Starting in the Middle

It always surprises me how long it takes for me to do something without a pattern, not that I always follow them anyway. I look forward to the challenge and know that sometimes it will take even longer just because I am trailblazing, so to speak.

In the past, I've whined about those mystery quilts, but any more, I realize that all the quilts I make are a bit of a mystery in that I never know how they will turn out.

This one of Jake's is a good example of one surprise after another. This represents the middle section of the 12.5" blocks joined with a green print and gold cornerstones. I had it all laid out and pinned it the way I wanted it to go, and yet, lo and behold, the blocks shifted, from my original layout, and really it is ok. It is a sampler quilt made by different quilters using their own choice of blocks and holiday fabrics.

There are two more rows to add, one on top and one on the bottom. Those are the 12.25" blocks and so will need a slight increase for the side sashings to make them line up with the four middle row blocks. I'm trying not to get too ahead of myself with the borders and am taking it one step at a time.

I also spent time washing some of the fabrics I bought at the estate sale last week. Those red FQ's bled into three Color Catcher sheets turning them pink. I know that I might like to pre-wash this quilt before giving it to Jake just to make sure it stands a chance of NOT going pink.

My purchases at last week's estate sale included two lovely, lovely cardinal prints. One of them is more golden with a number of winter berries, and one is more off-white with pinecones, so the golden one will go great on top and the off-white one will make a great backing. Its an evolution regarding sizes and I know I will do some calculating to make it work. So fun to create it as a sampler quilt.

I have one last Winter Solstice quilt to make that has more of a wonky style to the blocks in two sizes (12" and 6"), so if there is leftover fabric, most likely those pieces will get used in some way for that one as well.