I decided that I would separate the brighter blocks from the pastel ones and then added the scenery fabric with the bright blocks. I'll probably use the pansy fabric for the back. It was on the right side in the photo yesterday. This one will end up about 40" x 56" and will be a sharing quilt.
The pastel blocks will be a baby quilt with this green diagonal plaid for the back. I think I might have enough of it to put a small border on the top since it is only going to be 32" square. There were 2 blocks left over which will go into my orphan block box.
I have spent parts of 3 days cutting the white and black batik fabrics into strips the right size to run through my die cutter with the half hexagon die. There are 44 fabrics so far. I will only add more if I need to. I used 208 half hexagons in my last 2 quilts and they came out 58" x 80".
Anytime I can did through my stash is a fun day! This is what I came up with for possibilities for 8" fill in blocks with the 16 patch blocks.
The big pieces of floral fabric on the left and the right are in the 16 patch blocks and I have enough of both of them for serious backing fabric.
The lower fabric on the left is a green print and might be too plain (click on photo for a larger view).
I only have enough of the scenery one on the bottom right for about 8 blocks. The 2 large florals? I just don't know. More play time ahead.
My 2 friends came over to sew yesterday and Sue got the final seams in her One Block Wonder which is made from 6 cut up panels with a 7th one left whole. Several other friends saw this in pieces on one of my design walls so now they can see it complete.
I finished slicing the stratas of pink and green and last night sewed about 20 blocks. This is one of each combination. Some fabrics are used twice but they have a different partner the second time.
I wanted to see if I want to use all of the blocks together or break them into 2 groups for 2 small quilts so I have 35 on the wall here (40" x 56"). There are 56 blocks altogether. I'm still going to look through my floral fabrics and see if there is a good one to use as plain (not pieced) alternate blocks.
I purchased a new batik, black on a white background. The gray design is the black showing through from another layer. I want to use a fairly large shape to show off the design better and think maybe my half hexagon die would be a good choice.
My older black and white batiks are on a shelf but I know there are more in a box a few shelves lower. A lot of them are larger designs too.
Have you seen this quilt that Victoria Findlay Wolfe made? It is in her "Modern Quilt Magic" book published by C&T. It is basically a curved piece making a braid instead of a straight piece. She has an acrylic template available to use with a rotary cutter. I decided I had to have the template and I will start cutting pieces for it soon. It reminds me of angel wings.
I mowed the grass yesterday afternoon. Some of our trees are just turning color now so it will be awhile before the leaves are all down. Last year we had rain so often at the end of the season that I never got a chance to mow over the leaves that fell.
I put my 20 completed blocks up on the design wall so I could feel like I'm actually working on this quilt.
I got all of the rest of the stratas pressed and now I have a count, 36 more blocks for a total of 56. That would make a quilt 56" x 64" which isn't long enough, or it can be a baby quilt and a lap quilt. I will look through my pink and green floral fabrics and see if I have anything to make alternate blocks from as another idea for a larger quilt.
Another car is headed west to my granddaughter's house to help with the 3 great grandkids so I baked frosted creams to send this time. I need to cut them and get them boxed up now.
The design walls in my main floor studio change weekly while I am doing live broadcasts with my Colorwash 360 class. This wall is my backdrop during the session. Now I need to start thinking about what will be hanging there next week.
My internet provider sent emails a week or so ago about the new upgraded speed they are giving us for the same price. After 5:15 last night my internet slowed to a crawl at least 4 times and was totally off twice. This is with booster pods plugged in to have better service in the rooms far from the router. I'm more than a little disgusted.
In an effort to clean off my sewing machine cabinet last night I finished sewing all of the pink and green stratas. The cabinet is my station to do my live broadcasts for my Colorwash 360 class so I needed a clean spot for this afternoon.
Yesterday was a fun day with my art quilters. I hadn't seen them for 2 months and now it will be 2 more months until they come again because of everyone's schedules.
