Is this what "creativity" feels like?

In my last post I lamented on what to do with my neutral blocks.

They are part of an exchange with friends and my theme, obviously, was neutrals.

All of the blocks were beautiful and expertly sewn.

......but.....on the design wall they just didn't seem to "go"....

Also in my last post, I said how if I left the blocks up they may soon speak to me. 

Well, on Wednesday morning they not only spoke to me.....they actually raised their voice and shouted a little!

The idea they were presenting terrified me and thrilled me at the same time! Could I do as they asked? What would my friends think of what I would do with these lovely blocks they had made for me?

 It didn't take me long to realise that I wanted to love this quilt, so I had to be ruthless and go for it!

So I took all those blocks and sliced them up into 3.5" squares!

As I did this, I stacked them into 5 piles...light, light/medium, medium, medium/dark and dark. 

I hesitated before cutting the last block, the feathered star that I had painstakingly paper-pieced.....

...but, yes, it got chopped up also!

I had an idea to start at the centre of the quilt with the lightest 3.5" blocks and work out toward the edge with the darker ones...

As soon as I had them all up on the wall I could see it was a "picture" of the moon...

Here is the finished piece. I am calling it "Moonlight through the trees".

The very centre of the quilt is an appliqued circle from what had originated as an dresden plate block...

To take time to look at all the little individual blocks is fascinating. I took the original blocks and made them into 182 beautiful little abstract blocks! Here are a few...

Even my feathered star is included...

It's so strange to me how this idea caught hold and had me slicing and sewing like a whirling dervish. I know that at the beginning of the year, my hope was to try to explore creativity. Well, I certainly felt creative this week!

I do hope when my friends see the finished quilt they will understand that their hard work is still there, just in a different configuration....and in a quilt that I love!

While trying to think of ways I may quilt this, I thought it might be a nice piece to try "big stitch" quilting. I've got a few balls of perle cotton that would be just right to try this out.

For all the creative sewing I was able to do this week, it feels like my applique is moving at the speed of molasses. Oh well, even a little a day gets the projects moving along!

I'm getting so close to finishing the bottom border of FlowerGarden. I'm so glad because I'm afraid I'm getting a little tired of working on this one. Thankfully, the side borders will go a lot quicker.

I've appliqued a couple of little birds just to give myself a little break from the neverending circles that are on this border.

...and managed to put a few stitches into last week's block of The Splendid Sampler...

I'm linking up with SoScrappy for her ScrapHappySaturday so I can show that I've started my RSC16 in purple for March. I am doing the blocks she is sharing in her Column-along, a butterfly block...

A nice easy block....only eight more to go, no problem!

I hope today is as nice as yesterday as we plan to plant some peas today. We emptied our compost into the vegetable garden in the Fall and the soil looks wonderful. I love this time of year when you can feel the nice weather just coming around the corner!

I'm linking up with Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts to see what others are working on today. 

I am also linking with Cynthia for OhScrap over at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Have a wonderful Spring-forward day!