Log Cabins and Shipwrecks

I love random quilt blocks....Recently I re-found  this clipping in my mess of paperwork, saved from a whole year ago...

[no copyright infringement intended, etc. From Quilt Sampler, Spring 10]

I thought it would be a fun change of pace after carefully sewing my HQ doll quilt....
I gathered my own palette:

I love the colors Jean Wells used

but I could never use them in my home or sell them...so I went with blues....

But I'm not sure these work. They need narrower strips, more solids (don't have!), more contrast....more---ooomphf?
                     

These are 5", smaller than they look in the pix, so here's w/ my scissors for scale:

I originally planned to widely scatter the blocks on a white ground, with maybe even some very small blocks, 2" & 3"; bright turq machine quilting in a seashore/ seashells pattern for texture.But again...better on dusty aqua?

                            

I also clipped out this ad, thinking this might be a fun use of the blocks, tweaked somehow.....
                                    
As the author says, small blocks are a good way to audition fabrics and ideas...I don't think these blocks made the team, do you?

 But it's good to change gears, do something unstructured, I told myself. So instead of cleaning the closet where I store my book collection---I went to the beach!

As for Shipwrecks! Bummer, my camera's USB cord broke and none of the dozen or so in the house fit! :-( So I 'll show you the cute but sad sailboat that washed ashore yesterday---someday.)

love

               lizzy

"gone to the beach"