A New Little Quilt

Now that it's November, I can no longer pretend it's just late summer.  As un-PC as it may seem, I miss the smell of burning leaves.  Watching someone unclog leaf-blocked storm drains just doesn't do it.

I've put off a few chores like mulching the hydrangeas and planting bulbs and now regret it as it's really chilly out.  The good news is that sunny weather isn't beckoning me out of the studio. Now I have no excuses.

Ever wonder what to do with a Layer Cake?  Not the yellow cake with chocolate frosting type.  We all know what to do with that.  I'm talking about the stack of ten inch squares of fabric. They're interesting and colorful and tempting, but what can you do with them?

I finally bought one a couple of weeks ago because it seemed like an interesting challenge and I had an idea.  I've been looking at Modern Quilts the last couple of years and liked many of them, but decided that they weren't really me.  What if I could do something sort of modern without a big commitment?

I chose Pat Sloan's Bobbins and Bits by Moda.  There are 42 squares in the collection and since they're designed as a group, everything goes with everything.  Also, the pinking at the edges is so shallow that you really have a usable 10 inches.  The only other thing I bought was a coordinating solid.

(At this point, I have to go off on a little tangent to say that there are so many more great solids than there used to be.  At least it seems like it to me.  If Modern Quilting has sparked that, I'd like to say "Thank you so much.")

One 10 inch square gave me an 8 ½ inch square and seven 1 ½ inch squares with just a bit left over.  In theory, I could've made 42 12- inch blocks.  Because I was experimenting, I goofed a couple up, but I have plenty more to play with.

This turned out to be a good way to play with some fabrics that I wouldn't necessarily want to buy yardage of (sorry to dangle that participle).  It also gave me lots of combinations to try.  I even decided that I kind of like gray.

Here's the basic block:

And the twelve block top:

It makes a cheery quilt for dark winter days and it's quick to do.

I have to show you something that made me chuckle.  

I didn't catch it right away, but now it just shouts at me.  Comment back when you see it.  Can you imagine how many yards (in more than one color) were printed this way?  

The pattern for this will be out about the first of the year at which time I'll give readers of this blog a discount, so check back.

Here are the familiars looking cute.  It's not Ella's (left) best pic, but I'm posting it anyway because she likes to play in the mud and bring it into the house.  This is Toby's "I'm a good boy" face.  Because there are so few places that are out of his reach, being good is especially hard for him.

Take time to quilt,
Candy