Sunday, March 18, 2018

Forward motion on FOUR projects!

My kids had a half day of school on Friday, so I picked them up and took them snowboarding for the afternoon, and then out to dinner with my mom, brother, and younger sister and her family.  It was a fun day, but I didn't get a lick of sewing done.  I had prepped some hexies to work on at the ski lodge, but my 2 year old niece was there, so I spent the time hanging with her.

In light of my family-heavy Friday, I had no qualms about sequestering myself in my sewing room this weekend.  Not only did I do a major re-organization and cleaning in there (my brother is spending the night tonight, and since my sewing room is also my home office and my guest room, it needed attention before it was ready for a guest), but I was also able to move four projects forward.

On Ringo Lake now has 28 completed blocks:
22 left to go.  They go together quickly since I've already made all the components, but the monotony of the color scheme slows me down.  Yes, it is scrappy, but I'm used to scrappy with all colors of the rainbow, not just four colors.
Flutterby now has 36 completed blocks:
I am LOVING this!  Definitely making it big enough for me to use!
I've finished 4 Sister's Choice blocks:
5" blocks - I LOVE small blocks!  They are just so cute to me!
But in doing so, I got to thinking how many 5" blocks it would take to make a useable sized quilt - A LOT!!  That's what alternate blocks are for, right?  I've always wanted to make a quilt with QST blocks/hourglass blocks as the alternate block, so I made four alternate blocks to see if I like the look - I do!

My question, though, is this: Since the blocks are so scrappy, should the QST blocks be scrappy, too?  I mean, instead of using one constant neutral and one constant navy blue (although it looks black in the photo, doesn't it?), should I use a variety of neutrals and blues for the alternate blocks?  If you have an opinion, please chime in!

And finally, today I rearranged my Starburst quilt a bit so I can start to quilt it.  When I finished the flimsy in October 2016, I noticed in my photograph that the yellow and green blocks in the bottom right corner should probably be swapped, but ugh!  Unstitching?  Yuck! 

So I just let it sit.  And sit.  And sit.  But the baby I've decided to give it to is due in less than two weeks, so it is time to stop sitting and start quilting.  So I swapped the green and yellow blocks (in the lower left corner in this photo). 
It's been packed up for months - excuse the wrinkles.
Does it make a big difference?  No, but it isn't niggling at the back of my mind now.  My goal is to piece a backing and have it basted no later than the end of the day Tuesday.

Tuesday is also the day that I'll be choosing recipients for my 5 quilt projects that are up for adoption.  If you haven't checked out the quilt adoption items at Cynthia's blog, be sure to hop over there - there's some fun stuff up for grabs for free!

I'm linking up with Monday Making and Oh Scrap.

5 comments:

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

So much scrappy goodness in this post. I love the alternative blocks just like you show them. The unifying fabric frames everything up really nicely.

Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

The Cozy Quilter said...

I like the constant fabric in the alternate blocks. You sure got a lot of sewing done this week!

Julie Fukuda said...

You could probably make the alternate blocks scrappy too ... as long as they read "dark" and "light".
You got a lot done in your "own" time. I'm afraid I would get completely distracted by the quilt projects.

Kate said...

Congrats on all the progress. Your Starburst quilt is so colorful and fun. I like the neutral/navy blocks, they go fine with the scrappy blocks and add a place to rest the eye.

Moneik said...

Love all your progress. I think the neutral/navy qst's are great. Getting too scrappy doesn't give the eye a place to rest. Great job on On Ringo Lake. I need to get back to working on mine.