then I make another block. Still can't tell, can you?

I mean it is definitely not bad. But is it the answer? Well, sometimes the only way out is through. So I summon the courage and start piecing. Trying to remember to add light and blue to the quilt. Enough purples to make it fit in. Just a bit of the unexpected. And yes I still don't move the purses. In fact I am sufficiently focused I don't notice them until I snap the image. Not bad, huh.

And now to sew it together. Yes, it will look different. More polished. More controlled. But I want it in my booth for the Paradise City Arts Festival this October12-14. And I do want to study it some more--see what it is I can learn from this quilt? Where it will lead me next?

Does this ever happen to you? What do you think?