Green Blocks and Irish Star Chain Flimsy

On Thursday my offices were closed due to Hurricane Michael's visit. After all the rain and wind, Michael moved out quickly and the afternoon was sunny and clear.

So what's a girl to do but sew, sew, sew!  And I did!  I finished all the green blocks for Irish Chain Stars and actually assembled it and prepared the dark green leafy backing. I was inspired to make this quilt by Cathy's version here.  She was one of the Block Lotto winners that month, and I was GREEN with envy. And now I have one of my own. At first, I laid out my blocks without regard to their hue depth and it looked rather blah. Then I remembered Cathy had placed the darker blocks at the bottom.  A little shuffling and my eyes said Yes!

Before:

After:

Now I just need to check my batting stock and quilt it. (Quilt as desired. Ugh! My least favorite phrase!)  Those strong diagonals will get a line of stitching down the middle. Cathy also quilted straight lines horizontally and vertically, so I may copy her yet again.

I have to gush a bit at Cathy's blog saneandcrazy.blogspot.com.. Her quilts are so bright and scrappy. They make me smile. And sometimes they make me want to sew my own. I really like her tall ships kid quilt (see the 2017 finishes page) and the Salmagundi quilt.  And I am amazed at the patience she must have had to make her Jacks Chain version. Wow!

October's RSC color is GREEN, so this flimsy fit right in. I also finished the October RSC blocks.

Angela showed her straight set pictures here. Isn't her quilt lovely? I couldn't resist laying out my RSC blocks. They certainly are colorful. Angela's layout instructions had a 1.5 inch sashing between the blocks, but I'm thinking she probably copied her text from the smaller blocks and really meant 2.5 sashing. At least that is what I am planning to do.

This is my version. I will probably shift the blocks around a bit more until I will finally be satisfied. I may even rework at least one of the September blue/yellow blocks, replacing the yellow with light blue. Or not. Maybe adding the white sashing will help the colors look brighter. I will check out everyone's RSC18 layouts once Angela opens up a linky post. Someone will likely link up with an  on-point version that may add more inspiration..

Eighteen Blocks and...Squirrel

Hello!  This year my goal is to reduce my UFO collection in half (13 out of 26). It has been difficult to focus on finishing rather than starting yet another new project.  In my last post, I had finally finished several old projects, bringing my finish count to 10. But...two of the ten finishes were new projects so I have more catching up to do.  Starting point was 26 projects of which I have finished 8, plus started 8 new projects of which 2 are finished and 3 are flimsies ready for quilting.  Progress has been made on the old UFO list so it also now has four flimsies ready for quilting and one in the middle of quilting, and three just need to be assembled. Not too shabby!

While surfing the web several months ago, I came across a beautiful quilt made from Block Lotto winnings of green Irish Chain Star blocks.  I had loved that block and was green with envy for the winners that month. So I decided to make my own.  My collection of eight Irish Chain Star blocks has grown to sixteen. Just need to kit up four more blocks and soon I will have my own throw quilt of these big 16" blocks. AND green is the October color (linking up to soscrappy).

RSC18 Squared Away just needs its October blocks made and it will be ready to assemble. It's been fun to make these each month. Have you seen several quilters sewing additional rainbow-themed blocks for their own RSC projects?  I've already made a wish list of rainbow quilts I want to begin in 2019.  (1) Quiltmaker's Extra Fancy big block surrounded by smaller versions; (2) solid blocks with fancy FMQ; (3) Academicquilter's Odd Fellow Out; (4) soscrappy's Twinkle Stars; (5) Saneandcrazy's Depression blocks. Is five RSC projects too many? Maybe I should whittle this down to one or two so I can use some of my free time for exercising my body, not just my stash. LOL  Do you have a wish list of rainbow-themed quilts?


The other new quilting project is one which needs some computer prep work, then it's off to the races.  This twist on Grandma's Flower Garden is different than any other quilt I've done before. Should be fun once I get the printing and color selection figured out. If you have made a similar applique quilt, please share tips!

And ....Squirrel!  My attention keeps diverting to new projects. It's getting difficult to resist. Like many of you, I have been watching Pat Sloan's "Let's Go Camping" monthly block program. I have collected a handful of camping/outdoorsy fabric and would love to jump in, even though the last block was announced last week. Or maybe finally cut into my collection of reproduction fabrics for Barbara Brackman's Antebellum Album quilt. Or maybe stretch my applique skills on the "It's a Wild Life" program. 

Or maybe I should grab the bins of hoarded fabrics saved for various projects such as Christmas-themed Anita Grossman's Arrowhead pattern, or a 30's fabric Twinkle Stars-style pattern called Points of Interest, or a patriotic Tobacco Road by Bonnie Hunter, or jump in to that fun Margaritaville quilt by Kim Brackett (she calls it Tipsy Baskets).

Or....<sigh> continue finishing more UFOs. And maybe indulge my desire to try something new with a few small Christmas present projects. And maybe Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt in November.

Do you have a wish list of projects?  I have a few that have stayed on the wish list for more than a year, so maybe early 2019 will be the right time to tackle them.