A Little Bit of Catch Up

More baskets finished up for the Baskets Galore BOM over at Legend and Lace! I was only four baskets behind, that's all.... I've been contemplating starting Molly Flanders flowering snowball QAL and it just didn't feel right if I wasn't current with the baskets BOM. I don't know why I can't ever seem to keep up properly.

Blocks 8, 9, 10 & 11

I really did try to balance out the colors a little bit better with these four blocks. Things were looking a tad too pink, but now I think the yellow is winning! So far, every single block I make is a bit wonky too. Templates are one of those scary, dive off a cliff sort of thing for me. Sometimes I get it just right and other times I land seriously all wrong. I refuse to worry about it with this project though. If somebody else had made these blocks, I'd say they looked charming. And I'd mean it! So hello? Meet the eleven perfectly charming blocks on my wall.*wink  Hopefully I can add an every-other-block to my quilt top to distract from the slightly less than perfect stitching I have going on with this project.

Waiting for the next basket!

I also got the top done for my wildlife challenge block quilt. It's a beauty. If you love critters and Christmasy/Lodge colors.

A completed quilt top!

Which I don't. But I know that it has enough sentimental value in the blocks to more than compensate for the perceived failings that I see. Nice to have it all ready to machine quilt too. I think I have a good two or three months to get this one properly finished up and moved on down the road!

One of Those Special Quilts

A friend gave me some old challenge blocks from our Pieceable Souls quilting group a couple years ago.   They have that wildlife, lodge, outdoors thing going on that is so not me. But you know how it is with friends. About ten different people had made them for the challenge, so they have a special sentimental quality that cannot be replaced by the use of fabulous fabrics. 

Auditioning some fabrics

All along I thought it would be great to incorporate them into a cozy lap quilt and then of course, give them back. I don't want to get all crazy and intricate with these particular blocks, but they do need to look like I care. Like I think they're special. Which of course they are! There's a date in the fall that would be a perfect time to re-gift these blocks and so that's my tentative deadline for now. We'll see how long my enthusiasm holds up!

Figuring things out

I drew up a quick little sketch to come up with some basic measurements. As the blocks range from 11 3/4" to almost 13 1/2", I'll most likely be starting with some coping strips to bring the blocks up to a common measurement. From there I can fine tune the sashing and layout. No matter what, this will be a very non-stress quilt right up to the moment I hand it over. Then I'll be sweating bullets.*wink