The Final Squares

Poets are like baseball pitchers. Both have their moments. The intervals are the tough things.

~Robert Frost

Quilting

Perhaps that quote applies to quilters, too. Ideas wax and wane. Abilities increase but also decrease with the passing years. 

After all those quilts, there are still some squares and blocks remaining. How is it that the more we use our scraps, the more appear? It's very hard to use them all up... especially when they seem to regenerate nightly.

This little quilt combines most of the leftovers. I liked the look of the larger postage stamp quilt so I tried it again here. Not many blues or greens left; this top reflects desert colors - red rocks, golden dirt, and sage brush. The few bits of blue could be the midday sky or the bright oranges could be a sunset. 

The back is a yard of cactus print lengthened with some leftover greens. The fabrics blend well with the front.  Perhaps the greens should have been added in the middle of the cactus rather than at the bottom. I can never make up my mind about positioning the little bits needed to lengthen a back.

Here's a look at the front and back together. 

All my leftover green binding scraps made the binding for this quilt. 

Quilt Specifics

Size: 40" x 40"

Design: Scrappy Trip Around the World

Batting: Hobbs cotton

Thread: Superior 50/3 green cotton thread

Quilting: walking foot grid

Approximate yardage: 6 yds

When I took it to my DIL, she knew immediately who could use this gift. A friend of hers loves cactus. Perfect.

Reading

Since I enjoyed the first two books in her Joanna Brady series, I decided to try Until Proven Guilty which began her J.P. Beaumont series. I didn't care for it much as it reminded me of those 1950's macho detective stories. Perhaps it will grow on me but I much prefer the Brady books. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Time to Use Some Squares and Scraps

Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy 

that you have little time to criticize others.

~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Quilting

I quilted the two easy baby quilts - a top that was ready and a set of blocks. The next ones will take a bit more work. There's a box in my workroom overflowing with 2" and 2.5" squares. Some are leftovers from previous projects. Some a tag-ends of WOF cuts. Whatever. The box is full and I need to use it up. 

Not feeling terribly original, I chose to use my old Trip Around the Block design. It's two blocks - a small Trip Around the World and a small X. The process is not fast {although it's not terribly slow either} but it's always fun to play with fabrics. And the design can be adjusted to build blocks that are the "right" size for each project. In this case, I want a baby quilt so nine 14" blocks are needed.

Here's what I've sewn this week. A bit of an old-fashioned feel. 

Scrappy Trip Around the Block quilt blocks

We'll see how it goes.

Reading

How have I overlooked J.A. Jance all these years? On Nann's recommendation I started the Joanna Brady set with Desert Heat and Tombstone Courage. 

When Joanna's deputy sheriff husband is killed, the search for the killer leads her to run for office. Set in present-day (written in 1990s) small town Arizona, the series is still interesting. I'll be reading more soon.

Enjoy the day, Ann