Partial Seams: Spring Blooms Block

These are the February blocks for the 2013 BOM. And once again, I wasn't especially thrilled with them when I finished them. And I really couldn't figure out why. It wasn't that I didn't think they were pretty blocks, definitely prettier than January's Offset Log Cabin. But for some reason I felt rather unhappy with them. And not just because I got some a little crooked (notice the green block on the lower right...). I was puzzled as to why I just wasn't really happy with these ones, as well as January's blocks. Then it hit me - it's the string block (one of the 2012 BOM blocks for March). I was so thrilled with how that one turned out, that these other blocks seem mediocre in comparison. That string block was a pretty tough act to follow. Perhaps if I had completed the Offset Log Cabin and Spring Blooms blocks before the string block, I would have been happier with them when I completed them. Once more, here's the string block:

And now I'm beginning to wonder if this block has spoiled me for all other quilt blocks. Kind of like falling in love: "I will never love another man." When I was married, in the better days of our marriage, I really never noticed if another man was good-looking. I only had eyes for my husband. Could I be this way about quilt blocks? LOL! I guess that remains to be seen. :-)
A couple of other notes about fabric selection and why this block appeals to me more than the others. I really love the bright tonals set off by the black background. Even when I compare all of the blocks I've done so far for both BOM's, the 2012 ones stand out, not just the string block. I considered the Wonky Pound Sign a rather boring block, but I was still pleased with it because of the colour selection and contrast. I will admit that I might not have been so pleased with it had I done the String, the Broken Spider Web or the Balkan Puzzle first. Another factor is the fact that the fabric selection for the 2012 quilt is more my tastes. All of the fabrics (aside from the background, binding and backing) came in smaller fat quarter bundles. I could view all of the fabric in the bundle in the pictures on eBay, so knew what I was getting. And even the fabric that I wasn't 100% thrilled with still worked in the blocks without shouting "yuk." Look back at my post from April 18, where you'll see the String Block and the Broken Spider Web block. A strip of almost every fabric I purchased for this quilt can be seen in these two blocks. My least favourite fabrics are the brownish ones in the Broken Spider Web block. But, to me it's still a very attractive block. Purchasing a 40 fat quarter bundle (the greens that I'm using for the 2013 BOM), where I didn't get to preview any of the fabric might not have been the best choice. Some of these fabrics are downright ugly and I would say that at least half of them are not fabrics that I would have selected had I been given the choice. And since green is the dominant colour in my 2013 BOM quilt, I'm not sure how it's going to end up working out. Still, $1 per fat quarter is a pretty awesome price! I will mention that I do like most, if not all, of the greens I used in the Spring Blooms blocks and the purples are ones I selected either individually or in small bundles. But I'm still not all that thrilled with these blocks. I guess they're just not the String block. :-) On the plus side, once I started colouring in the colouring sheet for this quilt, which I posted yesterday, I was pleased with the overall effect. 
Now, my comments on the Spring Blooms blocks themselves. In the course, the instructor makes all three blocks identical, but I opted not to. You've probably figured out by now that I like to express my own individuality in how I "interpret" a quilt block. Some of my "classmates" who bought the Craftsy fabric package expressed dismay that Craftsy substituted some fabrics, so they couldn't make their blocks exactly like the instructor's. I just shook my head over that. We're all different, aren't we? Personally, I consider quilting as about creativity and art, which to me does not translate as carbon copies of what someone else is making. Back to the blocks, we sewed 5 strips of fabric together and then cut them into the appropriate size. Because we were sewing these to a centre square, the first and last seams had to be partial seams. Don't ask me to explain that. You'll have to take the course to figure out what I'm talking about, but it worked. And I learned a new skill.
Happy quilting everyone!