20 more blocks.....................

I didn't get to the sewing machine until quite late so I was out of steam and didn't even get them up on the design wall.

This is the lightest block in the bunch and I hope it plays nice with the rest.

I had an appointment at the pain clinic in the middle of the morning yesterday so I didn't get anything done before lunchtime.  In the afternoon I had a couple phone calls and then filled the bird feeders and watered the tomato and cucumber plants.  The weather was beautiful and I had all of the windows open.

Today I should be able to spend more time on my quilt.

Blocks started.................

Yesterday I made the decision to make the traditional 16 patch blocks with my stratas.  I pressed all of the stratas and cut enough pieces to make 20 blocks, 2 each of the ones in this photo.  I'm happy with the way it is looking so far.  Today I'll cut 20 more and lay out some of these blocks on the fabrics I showed yesterday for possible alternate blocks.  

Today is supposed to be the best day of the week for low humidity.  I hope the prediction is right because I would like windows open. 

Last two..................

There was just one strip to cut yesterday to complete the stratas.

This is all 40-1/2 stratas, ready for me to decide which 16 patch to make.

I decided to look through my larger print brown fabrics to see if there was anything I would want to use for a few alternate blocks sprinkled through.  This photo shows 22" top to bottom.

This photos shows 1/2 yard of the fabric.

This photo shows 22" top to bottom.  I think this might be the best candidate.

This is showing 1/2 yard of the fabric.  I think this one might be good too.

I didn't get any farther on decisions because I was invited to a family dinner at my son's house and had 2 little boys to entertain us.  They are 15 months apart in age and the oldest just turned 4 last month.

Almost done..................

Ten more stratas are sewn for a total of 39-1/2.  There was a cut out of one of the fabrics so I could only make a half length strata from that combination.

This is one more pair but I decided it's a toss up which one is the light and which is the dark.  There are too many spots of the black background compared to the amount of lighter color leaves.  I'll look through some more fabrics today.  Right now I have 80 different fabrics in the sewn stratas.

I folded over the stack of the first 30 combinations to move it on my table and I had to take a photo of the edges.

We saw blue skies and white clouds yesterday after many dreary overcast days.  Today should have some sunshine too with a partly sunny forecast.

 

In my happy place.............

I love having nice long seams to sew at night while I watch TV.  This is the second set of 10 stratas that I finished early in the day yesterday.  They were started the night before.

This is the third set of 10 stratas which I sewed last night.  I have one more set of 10 to sew today.  Then I have to decide if it will be a traditional 16 patch block or the "other 16 patch" which is 16 rectangles per block.

I need to clean off a table and baste one of my small quilts so I can quilt it on my Pfaff.  I have 2 that I would like to finish this month.

The rain mostly missed us yesterday after an early shower.  It looks like we will have a little lower humidity and temperature today. 

Starting a new one................

 I took the stack of 2.5" strips that were cut at the same time as I cut for the brown/gold Snail's Trail and paired darks and lights.  I added some blues and greens into the mix for a woodsy nature pallete.  I'm not sure if they will be a 16 patch quilt or 'the other 16 patch' with rectangular shapes.

This is what the groups looked like (dark/light) before I started pairing them.

After I sewed 20 of the 40 pairs I did one more cut and sewed 9 of them together.

I made a collage of all of the "other 16 patch" quilts I have made.  I ran the blocks vertical in some and horizontal in others.  In 2 of them I added half blocks to break up the rows of blocks. 

The remaining 1.5" floral squares are off the trays and in a snack size ziploc.  I'm officially done with them.

We got another inch of rain from midnight yesterday until mid-morning.  The rain later in the day was just a dribble in the bottom of the rain gauge.  One more day with possible rain and then 2 dry days.

Decision................

All of the blocks were finished and pressed yesterday morning so I had to make a decision on the layout.  I needed to clean off my work table.  I decided it will be sashing, but wider than I originally tried.  I was thinking 1" finished when I first showed the fabrics, but I decided yesterday that the blocks need a little more space between them.  Now I'm planning on 1.5" finished sashing.  I haven't decided if there will be cornerstones yet.  I'm putting this aside now and will work on something else, plus I'm still cleaning and organizing the basement.  I can't stand on the cement floor for too long so it has been a slow process.

I pulled a box off a shelf to look through it and found these diamonds in there.  I had to put diamond in the search box at the top left of this post to go back and see what quilt the scraps were from  This post tells all about it.

Last night I decided to try them next to each other.  I love busy quilts that make me look to see what the pattern is.  This would become a table runner if I decide on it.  I need to find the diamond template so I can cut half diamonds to fill in the edges.  If i continue with this as the project, I need to move a few around first.

I started another dishcloth last night with this 4 color yarn, white, lt. peach, coral, and brown.  I was glad I still had a couple balls of it  because they don't seem to be making any more of it.  I have enough of all of the variegated yarns to last my lifetime making dishcloths but I still search the internet occasionally to see if there are any new colors.  I don't find more than a couple shops carrying it; most is through resellers on Etsy and eBay and most of that is solid colors.

The rain all missed us yesterday so we had a dry out day before more hits this morning.  It looks like the heaviest will go south of us.