When is Enough Enough?

24 Comments

My bug quilt came together nicely. I finished it with a facing and hung it on my design wall with 5 ladybugs in place. Was it done? I’d made 20 small ladybugs in anticipation of placing them on the quilt. Making them was like eating potato chips, I couldn’t stop myself. Should they infest my quilt? I’d hate to waste them, they’re so cute.

Because of the tippy-ness caused by the shanks on the buttons, I couldn’t get a good visual by just laying them out. I asked for a critique from my friends in the ThreadBenders group and got a number of good suggestions. The best was from Lori who recommended I cut circles from red paper and audition some layouts.

Here it is with just the five larger ladybugs attached:

And here are 3 more options using the paper circles for the ladybugs. #1:

#2:

and #3:

I laid out one using 15 of the little ladies and I thought the quilt looked like it had the measles, so I knew 20 would be way too many.

I took it to my quilt retreat and got a lot of opinions there, along with this crazy photo:

taken by my crazy friends:

I wish I could have waited for all of your input, but it needed to be finished before this post would reach you. I was grateful for everyone’s opinions and, in the end, I got to make the final decision. So what did I decide?

I decided five was enough. I was sad about leaving the smaller ladybugs off. They’ll have to wait for a future project.

I could use your help with one last decision. Coming up with a name is driving me buggy. What should I name it?

Bug Bouquet

Insect~themum (like chrysanthemum)

Blooming Bugs

Bugs in Bloom

Call the Exterminator (that was Mike’s 😊)

I’m open to your suggestions. Please vote for one of the above, or send original titles to me as a comment to this post.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Top O’ the mornin to ya,
    Love the Bug quilt. I would name it “Bugs in Bloom.” I like the kaleidoscope effect of bugs coming out from the center to the sides. Or you could call it “ kaleidoscope of Bugs.” I love lady bugs so I would have the five in the center and the ones on the outside above the big butterflies 🦋 🐞. Although Mike’s suggestion is a hoot!
    That Dresden tie tablecloth is darling. Gives me more ideas! Everything is excellent!
    Keep those Irish eyes smiling!
    Blessings wished to everyone,
    Laurie

    Reply

  2. That would have been my choice too, the first one. Less is more. I would title it ” Bugs in Bloom” a take on the Milwaukee Art Museum exhibit coming “Art in Bloom”.
    It is a beautiful quilt!

    Reply

  3. My choice is “Bug Bouquet”. The way they are arranged reminds be of a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

    Reply

  6. I love your quilt. When it comes to the title you should chose one that includes the beautiful butterflies which are not bugs. Even ladybugs are not real bugs. ( from the web: Although ladybugs and butterflies are both insects, and often are found in flowers, they differ in many aspects. Ladybug, ladybird or lady beetle is the common name of the small beetles from the family Coccinellidae, while a butterfly is an individual part of the order Lepidoptera. In addition to biological classification, ladybugs and butterflies differ in appearance, number of species, feeding habits and lifespan.) Think of being correct when children see your quilt. Maybe your title should refer to the beautiful wings of all the insects in your quilt. Sorry: I was a teacher.

    Reply

  8. I like Bugs in Bloom. The quilt turned out really cute. If you had added any smaller ladybugs, I liked #1 which only had a few. Now you get to be creative with 20 small ladybugs! 💕

    Reply

  12. Love your bug bouquet! What to do with extra bugs? Are you making a hanger that is above or exposed? Your ladybugs could rest on there,maybe? Love the butterflies 🦋

    Reply

  13. I vote for Bug Bouquet. However since Butterflies and Lady Bugs aren’t really bugs maybe a name that implies all these creatures live in my garden. How about My Living Garden or something similar?

    Reply

  14. Simplicity is great…..I liked the 5 ladybug buttons…..Calling it “Wings” was what I thought of as I admired it. Wonderful job, Chris! Beautiful colors 🙂

    Reply

  18. Bugs in Bloom is my vote as well! hugs, thank you for your help with my quilt piecing. Hugs and blessings.

    Reply

  19. My opinion: 5 ladybugs was the perfect compliment to 5 of everything else … and (as somebody else said) … they are not all bugs, so “Wings” is the consistent feature.

    Reply

  21. I thought looking at your finished project that you could call it ” Ready to Fly” because it looks like the bugs are ready to take off.

    Reply

  22. My vote is Call the exterminator!
    Lends a bit of lighthearted humor to a lovely and creative work of art

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *