Work In Progress Wednesday - Chaos In Hooterville

Even though I spent a lot of the last week basking in the glory of finishing my Granny Square Quilt I didn't just rest on my laurels.....I went full steam ahead on Hooterville and the Living Room Quilt.  I was so excited to start planning the layout of my Hooterville blocks and once I started trying to arrange everything the violins came to a screeching halt......This just doesn't look right.......

Something is wrong here.  Very wrong.  All those little X-blocks in between the trees and owls just look chaotic.  Dizzying.  Out of place.   There's nowhere for your eye to focus or rest.

But for some reason the multi-colored X-blocks look great on the quilt on the cover of the pattern, don't they?  What's up with that?  Why do hers look so good and mine look so weird?

I don't know if it's because I'm just using two colors instead of a more varied palette like in the designers quilt.  Or if it's because of the strong contrast between pink and green.  But looking at my quilt was giving me the same feeling you get after stepping off one of those spinning rides at an amusement park.  And you'll just have to trust me on this but it looked WAY worse in real life.  The picture isn't capturing the full horribleness of the ick factor.

My first instinct was to stick all the blocks into a cardboard box and shove it in the back of a closet and just forget that I ever started this quilt.  But then a little inner voice reminded me that I'm trying to become one of those people who actually finishes things.  Darn it.  It's tough to be good.

So I started trying some other things and came up with the idea to use a single fabric for the inner border.  After auditioning several fabrics I laid out these green polka dots and the angels sang.....

Ooooohhhhh......squeal........I LOVE it!  No more chaos.  No more ick factor.  Just total cuteness.  And I'm going to use the Green Plaid (the one I used in the upper left tree) for the outer border.  That'll just double the cute factor!

Soooo....a word to the wise......If you're one of the many, many people making a Hooterville Quilt you may want to consider a single fabric for the inner border before you make 28 X-Blocks that you now have no purpose for......

Hmmm.......perhaps these could become a preppy, little tote bag.  Or maybe a little quilt where I alternate X-Blocks and solid blocks.  I dunno......All I know is that I just can't stand the thought of letting them go to waste!

So my stats are completely unchanged this week.

Finished Projects:  The Granny Square Quilt is still done!  Remember....I'm still basking in the glory! 
Active WIPs:  5  - That number is unchanged from last week!
-Living Room Quilt:  Almost 3/4 of the way done with the ties!
-Hooterville:  Piecing the top together.  Almost ready to go to the quilter!
-Dollhouse:  No Progress
-Teeny, Tiny Hexie Project:  Almost Done!
-Zelda's Fancy Witch Hat :  No progress. 

Next In Line:  Vintage Valentine!  It's not really next in line anymore.....I've already started making applique templates.
Back Burner WIPs:  4
Ready To Go:  22 - That number is unchanged from last week!
Must Make:  10 - That number is unchanged from last week!
New Projects:  ZERO!  Or is it One?  I've got all those abandoned unused X-Blocks that I have to do something with.
Forgotten/Abandoned Projects:  Didn't find any last week - Yay!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny