Old Habits & Patterns

Old habits and patterns can be valuable friends, especially in quilting. And for me, they only last a little while before I go onto something new.  I cut out two more of those Autumn table runners, one for the second swap I am hosting publicly on swapbot, and the other going into one of the boxes designated for one of the Grandgrrls's new homes. I've finished the top of #2, need to get a back and batting. 

Then I returned to the House Blocks for the International 12" Christmas Block Swap. I planned to make two blocks to send off and didn't realize that the pattern would make up two identical blocks, so right now they are blue houses, and I am thinking they will go on the back of other quilts rather than to her. Now that I know how the pattern works, I will make something different to send her. As my February partner & I chatted about House Block quilts, we started thinking about what a swap between the two of us would look like. We haven't make concrete plans about it and will chat more next week when she is more free to think about it. What is fun is that she is from Oz (the name most Australians call their country) and that means she is in the Southern Hemisphere.

The second block project is for the 12" BSA swap and was a bit more complex combining 4-patches, HST and finished off as a 9-patch. It is a Friendship Star Variation. The stores in town didn't have a gray batik, and even this gray doesn't photo true colors. Its quite lovely. I've cut out a second block with the traditional Friendship Star pattern to try with these colors. 

These smaller projects are close to complete, and my plan is to return to the Paper Piecing project. I didn't want to get too far off track and knew these swaps were coming up. Its given me a respite from the concentration it takes to work with paper piecing, and I am ready to get back to it.