Road Trip Progress

I've made a few blocks for my new project that doesn't have a plan, which I'm now calling Road Trip. I put the blocks on the wall just to see what I have, what's working and what isn't, and what changes I need to make. This is by no means any sort of final layout.

Immediately I see that it's too busy, so I'm going to have to use sashing in places to separate the blocks and give them some breathing room, instead of packing them all together and filling in with small units. 

I still love the palette, but the proportions of some of the colors used may need to be tweaked. I don't like all the off-white in the 18" turquoise block, so I'm going to take the block apart down to the 12" Ohio Star center and reuse the outer pieces for another block. 

The light off-white needs to be used sparingly. There's a different light print in the four 6" Broken Dishes blocks that reads darker, but I have only a little bit left. I have one more ivory/tan print (not used yet) but it reads light and there's only a small amount of it. I'll use the lights very carefully to just sprinkle a bit of sparkle around the quilt. 

Every block has the license plate print in it. It's a busy print and these are busy blocks, so I might need a few blocks that don't have that print. Or maybe confine it to the center like the two 12" rust blocks.

My husband really likes the tiny geometric print used in the rust star block. I need to figure out how to use it in more blocks. The value is so similar to the khaki Grunge that I'll have to be careful about contrast.

Almost all the blocks have khaki Grunge in them. I'll continue to use that as as constant and also use it for spacing and sashing, but it's not required in every block. 

The 15" block at the far right reads very dark compared to the others because it has dark cinnamon brown and hunter green in it. I need to use those dark value colors in some more blocks, but scatter them so there's not one standout dark section. 

Okay, so now I have a bit more of a plan than I did to start with. Or, more like what to avoid... I guess I need to make some more blocks and add them to the mix, then critique again.

Should I make each 9" and 12" block different or should I repeat a few blocks? My original plan was to fill in with 6" blocks and 3" units, which would be repeated, but maybe I need something less busy. I have a few Flying Geese units available. If you have any suggestions for me, please leave a comment. 

Link up: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts