A while back, I said I was still debating the sky fabric for the Gimsøy quilt. I had a couple of options, but the one I was leaning strongly toward had a hole cut out of one corner and wasn’t going to be big enough. I knew where I’d gotten it, though, so off I went to get another half-yard.
It’s funny how you get to know your local quilt stores. I know that if I want reproduction fabrics, I should go to Store A, Store B has a better selection of batiks and novelty fabrics but NO solids, and Store C has a fabulous selection of blenders (fabrics that read solid from a distance but often include a subtle color-on-color pattern). I know that if I want fabrics that mimic anything in nature – sky, stones, water, beach – I go to one particular store that happens to be on the way to my brother’s house. That’s where I’d gotten the sky fabric.
But of course, while I’m there, I need to look at *everything*. After all, I’m not just working on one quilt! Beyond the three that I’m actually in the process of sewing together, I have several that I’m pondering in the back of my head that might need a fabric or two, so I might as well look while I’m here.
What I was not at all expecting to find was an alternative sky. Don’t get me wrong – I got the half yard of the fabric that I liked the best from my previous options. But I also got a half yard of a different sky that I thought maybe, just maybe, would work better for the Gimsøy church quilt.
It did. There was no contest. It changes the mood of the image just a bit, but it’s not inconsistent with the original image. Just a little darker – more broody. And I like it SO much better! After all, the quilt is not meant to be a spitting image of the original picture. It’s meant to be inspired by the original, which offers some leeway.
I have learned my lesson with these quilts – nothing is ever set in stone until it’s sewn in or sewn down. And even then, it’s not a guarantee.
I’m still working on this one…trees and gravestones to come!