This year I’ve taken on a few challenges that I hope will improve my skills. Even after 28 years of quilting, and 48 years of sewing, I feel the need to improve my skills. Or maybe it’s because of that time span that complacency sits in if we don’t keep looking to improve. Either way, I’ve taken on two year long challenges. One has already started, the 365 Challenge The Ultimate Sampler. http://www.365challenge.com.au/ The other one hasn’t started yet, it starts the weekend and is from Pat Sloan called The Splendid Sampler. http://www.thesplendidsampler.com/
The 365 Challenge I am doing “scrappy” and that’s another challenge for me, I’ve not worked completely scrappy ever in the 28 years I’ve been quilting. And I’ve already had to run to a dear friend once for a “scrappy” lesson. To balance that, I’ll be working the Splended Sampler using the Hyde Park collection by Blackbird Designs for Moda. Which is what I usually do, work with a controlled color selection. Rarely controlled by a fabric collection, but usually controlled in a limited amount of fabrics. 
To date, I am current on the 365 Challenge. I took a picture this morning of all the blocks that I’ve done just to check that my “scrappy” is working for me. The main color theme is a brown/red/gold with a little blue-gray thrown in for accents. It’s not the color scheme I started with. I started with brown/green/gold, but when I added in the green I started disliking every block I made. That was when I went to my friend for some scrappy advice and after a couple hours of back and forth she asked my “why” I was using brown with green when I like browns with reds and blues with greens! One of those eye opening moments! LOL 
The colors in the pic are not quite right. It was taken with the I-Pad as I can’t find my camera at the moment. The golds aren’t quite that bright, nor is the orange in the lower right corner, but the browns are that dark. I can see where my color distinction in the first week of blocks was not as well defined as it is in the later blocks. I can also see where I need a few more brown only blocks to tie together what I’ve done so far.
I’m hoping that periodically taking a picture like this will help develop my eye for what is and isn’t working together. Maybe one day I’ll be one of those totally scrappy quilters, but I can tell already that it’s going to be a long road to get there!