The Solstice is Almost Here

 I have been counting down the days to the Winter Solstice, looking forward to the days starting to get longer.  

Dear Hubby and I have been walking early in the morning since June.  Since DH has to leave for work no later than 6:30 am, our walks usually take place before sunrise, especially since the end of Daylight Saving Time.  You can see why I'd be paying attention to the length of the days!

The change in the season also heralds a change in my quilting activities: wrapping up projects from 2021 and contemplating the quilty fun ahead in 2022.  There are more projects to wrap up than time will allow, but it's given me goals to work toward.

 

I got a late start on the Two and Four QAL, but did manage to finish the flimsy shortly after Thanksgiving.  The design wall was taken up with another project, so I just spread out the top on the guest room bed for a quick picture.  This was a fun scrap-buster: quick and easy!

 

I started working on this quilt just a few days before Halloween.  The kit (from Fig Tree & Co.) had been kicking around in my stash for several years and was calling out to get made.  It's based on Joanna Figueroa's Navajo Stars pattern, but uses orange, black, and tan fabrics for a Halloween theme.  

 

 

The whole palette has less contrast and color than my usual, but it's good to try new things.  The background fabric is cream with light brown dots.  It doesn't show up well in the photos, but it's a really lovely fabric and I wish I had more of it!

The example from the pattern instructions (here) was heavily quilted, which really adds interest to the quilt.  Something to contemplate for 2022.

 

Once the Navajo Stars were off the design wall,  I pulled out the Sugar Loaf blocks that were a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project in 2021.  The pattern calls for five additional blocks, which will be cut in half.  A half block is to be placed in each of the open areas at the top or bottom of the rows.  I'm still not happy about cutting the blocks in half, but I haven't come up with any better design options. 

I'll be away with my Florida family for a few days, but maybe I can finish the blocks before the end of the year.

Warm holiday wishes to all - whatever holiday you may celebrate!

 

 

Life in the Scrap Pile

 Time spent with scraps is never wasted!

I added four more Easy Breezy blocks to my stack, bringing the total to 90.  I've been making these since last year, so I think it's probably time to start assembling them.

 

Framed squares are a new block project.  My 3.5 inch strip bin is over-flowing, so it was easy to pull some scraps and start making these.

 

These two fabrics had been tossed back in a drawer and were adjacent to each other - they looked like a good possibility for an Antique Tile block.  I'm not sure I love it now that it's made, but scraps are all about playing with new ideas!

On the other hand, I'm very happy with how this lime green Sugar Loaf block turned out!   The center seam is not sewn up, but I'll finish that in a minute.  

 

I still need five more blocks to complete the Flashes of Brilliance pattern as written.  I'm dreading the final quilt assembly on this one, as the directions call for cutting five of the blocks in half!  And not in half along the final seam line, but through the half-way point of the hexagon shape.  Yikes!

 

Remember earlier I mentioned my 3.5 inch strip bin was overflowing?  When I read about the Two and Four Quilt-Along on Wendy's blog, (The Constant Quilter) I thought it would be a great way to thin out more scraps.  I got off to a late start, so didn't really participate with the QAL as it was happening, but it hasn't taken long to work through the steps of the project.
 

The Two and Four quilt uses 3.5 inch squares and 3.5 x 6.5 inch strips to create columns of Rail Fence and Four Patch blocks.  The instructions are provided by Katy Quilts - the QAL starts here, but you can get a list of all the related posts by looking down the Archives of her blog for Two and Four QAL.

 

My next step is to assemble the Four Patches into columns, then sew all the columns together.  I can't say that I made all that big a dent in the strip bin, but I'm happy to have a fun and easy way to use up scraps!