I have had Snowball quilt blocks on the brain since the beginning of 2022.
Snowballs may seem a bit out of place in New Orleans, especially since our winter weather rarely features snow.
On the other hand, we love our warm-weather snowballs, and consider our version of the summer-time treat to be the best!
The first ice shaving machine was invented in New Orleans in 1936. The SnoWizard machine started the New Orleans snowball tradition, and the popularity of snowballs has never waned.
Our snowballs are made with finely shaved ice and heavenly syrup flavors. At your neighborhood snowball stand you'll find a myriad of fruit flavors as well as local favorites like wedding cake and cream of nectar (nectar was a popular local soft drink flavor back in the day: a combo of almond and vanilla). There are even "gourmet" snowball emporiums that dish out flavors like vanilla orchid cream, rosehips raspberry, and ginger cayenne.
But I digress.
My February mini was inspired by a similar quilt I saw online, and the happy chance of finding a stack of 2.5 inch blue squares in my reproduction fabric scrap bin.
The snowballs finished at 2 inches. The checkered border didn't work out exactly, but that's OK with me. Most of the fabrics in the top were scraps - just a small amount of yardage was cut to get enough snowball blocks...and the binding.
I found this cute teacup toile in my stash - just right for the backing.
I used a single fold binding again for this quilt. I'm definitely glad I added this technique to my bag of quilting tricks.
And now I hope I've satisfied my craving for snowballs!
