Is it horrid or fun and funky?

I have a friend who has made over a dozen Yellow Brick Road quilts. She loves that pattern. I can't even imagine doing the same pattern over and over.  I like to try new things. However, sometimes I will redo a pattern. With that said,  I surprised myself when I finished my fourth version of Happy Trails by Connie Feller.

I believe I ordered this pattern many years ago from Keepsake Quilting. I liked that it had a finished block of 12 x 12, and that you could feature a large print fabric. The first quilt I made, was a Christmas quilt.  I had this interesting fabric of Santa in his sled, and wanted a quilt with him flying through the sky. Most of the blocks feature a snow village, but three featured Santa in his sled.

Santa flying through a snow filled sky.

Christmas Trails

 I think this quilt worked because of feature fabric, which was the neutral snow village. Nothing really shouts out and even the Santa and his sled compliment the base fabric.

The second quilt I made with Happy Trails was an autumn quilt from batiks.  The surrounding blocks picked up the colors from the sunflower fabric. This seems to be the trick to making the best quilts with this pattern. The pattern it's self does not dominate the quilt. The fabrics are the star.

Autumn Trails.

I recently finished two new quilts using this pattern. The first will be a Christmas gift from my youngest (an adult). He is interested in space, the cosmos and planets, etc. I wanted a quilt that looked like the night sky. I found several fabrics on E-Quilter that fit the theme. I think that I achieved my goal and can't wait to quilt it.

Space Trails

Quilt detail.

In this quilt the fabric is the star, but one fabric does not necessarily overwhelm the others. They blend together to create the overall look of an evening sky.

That takes us to the final quilt. Is it horrid? Is it funky and fun?  This quilt featured a piece of fabric I've had for many year. It features a farm and barn and that resembles my mother's home and barn on SR 138 in Highland County, Ohio.  I've considered this fabric for several quilts, but could never find the pattern that showed off the fabric. I didn't want to cut up the house or the barn.

I finally took the plunge and cut the fabric. I was able to fancy cut the houses and barn. However I was not really satisfied with the way this quilt came together. Once cut, there was not much else that could be done, so I put the quilt together. The jury is still out on this one. I did not add the last border, so it is a lap size. This is probably the least favorite quilt I have made.

The trail to grandma's house.

It remains to be seen if the quilting can save this quilt. It's a lot too busy for me. I will quilt it and keep it, only because the house and barn so closely resembles my mother's home. There are many good memories evoked by that fabric. Part of me thinks this is the most horrid quilt I have ever made. Another part thinks it kind of fun.

You know the saying about not crying over spilled milk. I think it's the same for cut fabric. I'll let this quilt sit for a while. I may go back and add the outside border. Who knows, it may become a favorite. One of the kids may adopt it, because they also have some great memories of the farm, barn and apple trees. Perhaps it's not so horrid after all.

Is there another Happy Trails in my future? It's hard to predict. I think it's time to put this pattern aside and move on. I still have to finish Cathedral Stars and have not even started last fall's Mystery with Bonnie Hunter. And my oh my, the 2016 Row by Row Experience has started. Time to try something new.

Coming events: Will the stars aline with Cathedral Stars or will the 2016 Row by Row Experience win out?