pretty artsy

Thank-you all for your well-wishes on this, our first week of school.  Things are going nicely, I think.  At least no one's saying they're bored yet!  Aria had her much-anticipated first music lesson (the penny whistle) tonight, taught by Daddy.  Yeah for team homeschooling!  But, I'm definitely still adjusting to our new routine, as evidenced by the fact that I forgot to make my post to Stitched in Color TWICE today.  So here I am finally, clicking "publish".  It still counts as Friday, right?

I have 2 new improv-pieced journal covers to share today.  (Quick reminder: I'm following this tutorial and using graph-paper composition books, which are quite the bargain at this time of year.)

"before" - composition covers

The first one started off with those 2" squares that I had let the kids make with my Go! Baby cutter. I pulled out more scraps in fresh, pretty colors and pieced and pieced until I had a suitable stretch of patchwork.  Here's what it looks like before the finishing steps.  So happy!

  improv Composition Covers

And the second one.... totally a different feel.  That owl print scrap caught my eye one night after I'd finished piecing Summer Sampler quilt blocks with that black pinstripe.  I was in the mood for more angular, dramatic piecing.  I especially like the inside flaps on this cover!
the Details
I find it interesting that each time I've made these journal covers I've made one "pretty" and one "artsy." 

Pretty

Artsy

They're both aesthetics that I enjoy, but I think I've mainly sewn in "pretty".  What about you?  If you enjoy both, but gravitate to one with your sewing, why do you suppose that is?