April *ahem* Cocorico block

Finally made my house block for Charise in the Cocorico bee over on Flickr. Yes, I know it's June. Call me a slacker, or a perfectionist, or obsessive. I promise it won't hurt my feelings.

Actually, I had about five different designs drawn up but nothing that I wanted to commit to fabric.

And then I designed a block I really loved, started sewing, and trashed the whole thing because it. just. didn't .work.

Ugh.

Finally, I decided that less is more, radically simplified the design and came up with this.

The original (crazy, overly ambitious) design had a pieced house inside the key. I mean, really? Who do I think I am? Besides, this little polka dot number is way cuter than anything I could dream up.

And the original (again, crazy, overly ambitious) house was a fancy schmancy Victorian with turrets and who knows what else. As it turns out, a few beautiful fabrics and a simple, clean design made for a much more visually appealing block (that didn't involve cussing or crying - bonus!).

I think that this process, as difficult as it was, actually taught me quite a lot. I will definitely aim to simplify my block designs and try to keep things cleaner and less muddled with "extras." There are so many amazing fabrics out there that can do a lot more than my piecing skills ever could. But I will definitely keep playing and learning! And I really hope that Charise likes her block!