pink!

With two online challenges each month, I have my "assignments" and I try to get those done before starting anything else.  This month the UFO challenge announced the one quilt I didn't want to work on.  But I did.  I started it first and got it to a point I'm happy with, so then moved onto my Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  (I'll share more about the UFO in another post.)

This month it's pink.

I feel like I don't have a lot of pink, but really what a I have is a mish-mash of pink shades (tones?).  Some paler, some brighter, some dustier.  So not a lot of any one pink family, but that's okay for this challenge - at least what I'm doing with it.  Each block stands on its own, so I can make good use of the varied shades.

But by the time I got to the pinks, I had another idea brewing.  An extra quilt that wanted to be made.  This was probably a good thing, as it pushed me to power through the Patchwork City blocks.  I'm still struggling with these each month, but I only have 27 to go (three more colors!), so I'm definitely well past halfway.

Let's see the blocks!

#40

donut shop

#41

crosswalk

#42

intercom

#43

half sandwich

(this one is a little off and will require a little fudging when I assemble the whole quilt)

(I should have used the templates...)

#44

rec center

#45

onramp

#46

zoo train

#47

brewery

(this one needs a little trim on the sides, as I cut those strips too wide, but no worries!)

#48

carpool

I got all of these done in just three days!  They all take so much time - planning, making templates, cutting, pinning, pressing...and one at a time...but for the most part, I'm happy with the results and can now put my pinks back in the closet to age some more.  (Instead of letting them hang out on my cutting table, looking messy if not a little girly-pretty!)

Want to see them all together?  (Plus a few tiny stars made as leader-enders, of course.)

As you can see, there is a great variety of pink shades in there, but I'm confident it will all work out in the end.  I tried to keep the shades matching within each block, but beyond that, I didn't worry.

So what was my newest project?

Well...

I think it was my mom that gave me a wonderful fat quarter bundle of kitty fabrics.  But what to do?  (Part of me didn't want to cut up the kitties!)  Here are the fabrics:

I wasn't even trying to plan another project.  I promise.  But a few days ago...

SWOON and kitty fabrics!!!!!!!!!!

It just jumped into my head.  I swear.  I figured the pink blocks would take forever again this month.

So I pulled out the bundle - I remembered purple and grey, but wasn't sure if it was a full bundle or what other colors were in there.  I pulled out my Swoon pattern, too.  I had the required 18 fat quarters, so I just needed a background fabric.

The trouble with getting a little of a whole line of fabrics?  The fabrics that could be used as backgrounds or blenders are all in there.  The trouble with needing all 18 fat quarters?  There's nothing to designate as a background fabric or color.

But I had a gift certificate for a sorta-local quilt shop, so off I went with my bundle, confident I could find something.  Leaning towards a grey, but keeping my mind open.

I found this early, but forced myself to look around the shop entirely to be sure.  There was a pink that would have matched well enough, but do I really what that much pink?  I'm really not a girly-girl...  So this grey came home with me.

And the reason I pushed myself to get all the pink blocks done in two days?  (Not just to have them done, but that's a nice deal once they are done.)  My guild's sewing weekend is this weekend.  I didn't want to drag my pinks and everything to the sew-in, but this project would be great.  (Of course, starting something new with very careful cutting requirements and no room for error might not have been a good choice, but - spoiler alert - it worked out!)

So I cut carefully the color fabrics.  And then I cut and cut and cut background fabrics (might as well get it all done while I have it out, right?) and finally got to sew.

This block seems to have 1000 pieces and the instructions, once you get past the very specific cutting diagram, aren't too detailed.  It's all okay, though, there were photos.

By the end of the day, with a short break for lunch and another, longer, break to take a friend to get her car repaired, I had the first block done!

This is probably one of the least contrast-y blocks (and it looks more washed out here than in real life), but I LOOOOOOVE it!  This is a huge block, though - 24" finished!  So the pieces you start with are large, too.  But that's okay.  Fewer blocks!  More room to fudge if things aren't exact.

I can't wait to work on more, but this morning has been dedicated to chores and blogging and soon I'll be picking up the friend who is still minus her car to go to a quilt show about 30 minutes from home.  So maybe not much sewing today, but we'll see.  It's a grey, rainy day, so at least I don't expect the hubby will be asking me to go fishing!

(And here's to hoping nothing needs to come home with me from the show.  My "retired' budget isn't quite as robust as my "working" budget...)

Happy quilting,

Katie