Hi! Thank you for the great responses to my tutorial I share over a month ago — has it really been a month? Wow, I guess I’ve been busier than I thought.
Recently, I had the opportunity to escape the busy and go on a quilt retreat with several dear friends. In between the catching up, laughter, and margaritas, I even managed to finish a few things! [Insert completely shocked face here] Before I went, my new-ish boss challenged me to make something more conservative than normally my style. See, I have a few minis hanging in my office (which I have never blogged about, tsk tsk) which, as you may guess, are very bright and colorful and well, yellow. Kona Sunny to be precise. Not high on the conservative scale…
The night before I left for retreat I grabbed a semi-random assortment of tans, browns, and a few blues. On Sunday morning, about 5 hours before leaving I decided it was time to whip it up. Since I was running on almost no sleep, I didn’t do my normal ‘agonize over every detail’ thing and just went with what looked good. I think it worked out. Does this read as conservative to you?
(please forgive the terrible picture)
I couldn’t resist including the little mouse on a bicycle. Whimsical can still be conservative, right? Well, for me.
A little quick wood grain quilting and Ta da! No yellow, no bright colors, very little whimsy, and would you look at that, it’s still a quilt I like. Maybe yellow isn’t everything… Maybe.
On the right there, you can just see a little peek of the other project I worked on during retreat. Complete opposite.
When was the last time you jumped outside of your comfort zone? Was it to do something more conservative, like me? Or the other direction?
Smiles Too Loudly 
I see a lot of Uncle Ray in this one. Then again I see a lot of Uncle Ray every day!! Tee hee hee…Just the little touch of whimsy is perfect. I can see Ralph (oh the little guy has a name Mr. Ralph Mouse) making his way to the coffee shop right about now. Can’t you?!
Not conservative, just not bright colors. That little bit of teal blue makes it work for me
Just some “quick”? wood grain quilting? It’s gorgeous quilting, Sarah, and I can’t begin to figure out where you began or ended–terrific!
It is conservative in terms of not being bold and bright, but it is still so very Sarah to me, so I love it. Will it hang in your office as well? The wood grain quilting is lovely and has me itching to go practice it some myself…
I love it. That should go well in your office.
What happened? Where is the yellow, the red, the turquoise, your palette is /has always been your trademark. Ok, I get it, but ……..this one does remind me of milk chocolate. It is delicious & your quilting is wonderful!
I want to learn that wood grain quilting. Love it!
Anything improv is out of my comfort zone but I’m prepping to tackle a challenge project using it.
Mission accomplished. Congratulations! As usual, you nailed the quilting — the wood grain is a great complement to the angular blocks. OK, now I want pictures of the pink paisley quilt you worked on at retreat. Lots. Of. Pictures. : )
I am just in awe of your FMQ skills! You are seriously talented. Going out of one’s comfort zone is definitely a good thing- I have been doing that with challenging myself with garment sewing and doing the Weekender. My next steps are doing garment sewing for myself instead of just my daughter and maybe stepping up my game with the actual quilting. You are an inspiration!