Remember this fabric I was thrilled by?
I thought about how to use it for several weeks and finally decided on Turning Twenty Again. It’s an old pattern, but I’ve seen it made up in many different fabrics and it’s almost always spectacular and modern-looking. The fabric I bought was 8 fat quarters, and Turning Twenty Again is a pattern developed for efficient use of fat quarters, so it seemed a good match.
I needed a little more fabric and found this dot in my stash–it had the same appearance of linen texture as the original fabric and I thought it went perfectly with the others.
The next question was what else to add. After auditioning several options, I decided on this cat fabric. The eyes are sort of of dots, too, and the color coordinated well. 
I made the blocks and put them on the design wall, and…
Eek! Is it too busy? And when I see it overall, I do not like the tan fabric I added, even though it is similar to the beige-green that came with the fat quarter set!
I’ve had it on the design wall for a week trying to decide what to do. One option is to put the squares together with sashing and a border to kind of calm things down. I auditioned a dark blue fabric and a turquoise fabric for that–both are Moda grunge, so they have the same linen-look texture.
Another option is to take the blocks apart in order to add these birds from the same collection, giving a greater variety of prints. I think if I take it apart, I will remove the tan fabric I don’t like, so the birds could add variety AND get rid of the tan!
From there we go into the wild options. They are legion, and include the possibility of cutting the blocks randomly and inserting solid strips. Or I could replace some pieces with the birds and some with the turquoise grunge.
And of course there is the perennial option of putting it away for a month and then looking at it again to see what comes to mind.
Suggestions, anyone?
Zippy Quilts 
The white cat fabric is what jumps out to me. The white is whiter than the other fabrics. Grunge is always good and works well with the birds. Beautiful.
Thanks for your input. I agree about the cats—too light.
Hi Mary, I agree the white is too light and to remove the tan. Now I am not one to take wild chances so my thought is to get a solid in there to break up all the dots. If it was me I would make the solid a part of the dot blocks though it would be a lot of work.
Hi Mary! Yes, I am leaning toward removing both the tan and the cats! I can take the blocks apart during our movie night, so why not!
It is too busy to my eye. And the cat eyes leap out, sort of hovering over the rest more than breaking the busy-ness. I agree with Mary that it needs one or two solids. I’d decide which is more time consuming, ripping apart blocks or the effort of cut and insert. I find cut and insert to be fun, so might likely go that route. (Remember my “Without Ornge there would be no Blue?)
Yes, I like cut and insert: interesting to see how it comes out, and fun to do 😀 Thanks for your feedback
I like the the dark blue grunge to sash the blocks. I love the bird fabric. I have some similar bird fabric and I have no idea how to use it.
Yes, having no idea how to use those dots is how I got into this fix. I’ll be interested to see what you do with the birds.
They are in my “Wait and Think About It” Bin!
I think that weaving through a nice structured architectural design with the navy fabric might work The addition of the birds makes it too busy for me.. The dotted fabric is really neat in all the colors.
Ah, yes! I think “structure” may be what it lacks! Thanks, Jean!
I think the kitties are too busy but the grunge looks great and I think birds would work also – so I agree with the another commentor😀
I’m thinking those cats are history 🤣. Thanks for your help!
This is a tough one. All the parts work well in theory but not as well in execution! I actually like the cat eyes well enough, but overall it’s too busy for my taste. One choice is to simply finish it and donate it. Another is to finish it and recut into placemats! When they are smaller, they would not look as busy! Yeah, that might be my choice… 🙂
Yep, I’ve done both placemats and donations in the past, but I think I’ll take this one apart. I like those dots too much for the other options 🙂
Well, if it makes you feel any better, one of my most recent projects got “skinned” before finishing. I had started quilting it, got through maybe an eighth or even a sixth of it, and decided I hated it. Totally wrong thread color. So I pulled it off the longarm frame and used a blade to cut through all the stitches, so I could start over. I don’t recommend it as a thing to do on each quilt. 🙂 However, it was the right choice on this one!