Cocoa Craze

While working ferociously to finish Celtic Solstice before Bonnie's next mystery begins, I took some time to assemble the Mocha Swirl blocks into a top. Then last Saturday I went shopping at Quilt Ledger, a small quilt shop about 15 miles away in the little town of Christiana, Pennsylvania. Leslie, the friendly owner, pointed out some fabric on sale. Lo and behold I found a great border print for Mocha Swirl --Pushy Paisley from Hoffman Fabrics. Now Mocha Swirl is a flimsy and renamed "Cocoa Craze".

For those of you interested in trying this easy pattern (I highly recommend it!), buy "Scrap-Basket Surprises" by Kim Brackett. http://www.amazon.com/Scrap-Basket-Surprises-18-Quilts-Strips/dp/1564778908/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1415548272&sr=1-1


I have made two quilts from this book and am contemplating a third - "Christmas Ribbons". Another quilter had used this pattern with pink scraps over a black background. It looked great and could be a thoughtful gift for someone who is struggling with breast cancer.

I may even whip up "Summer Breeze" as a baby quilt.  "Monkey Business" would be great in bright batiks. "Pinwheel" would be nice in a controlled color palette. Good job, Kim, on designing easy quilts that look more complicated than they are. Evidently we quilters like your designs because there are certainly a lot of images of finished quilts proudly posted on the web.



On a higher note, I got in some flying yesterday. It's a pretty autumn weekend with cool air to boost engine performance and clear skies which make the colorful trees sparkle in the sunshine. The picture below is Poconos fall foliage from coreyhilz.com. This is what I see all around me right now!

Regarding the college search, my daughter did well on her last SAT and the acceptance letters are starting to arrive. Whew! She has not declared a major although is leaning toward pre-law. Hmmm, I'm not too sure about that, but it is her choice. If that's her passion, so be it.