Quilter's Block?

No pun intended...

I believe I have a severe case of quilter's block, I just can't seem to find inspiration to quilt the butterfly garden or what to quilt it with. 

I've tried applique idea's and it all just look terribly busy, I've thought about just doing something basic and it feels too bland, I've thought of doing a specific type of quilting using stencils to create a scene and that seems like a good idea but I am still stuck! 

This poor quilt has been hanging downstairs for two weeks and I've stared at it and stared at it. Look to other's and pictures for inspiration and I've just drawn a total blank. Yep I am having a good old whining pity party to top it off lol. I want this done! I also feel like I am running out of time because I don't want to leave it too much longer.

Good news is I am nearly finished quilting my friend's quilt for her and it's looking great! I did indeed spend time pulling up stitches to remove the large puckers on the back, I ended up not spending just a couple of hours pulling it all but 7 or 8 hours since I was unhappy with the way the threads had looked once the puckers were cleared, I knew I could do a better job and thought why not just do it again? I had already pulled most of it, might as well do it all over correctly this time. 

I am very glad I did take the time to clean it up and get rid of what I considered a mess the bottom and top look so much better now, smoother and cleaner, I think Grandma will be happy with it.

I also spoke with my friend and asked if she would mind if I pulled her hand quilting she had done in the center embroidery panels, I was not feeling that the stitches she had done were going to be strong enough to hold once I had quilted the rest of the quilt, they were indeed basting stitches, done cross stitch style with a single thread. I knew once I had the outer edges quilted tightly the center was going to end up with a lot more weight than it would if it was quilted tightly too. I didn't want the center to fluff and puff or flop and flip at all, it would ruin all the work she had put in and I had put in, and would Grandma like it? Probably not. I am glad she agreed to allow me to quilt the inside by machine, the picture doesn't show the stamped pattern very well but it worked wonderfully under the machine, super easy to quilt just time consuming since I didn't want to make any really noticeable errors.  

The center area has me a bit stumped, the stamped pattern goes around these areas which has left a bit of a droopy area in the underneath, I've considered ditch stitching and discarded that idea since I figured if I missed and made a boo boo it was going to be a hell of a mess trying to fix it. I think my only option other than suggesting my friend quilt it by hand (My hand sewing blows the big chicken... it's horrible) is to do a yarn tie which actually might be just the thing. It looks right when I visualize it in my minds eye, in a light yellow or light golden yellow yarn, now I just have to learn how to tie :D!

Soon I will have pictures of my latest pattern in the works, I've got half of it put together at the guild and I am very excited to see it come out just as I had pictured. Only two things have slowed my progress, one is constantly forgetting my pattern book! The second is I had to learn how to make a diamond patch square, thank the Lord for youtube! I ran across a couple of wonderful video bloggers Crafty Gemini and the Missouri Quilt Co. Both of them had the exact instructions I needed to make the block. 

This is the video I used to get an idea of the block I was making. The center square is all I used and built it up into a 10" square (Unfinished is 10 1/2", I usually speak in the finished square sizing whether it's finished or not ;D)

My favorite video so far is actually done by Jenny Doan of the Missouri Quilt Co.:

I just love the quilt in the background, in the video she has a red, white and blue one that works even better than the lighter green, pink and blue in the background.  I will be making this quilt for my eldest daughter, I have just the perfect fabrics for it too. I can't wait!

Passion, in Creation!