Strip Challenge

In August a mini quilt goup, of which I am a member, did a fabric strip challenge.  We exchanged 40 2.5 inch fabric strips.  We were given directions on what to do with them.  We could use background fabric, but it could be no more than one third of our top/quilt.  We are to have our top finished and brought to the October meeting for sharing.

I am usually one of those people who needs a TIGHT deadline for completion of a project - like the night/week before it is due.  Mark the calendar!  My quilt top is finished.  I knew I wanted it completed before this Friday since my daughter and a friend are coming over to tear apart the boys' bedroom, aka my new sewing room.  The walls may be painted and the wooden floor will be installed.  In the meantime, my computer will be unplugged, and my current sewing room will be unusable.  The fabric that is now being stored in the boys' room must be moved out along with everything else.  I know I can store maybe half of that fabric in my current sewing room.  I will need to be creative with the rest of the:  fabric, projects, bins, sewing machines, table, books, rug backing, chest of drawers, and computer stuff.  If new flooring will be installed in the closet, then I must clean that out also! 

Once it is all done, I will have a new sewing room with more light and more wall space.  DH says the two rooms (my current and prospective sewing rooms) are the same size, but I beg to differ.  At least there is more usable space in the other room with a bigger window which provides more light, and more usable wall space.

The picture of the quilt top is my offering for our strip challenge.  The pattern is from Pam and Nicky Lintott's Jelly Roll Inspirations book.  I have almost all their books so I knew I could find a suitable pattern in one of those books.  The problem I experienced was that many of the patterns used more background fabric than we were allowed to use, and also needed more fabric strips than we had exchanged.

I settled on this pattern.  In the book this pattern used a jelly roll with coordinating fabric strips.  Our strip exchange was limited to using the bright colored strips (with dots and circles) that we exchanged.  The color dynamics are different in my top than the quilt in the book.  My top is bright and cheerful and busy.  But it is FINISHED!  Hooray for FINISHED (sort of).  I know the quilting is not done yet, but my obligation for our challenge has been met, and ahead of time, too.
 

Kaleidoscope Concerns

This is a picture of my kaleidoscope quilt top as far as I have sewn it.  My kaleidoscope journey started a few years ago with a kaleidoscope quilt that I saw on Elaine's blog.

When I pulled my fabrics together, I liked what I had selected.  When I cut the pieces, I liked what I had selected.  When I sewed the blocks together, I liked what I had selected.  I recently sewed the corner triangles onto the kaleidoscopes to make them square.  I decided I wanted a light and a dark fabric for the corners.  I sewed these pieces on, then I sewed the blocks together into rows, then into the quilt top.

Here is where my journey has come to a stopping point.  When I look at all these blocks together, they look so busy.  There does not seem to be a definitive look similar to the other kaleidoscope quilts I have seen.  Mine seems to be mushy, or too busy, or not enough...something.   I cannot seem to put my finger on the problem I am having.  I was going to sew on a neat border with half kaleidoscopes in the center of the borders, and on each corner.  Now I am not sure if I should just sew on some semi-solid looking fabrics, or what.

Through this entire journey I have really enjoyed all parts of of it until I sewed the rows all together.  When I looked at this quilt at that point, all of a sudden I thought, "I do not like it".  I am not sure why I do not like it as much as I did when I started this quilt.

What do you think is lacking in this top?  How do you think I could improve it, without taking it apart in any way?