Which TWO of These Blocks Are Not Like The Others?

I have some new-found b-friends (that's what my WH calls my blog friends) that are into scrap quilts as much as I am, or so it appears! I have spent much of my sewing time recently thinking about why I make the quilts I do. Why not just pick out 3 or 4 fabrics and sew a quilt from them?? Several well-used cliches come to mind..."There's no accounting for taste." "To each his own." "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." We all have our favorite colors, designs, styles. That doesn't mean if I like my quilt better than yours that you're not a good person or I don't like YOU!! I digress.

I'm not sure I would enjoy making a completely planned quilt at all. After one block, the excitement would be gone. I wouldn't be seeing "old friends" (aka former favorite fabrics that I only have one 2" square left from)...

Last night after church I was putting together a few of the units from my Plan B quilt. I was musing over the generosity of the ladies who are selflessly sending me Thimbleberries scraps for my apple core quilt. I have only had contact 2 of the 7 before this. And I think Lisa is moving to the mainland so she can buy Thimbleberries just so she can say she participated in my quilt (LOL--I'll know when Lisa reads this!). Well, there I was, mindlessly connecting block units into the "big block".

I looked in a little drawer where I keep leftover small block units that I have marinating for a better day, and what did I see? SEVEN centers for the very block I was making...well, sort of. Look at the picture below and see how long it takes you to see "which TWO of these blocks are not like the others"...

Well, you either spotted them right off, or scrolled down out of desperation. You know I wouldn't leave you hanging! The top left and bottom right blocks are my "found" blocks that sort of looked like the blocks I was piecing. I was trying to sort through my quilt memory and remember when I made them. I think it was when I had seen the "Plan B" quilt originally, but didn't have the book yet, so was guessing at the block construction.

I was struck with inspiration for a NEW name for this quilt. It will be "Plan B...and C". The alternate 7 blocks will not stand out in the finished quilt. That's the glory of the scrap quilt. If you're close enough, anything goes!

Here is the way the block is SUPPOSED to be made...notice the corner units are two 2" squares (a color and a light) with a 2" x 3-1/2" rectangle of light beside them?

When I pieced the one below, I didn't know about the easier corner, so I pieced the center. Well, I just added a cream sashing around and put a 2" colored corner on so from a little distance (please scroll up to first picture if you forget) it appears the same as the REAL block.

I love it when a plan comes together, even if it is Plan C. Or Plan B and C!!

I had laid out a few blocks from the units I have been stockpiling. I just wanted to see how they would look. So I pieced and ironed 20 of them! That is very exciting because I only need 40 of the light background blocks. At this point in time, everyone else in my family was asleep. Translate that: no interruptions. So I thought, "Hey, the night is young, even if I'm not." I sewed up as many blocks as I had units for, and ended up with 35 blocks!! Whoo hoo--only 5 more of these to make, then I can concentrate on the light stars with the dark backgrounds. Zooming along.

More on the creative scrap process later...

~Joan

The End of The End

This will probably be the last time you see a new blog entry about this quilt (for a while, snicker, snicker). I've been asked to see the back. I picked this fabric because I like the pattern on it. I tend to be pickier about my backings if they are on a throw or bed quilt because they will be seen a lot. On a wall hanging, however, anything goes. I know if any of you visit, I can expect to see you pulling the wall hanging out from the wall to see what is on the back. Don't expect it to match!!

The slightly busy design hides the quilt starts and stops and any tiny mistakes (I know--you don't make any, but I do).

I've also had questions about how I get things done so fast. I always think I could be doing things more efficiently or faster. But here's some things I do when making a scrap quilt like Plan B, which is my current leader/ender project.

I have a shallow plastic basket that I always keep beside my sewing machine. Right now it has nothing but 2" squares in it, creams and colors.

I have a separate box for finished units. It's a shoe-box sized plastic box with a lid. Beside my sewing machine I keep small pieces in the basket (not units, which are at least 2 pieces sewn together). When I'm sewing something else, I end with a leader/ender from that instead of the scrap of trash fabric I used to sew on until it was thread-filled and then throw it away. This way I'm "sewing" all these units without actually spending time on them. Occasionally, I'll sew lots and lots of the units together if I'm not working on another project.

The units go into the box loose. After I iron and trim them to size, I safety pin them together in groups of ten so I can count them easily. I usually iron and trim a lot of them at once. They go into the box unironed and untrimmed. I count how many of each unit I need ahead of time so I can slow down on that one once I get close to my goal. Sometimes, the actual numbers can be ovewhelming. For example, for Plan B, I will need 204 four-patches made from 4 dark/colored 2" squares. That's a lot (816 squares!), but I'm over halfway there. I am cutting all my scraps into 2" squares and putting them in a shallow basket for leader/enders. Same with creams, but that's another unit.

~Joan