Love Thy Neighbor

In her latest post, Maureen (pursuit of quilts blog) suggested that in light of recent events, she felt compelled to make a quilt using some house blocks that were under construction at her place to create a quilt with the theme "Love Thy Neighbor".  She invited any and all to join her.
Just so happens that I had some little house blocks awaiting placement in a mini quilt I had planned. Well, plans change. This is what I am doing with them.

The blocks finish at 2 3/4", so this won't be terribly big, but I think it gets the point across. I will border it with something, and I think that will take it a little beyond 12" square.
But can you see that I ran out of sashing fabric? That soft green is a Paula Barnes fabric. I was working from what I thought was a generous scrap that would do the job, but the last bits just were not large enough. Even if I piece them I will only make about half the sashings I still need. No other green blends with the greens in this quilt well enough, and I do want the green all the way around the outer edge. An internet search came up empty.

Anyone have any of this fabric I can buy? I really only need 1" WOF, or 2" from the longer edge of a FQ, but I'd love to buy yardage if anyone has some they are willing to sell. I do love this soft green.








I used the heart block that was in the Temecula "Box of Chocolates" mini, shown here. But I had to redraft the block so that it finished at 2 3/4", and I wanted the hearts to float just a bit. I think it will work when I have it all sewn together. 

And speaking of Temecula, they didn't post a finish for their Marvelous Mini Monday SAL this week, as many of you know. Just another block. And now I am more curious than ever about how the blocks will fit together. How do 19 blocks play well together? And 10 of them are sampler blocks--the newest rests in my hand.

I had several tell me they couldn't find the error in my Midnight Flight block, so here you go. See the black triangles in the red circle? See how they point away from the purple, and all the other ones point toward it?


Here is the corrected version.

Much better! 
It is a tricky block to lay out.  I am glad I am only doing a throw size. :)

You often see mountain views on my blog, but lately I haven't really been posting them. So here is one for you. 

This was the view over the weekend when a fire erupted on the other side of the mountain. As we sat out on our deck with a grandson Sunday evening there was a light ash falling from the sky. Not the view I prefer, but interesting, nonetheless.

Almost forgot--in trying to come up with another snip of that green Paula Barnes fabric, I sorted through my scrap basket. My scrap basket is small, as scrap baskets go, but I have decided it is time to replenish it with new stock. From time to time, when kind bloggers share their scraps with me, I set them aside until I decide to purge my basket. It is time. So if you are interested in a pouch full of this, let me know. Keep in mind that I have mostly been making mini quilts, so the scraps are not large--and these are all CW repros in this basket.

Finally--are you chasing the eclipse, or do you live in its path? We are set for a wild adventure trying to brave traffic jams and crowds to see it in its totality. I'll let you know if we even make it. :)

Don't forget--do you have the green fabric, and are you interested in the scraps? Thanks!
Janet O.
 

Final Answer!

That is in reference to the centers of my mini Dresdens. This is it. Thanks to everyone that gave their input! I really appreciated it.

I haven't trimmed down the border yet. I cut it large because I wasn't sure how big I wanted it to be, but I wanted to get it sewn on. I guess the centers are kind of hard to see in this photo.

Here they are in the "audition phase", before anything was sewn together.
In an email, Robin suggested I try to  find something that could be fussy-cut for the centers. I don't do much fussy-cutting (except for plaid borders). I liked the idea, but didn't hold out much hope. This has been a hard fabric line to match. I finally found this little print. I would have preferred the flowers to be a little larger, but I am so done with trying to find a center for these Dresdens. I like this best of anything I have tried so far. There you have it!



This week's Temecula Marvelous Mini Monday block has been sewn. It is the one on the lower left. I am considering doing the inner border on these blocks in a consistent neutral, and making the outer border random prints. I have the neutral borders all cut, but have been hesitant to attach them. I may wait until they post the final layout and decide if my approach will look good or not.

I have spent way too much time cutting and kitting for my classes with Bonnie Hunter next week. My 8 foot long kitchen island has been covered with fabric, cutting mat, rulers, rotary cutter, Bonnie's books--and lots of scraps. It was too big a job for my sewing room cutting area. I kept changing my mind on the fabrics. I would get a bunch out and pile them on the counter to start cutting, and then decide I didn't like the combination, and I would start over again. But I am finally finished, and this is what I have chosen.

I am making "Midnight Flight" from thrift store shirts. My color scheme is purple, black, blue, green, and neutrals. (Now that I read that list of colors, it sounds kind of like a bruise.)
Garden Party is being made in batiks of tropical colors with green chains, and my blocks will be half the size of Bonnie's. I am only making 20-24 blocks. It will be a mini--surprised?

I won't be able to keep up with blogs this weekend or through the coming week. I will be out of town most of next week, between Bonnie's classes, and our family reunion/campout (all of which I am trying to prepare for this weekend, along with my Sunday School lesson). Our reunion/campout has always been held as close to my Dad's birthday as possible. This will be the first one since his passing in December. His 94th birthday would have been this coming Monday. I miss him every day!

This is my siblings and parents and I at last year's reunion. The area where we camp (and I do mean camping, not glamping) has a large covered pavilion that makes a great gathering place for everyone. I am so glad we got this photo that evening.


Until next time, 
Janet O.