Do you dare to break the rules?
 

When making quilts for people outside the immediate family I try to follow their color and design preferences. However . . . lately I've decided I'm going to make some quilts for us that are just whatever I want them to be. I'm piecing a box kite pattern in odds and ends of scraps. I really don't care if they work together or not. I just love the variety. I have an oddball piece of yardage I bought years ago on sale and have never known what to do with, and I plan to use that for a border. It's a black background with white paper dolls and tiny bits of red and pink. I had planned to use it for a kid's quilt but thought maybe it wasn't colorful enough. But I think it will set off the colorful scraps in the body of the quilt very nicely. And for the backing . . . maybe a whole lot of orphan blocks! Doesn't matter if they match each other or anything else. And even partial blocks can be made to fit in somehow.

Anybody else ever just make a quilt however you wish, with no great regard for color planning or design? Seems to me it's very freeing.

If it's something I intend for us, I do what I like. If it's intended as a gift for someone else, I follow their preferences (as best I know them). If I were to make something for someone else without regard to what they like, then I cannot be offended if they opt to pass it on/give it to Goodwill/use it as a dog bed/etc.

Darwin describes color variations in nature. It takes many many colors blended together to make a whole. I’m getting bolder with my color choices. Never make a quilt with the colors suggested. I’m fully enjoying the adventures of color. And what I notice is that everyone sees colors through their own eyes. Each of us is attracted to and drawn to different colors. But, I will make a quilt in the colors requested.

The only people I take quilt direction from are my grands. They will want a dino, truck, hero, or bright color quilt at any given time. The others get what I want to make if they want a quilt.

Of course. That’s the fun of quilting. Something for everyone. I also don't follow rules for techniques after I try something new as in I press seams open even thought “I was taught to…”. It’s a creative
process. Of course there are times precision counts in a project whether color choices or process

I break the "rules" as often as I can. I want to be creative and refreshed when I complete a quilt. Quilting is fun and even if it is a commissioned quilt I want it unique.

I agree with following your heart. I used to make baby quilts in colors and themes requested. Well you know those babies outgrow those things. So why not just make what I want and hope the quilt will be used until it is worn out.
I just took a stack of quilts to a dear friend to choose from. They were a mix of “just using stash” and scrap quilts. They were all loved with no thought of what will work with their decor.

Yes! Quilting is such "adventurous" art form to me. Maybe that's true of all forms? The possibilities are endless. I'm the only quilter in my whole family and they are very easy to please.

I think not feeling like I have to follow any "rules" is the number one reason I rarely make quilts that have an intended recipient to start with.