Remaking, Re-imagining, Re-Visiting a Pattern

My husband will watch certain movies over and over (namely the Godfather, but there are others too) Me - I don't rewatch movies or reread books (with a few exceptions) too much. I'm the same with remakes. Don't know if any of you guys do re-makes. I'm not in the habit of it myself - mainly because there are so many ideas in the que and well - so little time! However, a couple of weeks ago I was feeling a little lost, creativity-wise. I had just finished a scrap piece and was waiting for quilting inspiration to come (it hasn't yet), and I am fatigued from working on a piece that is just. so. darn. challenging. that I lost momentum on that. Rather than work on a UFO (Whyever would I do that?!) I decided to remake a piece, this time with a little more thought - and hopefully skill - than the first time, and see where it would go. The piece I'm remaking is a favorite finish from last year, made with @jennifersampou Sky collection, called Square Skies, pictured here.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm really happy with this piece - in fact, I love it. But as usual, when I was making it, I was busy figuring out how to construct it, what size to make it, and how to best utilize the amazing ombre' of the fabric.

This time, I made a few tweaks to the pattern, and was just able to put a lot more thought into how I wanted the colors to be laid out, and how I wanted the ombre' to play. Of course the construction was much easier, but still not without its challenges. I use freezer paper for the squares, as shown here.

The reason for this is because I want to be in complete control of how the fabric "moves" in the piece. So I draw the square, (a triangle actually) and lay out the strips for each triangle separately until I get the effect I'm looking for. I actually tried two different color schemes and made extra triangles even to see what I liked better. Here is the first idea I had:

I thought I would like all warm, but it wasn't as visually appealing as the one I ended up doing. (BTW, I took a poll of five to reach that conclusion, not including my own opinion which was also the way it ended up)

I had a hard time with the center last time, so I watched several tutorials on how to avoid bulk and carefully followed the directions carefully and - NOPE! Still had a hard time on this center, too. I literally spent hours trying to get it to look perfect, eventually turning to hand-sewing, and yes, I have failed again. I'm hoping strongly that quilting will camouflage it. But I can't see remaking all the center triangles, although the thought has crossed my mind. I'd have to buy more fabric. Phew.

Another thing I really spent time thinking about was colors. I really wanted to have a stormy effect in the center, with a bright, sunshine-y feeling on the next layer and a light airy feeling on the outside. Think I nailed that one.

So here is the remake flimsy. Maybe calling it Stormy Square Skies. This is one I may revisit even one more time. The more I make it, the more I learn, and hopefully, the better it gets. Plus there are a more ways to use the ombre' in it, methinks. So if you stay tuned - there may be a version three...

When I get it quilted, I'll do a side by side photo of each one to compare and see how I feel about them. Again, there are so many possibilities! If it didn't take so darn long just to make one piece, I'd do all the ideas I have in my head for this design. Maybe I'll release a pattern and see what other people come up with - that would be easier...

Please do leave a comment below letting me know your thoughts.