Paralyzed by perfectionism

I FMQ'ed the B.F. quilt wearing headphones and plugged into the audio version of Claire Huffaker's The Cowboy and the Cossack (1973). Such a perfect yarn. And the B.F. turned out to be the absolute perfect quilt recipient. She ooh'ed and aah'ed over individual fabrics; she loved little quilty details, like the back side having some patchwork too. She affirmed that she loved earth colors, and knew enough about quilt-making to ask, "Did you quilt it yourself?" Best of all, the visit to her house provided me brief relief from B.'s escalating drama. The girls interacted with us moms like two normal, reasonably respectful teens. Here's the B.F. (check out the hat):



 Maybe all this perfection got me anxious about my next quilt. I've been needing some bright color in all the drear of winter. I combed through my scraps and took the plunge. Here were my first and second blocks:

 

I liked them pretty well. Here are two more I made:

 

 

I have to say "ugh." The combination of colors makes my stomach turn. The ole quiltmaking machine sputtered to a halt.

 

Then, at some point today I came across the website, Wrap Them in Love. This foundation finds orphanages abroad, and connects with children for whom the quilts they send might be their only real possession. What dazzled me was the freedom and creativity of some of the quilts on display in their galleries:

 

It helped me to imagine that the bright-colored quilt I had started was not an 80" x 80" bed quilt for my friend Denise, but a 40" x 60" experiment I can finish and send off in a jiff. I pushed on through my disappointment that this one is not going to be a masterpiece.

And it turns out, the medley of colors might not be half bad.  I guess I'll just keep making those ugly blocks, and see how big and how ugly (or not) the whole thing turns out to be.