ladyquilter wrote:

I'm lovin' all the "what ifs" !!!

Here is my palate
I might need to get a few more pinks, and of course, some white for some of the background pieces

There is about 75 FQ's in there so I think that should pretty much cover it with the exceptions mentioned above.

Thanks everyone for all the great responses. You've given me lots to think about. Today is crunch day for customer deliveries, but tonight when I get home I will play more. I really appreciate your candor and helping me with this center block. I'll post an update when the next version is available.

JoJo, another thought: what about not worrying about the heart shape? -- the overall shape of the block is a diamond. If you put holly in each of the four corners and a large poinsettia in the center, that would look nice, too. That way, you could make the poinsettia larger and you could use the more complex shapes on the petals.

Jo Jo, like you, I do not consider myself a designer, but I go with my "feelings" about what I see. This is what I feel: I, personally, DO like the large poinsettia almost touching the V of the heart! I like Margo's "simple" leaves (fewer points) and think a cluster of three would be better. (Branching out away from the heart, not going into it.) Also, you do not have to pull design into every corner. Just a nice size poinsettia (about half the size as the main one) at the top of the heart, and you can fill in the very top "blank" area with a quilted heart or whatever. Since you have a large amount of holly leaves in your bunches, you could do Sue Garmen's leaves in the heart, and call them poinsettia leaves. Then, since you have no leaves inside the heart in the bottom area, add some TO (under) the poinsettia, carrying the now unmistakable poinsettia leaf into the center design. I don't think the main poinsettia needs the stem. I'm hoping you do go with your lovely center block! It will be wonderful!

Dawn
In beautifrul Northwest Montana

ladyquilter wrote: Hi JoJo, It looks great, and I think you can just forget about the "I'm not a designer" part because you obviously are! I think some of the other suggestions about simplifying are probably good to consider, also making odd numbers. So, here are my 2 cents worth, mostly in the form of what ifs: If you want to keep the big heart, how about deleting the little heart at the top and making that poinsettia bigger? Also, the poinsettia in the big heart could be turned more so that the top point of the flower and the center of the heart aren't almost touching. But, what if you deleted the big heart altogether and enlarged the center poinsettia, maybe delete the top one and maybe the little heart (or maybe not) and just used your holly leaves to create a heart shape impression. Maybe the bottom holly bunch could be the 4 leaves like you have, but make the two side groups only 3 leaves (or maybe only 2) and add holly at the top -- maybe only two leaves, or maybe 3, with one pointing down to define the top of the heart shape. You could drop the individual leaves that you have around the heart, too, and that would allow you to make everything bigger ... thus easier to applique Have fun playing! Hugs, Robin

Your design is beautiful!

Janice in Northern Minnesota

It's a great idea, JoJo! I agree that three (or five?) holly leaves might be better. I'm also wondering about the small heart. Maybe leave it out completely and just let that poinsettia fill the space?

Because I know the scale of this block, depending on the technique you are planning to use, all the points of those holly leaves might get really tedious to make. You might consider simplifying that shape. Here is a link to some more ideas: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=holly+leaves+clip+art&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=H6EQTcKaJ4KKlwfImfnZCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQsAQwAA&biw=1231&bih=609



I love what you are doing with this!

JoJo your design is beautiful I am not a designer so please take my comments with a grain of salt. My students say you always know how to fix it, I can't verbalize I just know when something doesn't feel right, after all that the small heart and flower on top feels funny. What if the small heart was larger and the pointsetta was larger and on top of the heart. I ask for advice and then do it my way. Joan

JoJo, I love your design. The one change I would think about would be the three clusers of holly (?) leaves and berries. What
little design knowledge I've learned says that designs are more interesting if there are uneven numbers. Therefore, the clusters
would be more interesting if they had three or five leaves instead of the four you've shown. (I realize that you may have just drawn
four-leaf clusters to indicate placement and actually plan to have an uneven number.)

Hey, you asked for it. Can your skin take admiration? I think you have done a wonderful job. No one will ever doubt your Christmas theme. Go on and do it.

Well, I need fresh eyes and hope you don't mind lending me yours. First, let me say that I am NOT a designer so keep that in mind when you look at my draft center for the 2011 BOM.

I am not sold on this yet and still may just go ahead with Sue's pattern, but I thought I would give it a shot at making the center more holiday looking. The center is a poinsettia. I will add the center of the poinsettia via hand embroidery so that's why you don't see anything. The smaller poinsettia above was intended to kind of sit in the heart. Holly leaves circle the larger heart and very small 1/4 inch circles will be small berries beside each holly leaf.

What should I change, improve, remove....should I ditch the entire thing? Be honest. I have thick skin and can take it.

Joan, It's a fun group. You should try it! Even if you decide to make only part of the quilt, it will be beautiful. Margo and the other BOMettes are so helpful and fun. Thanks to the rest of you that commented on my fabric choices. This is a real departure from my 2009 BOM!

i was wondering if anyone will be using wool?? not me but it would look awesome in wool colors too...