I have an excess of the pale green fabric left over from a Christmas tree skirt that I'd made a few years ago and I thought it would be good to use this for all the backgrounds in the blocks. I had also decided that I would use a variety of greens and reds against the pale green background. In the next block I make, I'll use a green fabric and will alternate so I have an balance of reds and greens.
One thing occurred to me that I don't know what to do about. Pat says most of the blocks in this challenge will be 12" finished. She also plans on releasing one block a week for the 182 days. If my math is correct--always in question!--that would be 26 blocks. That would make quite a large quilt, don't you think? At some point I'll have to decide if I want to go with one bed sized quilt or make the blocks into 2 throw quilts. No need to worry about that now--I only have the one block completed--but I really do like how it looks!
After I'd finished the Solstice block, which took all of an hour including choosing the fabrics, I moved on to the next stage of my plan--to make a Christmas item to have ready for sale in my Etsy shop next fall. And here it is, nearly finished.
I've had the snowman fabric for at least 10 years and chose it for the first Etsy project so I can move it out of my stash and be done with it. I rarely do Square in a Square and thought I'd try that with this project. Professor Google helped my out by leading me to directions on Craftsy for how to make this block, but I wanted different measurements than Craftsy had. So then the good Professor directed me to this website, Square in a Square measurements, where I found a cheat sheet with all the measurements based on the size of the center block.
I decided to frame the fussy cut snowmen in red and then surround them with the black fabric which has a touch of red in the little birds. Since I didn't have another fabric to make the second set of triangles, I had to make a decision on how to arrange the 4 blocks, which are 9" unfinished. I decided on a square table quilt instead of a rectangular table runner, and I have each snowman facing out.
After consulting with my husband, the resident artist, we agreed that there needed to be a border, and he suggests using the snowman fabric. Well, I have very little of that left, but I think I can make up enough 2 1/2'" strips to surround the piece, with red posts in the corners. I know I have enough of the red to use as binding, but I could also use the black as well. Just to be sure, I'll cut the binding now to make sure I don't accidentally use it in another project. I have enough black for the backing but I'll cut that now as well.
Here are a couple of closeups of the snowmen, for your viewing pleasure. Excuse my toes.
When I finished the days's sewing, it was getting pretty warm in the cottage and I decided to go for a walk in the nature preserve nearby. I left my phone at home since it needed a charge, but I really wish I'd had it with me so I could share with you how beautiful my walk was. It was a perfect sunny day with a gorgeous blue sky and the beautiful blue of the lagoon and bay. It couldn't have been better. Today, not so much. It was very foggy when I woke up and now that's gone and we're left with overcast skies. At least I don't have to worry about getting sunburnt!
Today calls for a little housework and some laundry, and then sewing. I'll finish up the snowman table quilt and then begin working on the next UFO that I brought along--Johanna's T shirt quilt. My youngest, Jo, had asked me at least 2 years ago to make her a throw sized quilt out of her special T shirts. So far, I've deconstructed the shirts and have bought the interfacing and fabric for the sashing, so I should be able to get that top put together rather quickly.
Whoops! I just realized that I have no plan for a border! Rats! I think I'll have to make a trip to the LQS down here when I get all the shirts put together and see if I can find border fabric. We plan on spending a day in Pensacola FL next week where there's a very unusual quilt shop, A & E Fabric Variety and Craft Store. It's a pharmacy and kind of a general store, but more than half of the store is devoted to quilting fabrics and supplies. I'm sure I'll find just the right fabric to use for Jo's border.
Also in today's plan is another walk, and this time, I'll bring the phone/camera with me! I promise!
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