Craqy Quilting Ramblings

A button for you to enjoy....

What evokes

...a spring garden, bursting with flowers?
...an oriental feeling?
...a country cottage, all in pastels?
...a sophisticated design, taking your eye on a visual journey?
...exuberance with bright vibrant complimentarycolors?
...a Victorian mood with dusty mauves & an antique look?
...decadent decoration, over-the-top embellishment?
...sparkling pizzazz with glittering threads & beads?
...homespun simplicity with cotton fabric & threads?
...a rush of glitz, glamor & shimmering beads?
...a riot of color that is simply joyous?

(The answer, of course is CQ) In surfing CQ blogs and pix, I am totally amazed at all the different approaches people have and the way they can take the same stitches and use them to evoke a different look or mood. I wonder if the effect is always purposeful or if the "soul" of the stitcher just comes out when creating a block, for instance. Sometimes I have been "selective", say, like when I worked on something oriental, not to have garden trellis kinds of embellishments.... But I wonder - when you-all out there are stitching - is the effect always "planned"? Certainly there are certain looks that I would find difficult to achieve, especially if I felt that look just wasn't me...

Sometimes I look at a block from far away and wonder: What exactly is it that makes that block work? I know some things that make it not "work", for me, at least. For instance if one patch stands out from all the others and it's obvious it's not supposed to be a focal point. But other times I find it difficult to say why a certain block is so appealing. Sometimes it's the interplay of the colors...anyone else have thoughts on this? Also, sometimes my experience of the block changes when I look at it up-close. I suppose this should be taken into account when you make a block - will it be seen close-up or far away? Just thinking about design.....