Shiny Thoughts Welcome

First of all, these are my new playthings: shrimp pink (7804),  gelato yellow (2439),  burnt orange (9465B) and orange sherbet (7825) in Cascade 220.  I'm so glad that I caved and ordered these because they're actually pairing nicely with some of the colors I was having trouble using, specifically a kelly green and royal blue.  It was a relief to see that the kelly green and royal blue weren't "bad" colors, they just needed brighter friends.



So, here and there I've been catching a moment to make more sun squares.  I had to get a bigger yarn basket!  And my armchair pin cushion is doubling as a crochet notion holder as well.  This corner is such a happy place to be!



I've been trying to make each sun square different than the others, so I've found a side table to keep them on for now.  If I had a design wall, it would definitely be full of crochet!  What do you think of the look so far?  The colors all together like this echo my Good Folks Colorbrick quilt, actually.

So, I'm trying to decide if I really love this mish-mash of color for it's scrappy goodness, or if I would like to use more intention in my color choices.  When I started working with the new bright yarns, I realized that I could divide my squares into two groups.  Roughly...



Darker sun squares, with deep color. And...



Brighter sun squares, with more lively color.  If I go this route, I would be more thoughtful in creating future sun squares that fit "squarely" in either camp.  And, I really, really haven't been able to choose.

Part of the problem is that I also can't decide if I'm going to make these into a pillow cover and a blanket, or just go straight for the blanket.  I think a sun squares pillow would be just stunning and would be such a fun addition of texture to my couch.  So much personality, you know!  On the other hand, I wonder if the yarn would get worn-out from being rubbed against as a pillow?  I'd hate to put so much time and money into something only to have it get yucky looking in a year's time. If I was doing a pillow, I'd opt for a focused color palette (probably the darker one for my living room) and save the rest of the sun squares for a blanket someday.

On the blanket side of the question, I've been dreaming of merging the sun squares with a quilt, perhaps by making rows of crochet (backed with fabric) and injecting rows of fabric too.  It would be fun to make something different, something more "mine", but I wonder if I would like a simple all-crochet afgan better.  They are what inspired me to make sun squares at all, after all.

But then, I really don't need another blanket.  What do you all do with so many quilts anyways? I only need one!

So, sorry to be wondering aloud.  I know that I just need to decide already!  It's just you all are my friends and if you were in my house (and you kind of are) I would be talking your ear off just like this hoping for you to give me some shiny new thought that would help me make up my mind! 

Ok, I think I'm done rambling now.  Shiny thoughts welcome! 

P.S.  If you want, you can find the sun squares tutorial I'm using here.  And, if you're new to crochet, I recommend learning from Youtube or from my favorite crochet book How to Crochet by Pauline Turner.  It's really worth owning - filled to the brim with techniques and stitches that would wow an advanced crocheter.  But also has clear pictures and text for learning crochet basics.