Color and Design Class #2 - Monochromatic Quilt

    So, I have let my obsessive nature get out of control - resulting in a week of worrying about what I am going to make for my second color and design class at Stitching Traditions. 
    I had started a quilt years ago called Bloomin' Nine Patch from Tradition with a Twist. I have it in a tub - a mix of calicoes (!!!), Asian fabrics, batiks, and florals in a red violet morphing into cream with some green thrown in. I liked it when I started it years ago, but now it just does not represent my taste. But could I use some of that fabric for my monochromatic quilt?
   That question sent me to the fabric store (in this case Sarah's - I'm an equal opportunity shopper!) to see what I could find to augment my older fabric. I came out with an assortment that was . . . OK . . .  but not great - in my opinion at least. I lined them up, snapped a pic, which helped me realize that I needed another fabric to ease the transition between the light and medium fabrics. I thought I wanted to do something that used a seamless flow from light to dark - I was thinking Bargello, Trip Around the World, or something like it.  I was afraid that such an ambitious quilt would not be done by next year, let alone next month. I was having all these doubts. What was going on?

    The whole reason I am taking this class is to stretch myself in terms of my color usage. Maybe my whole discomfort was because I was doing something new. I wanted to use the red-violet palette and sort of wanted to include all the facets - pure hue, tone, shade, and tint. But the fabrics I had just didn't look right to me. I couldn't make a decision. I even messaged my teacher Kathy to ask for a chat about my concerns. Then late last night it all came together.

   I went to bed dreaming about a monochromatic blue quilt I had seen on-line by Cassie using Kaffe Fassett's Jewel Sqaures pattern. I woke up sure that this is the quilt I should make. I can use all different aspects of red-violet and not worry about seamless color transitions.  I received my copy of Kaffe's book yesterday and so today I am off to the copy store to have the paper foundation patterns in the book enlarged. I don't have to have the whole quilt done by next month, perhaps just a quarter of it. Woo Hoo! I love when a plan finally comes together - at least in my mind.
Whew, another obsession catastrophe averted! Just in the nick of time too! Ill post pics of the quilt in progress.
Sometimes obsessively curious,
Denise