Agatha Christie was known to say, "It's astonishing in this world how things don't turn out at all the way you expect them to!"
What I am learning is that it takes skill to make randomness look unplanned! How I could have used this skill while growing up. Our vision can be so limited, and all we really have is trust that if we keep going with whatever is on our path, all those experiences and events contribute to our becoming who we are.
I finished the back for the Hallows Rail Fence quilt. It was an exercise in planning randomness. Let me explain how this back came together.
After deciding that the long piece of purple/black check would work in length but was short at least 16" in width, AND that my bag of Orphans (left-overs from other projects) would work, the assembly of that strip seemed easy.
However, Halloween fabrics can be dizzying, as I found out when I put together the front of this quilt as a Rail Fence. It needed a few adjustments and luckily I had made more than I needed so two blocks went back into the Orphan bag.
When I got ready to cut the flannel in half, I noticed a dye error off center on the piece, and simply cut into the middle of the light spot so that half an inch would go to seam allowance. Interestingly, that was just enough for it to go unnoticed on the front side of the fabric.
The flannel was no longer halved and the Orphan strip would be off-center in the back. Woohoo, I thought, that might actually work better to give it an artistic flair. I also pressed to the dark fabric, and reinforced the outside seam to give it just a bit more strength to withstand potentially hard use by two young boys.
What seems random for this entire quilt is so not.
I wondered about the quilt recipient and if this quilt somehow reflects her life and choices. Clearly this is the energy going into it. And I may never know. This is the fun of it all, the randomness of making a quilt for someone else.
I just hope it provides warmth, comfort, joy and a few laughs.
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