Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Yee-ha!

Yesterday the dam broke, or someone flipped a switch, or ... something dramatic, because suddenly I could just make letters. Not that I couldn't make them before, but I had to psych myself up and I was very critical of every little thing. I finished orange and giddily went on to green, which took next to no time. Definitely, something clicked. I did not look at Tonya's great tutorial even once (I used to check it constantly), I had finally internalized the process and JUST DID IT.

I did suffer a bit from the Stroop effect when I moved to the orange fabric and started making the word orange, but fortunately I caught myself before I got too far. When I finished, I laid all the letters out on the grid of my ironing surface to figure out what height to use for the finished words. My letters vary a good bit, but not as much as they appear to in this photo, which was taken at an angle. I decided on 5" and set to work forming blocks of each color word.
I may have to futz with a few letters, but I'll take that as it comes. Once I get the word blocks formed, I'll figure out how to fit them together. Suddenly it's doable. :)

15 comments:

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

It sounds to me like you just let yourself play and get into the "zone" and then you were on automatic.

Donna said...

so glad that it finally "clicked" :-) Your idea of demonstrating the stoop effect in quilting is great..

Rosalyn Manesse said...

I particularly admire the letter "r".

Tonya Ricucci said...

Wooohoo!!!! Isn't that teh best thing ever when it just clicks? I'm so happy for you. This quilt is going great and now it will be even easier for you to do. Well except for that whole wrong color thing. Don't throw away the orange orange letters!

Andrea said...

Wow -these are fun. Looking forward to see what you do with them. Never been brave enough to try these yet. Tempted....

Laurel said...

I love these. How interesting that it "clicked" all of a sudden. That's inspiring, and makes me wonder if I could get to that point with enough practice. I love how many different types of projects you are working on at one time!

Nettie said...

These are great. How did you decide on the wrong color thing? It's interesting, but i'm just curious.

Helen in the UK said...

Woo hoo!! In the words of "My Fair Lady" ... "by George, I think she's got it"!!! Congrats, they look wonderful :)

kimberlym said...

I love your letters and words!

Anonymous said...

I love this. When my boys were little I was enthralled with the idea of teaching them their colors wrong. Wiser heads (DH) decided that would not be such a good plan, but it's still a joke we visit often.

Quiltdivajulie said...

Gotta love it when you're "in the zone"... so happy for your progress!!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Gotta love it when you're "in the zone"... so happy for your progress!!

Cher said...

what fabulous words and how great a feeling to be in that zone! very well done indeed.

lisag3@actrix.co.nz said...

Those words look great. I love the twist with the colours.

Lisa Boyer said...

Love the letters! I also love that you're piecing the Stroop effect--what a fun idea. You must've had to fight with your brain every time you pieced a word.

You lived in Whittier? Whittier was my old stomping grounds! I worked at Jack's Restaurant in Whittier--used to cruise Whittier Blvd. in the summer when I was in high school. My husband and I drove through there a couple years ago--I hardly recognized a thing! Even Whittwood mall had grown humongously huge. But that's all of L.A. and Orange County, huh? Sad.