Saturday, May 5, 2018

Just a hint of pink

Well, some pink happened this week, but I have to confess that half of it was accidental.  One of the things I forgot to mention in my last post was that I'd unearthed the cut pieces to make a pink Jacks block.  No idea when I cut this out - probably the last time pink rolled around in the RSC.


It only took a minute to sew it up, so I did.
Then when Angela announced that pink was the color for May, I cheered!  I don't often get a chance to be ahead of the game!

This pinwheel block was purposeful, though.


Now I'll have to pull out the pinwheels bin and figure out how many pink ones I have.  Or how many pinwheels I have total, for that matter.  I've been making them for a good long while, and I have no idea how many have accumulated.

I found what I think is the perfect fabric for the setting triangles for Sea of Tranquility.  Just a few of the blocks to see if I was right.


Oh, my, yes.  That's the one!
This is going to take a whole lot of crawling around to get it all laid out, so I'm procrastinating for a bit before starting it.  My aim is to put the lightest blocks in the center of the quilt, and have them get progressively darker as they get closer to the edges, so that it will appear to glow.  Like I said, it's going to take a whole lot of crawling...

One of today's projects was to cut up these mistakes from On Ringo Lake.  Apparently I'd gotten a bad case of brain farts while cutting out those diamonds and intermittently (though repeatedly) cut them too short.  Naturally I didn't notice until I was trying to make them fit with the other Ringo bits.  You know, the well-behaved bits that do what they're supposed to do and fit where they're supposed to fit.
Luckily, I could get perfect HSTs for Totally Demented out of the mistakes, so it's not all bad.


I still did some grumbling though.

So, while I'm waiting for the energy to lay out SofT, I keep a stack of bits for Checkerboard Rails near at hand as I'm chugging along on triangles for Totally Demented.  (Sometimes a nice mindless straight seam is a lovely break!)


In the spirit of curiosity, I laid out the blocks I've gotten assembled so far.  I've been making them in pairs as I go along, to help me keep the block counts even.  (Already stepped into the block trap once.  Trying not to repeat myself.)


Looking pretty spiffy, but Bonnie Hunter set hers on point and I'd promised myself that I'd give it a shot myself when the time came.


Oh!  So much better!  Guess how I'm going to set it?

Of course, that brings up the problem of how to fill in those triangular edges.  Bonnie ended up slashing blocks on the edges, but I was hoping to avoid that.


I cobbled up a square of strips without the checkerboards and folded it in half to see how it would look.  (And yes, that's my foot.  It's been a long time since one of my feet has sneaked into a shot.)

I decided to mull it over a bit, then stepped back and saw what my real problem was going to be.
Take another look at the next to the last photo.  Compare the corner at upper left with the corner at upper right.
Gah!
Left corner has one block, right corner has two.  I fiddled around and folded and fumed for a bit, trying to work out the easiest way to resolve the corners without sacrificing any of those lovely checkerboard lightning bolts.  I really really really want complete streaks of lightning running from top to bottom.
I finally decided that this was the best I was going to get.  I laid some fabric down the edges, right at the tips of the checkerboard points to make sure I could live with it.


It'll do.  I'll fill in the edges with setting triangles cut from strip sets and it will be a happy scrappy quilt.

Carrying on in my little chaotic corner,


and linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday, and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come join the fun!


24 comments:

Chantal said...

I am learning that too; when set on point, corners have different number of blocks. It makes things even more complicated, like that's what we need, right?
Love your pink blocks. Congrats for being ahead. I am still trailing behind ... far behind. lol. Have a great Pink month. ;^)

Dorothy said...

I love reading about your "chacotic corner"

Mystic Quilter said...

What feast for the eyes Gayle! I think you picked a good shade of blue for the setting of Sea of Tranquility, but what really caught my attention, again, was your checkerboard blocks - I LOVE these! Tell me, what will be the finished size of the quilt? I'd like to think that one day I would get around to making these, possibly.

Cathy Tomm said...

Great rail fence block you have going. Great luck with your pink block!

Katie said...

Oh yes, Sea of Tranquility is a quilt that would have me wishing for a design wall, too, but will so be worth it in the end. And I see the Checkerboard Rails trouble, so being a nerd like that, I went to see what Bonnie Hunter had done. While I noticed she has no full shots of the finished quilt, I did see some strategic string setting corners in there, so it seems your problem isn't just yours. (But oh how frustrating!) I love the quilt...well, all of them!

Ivani said...

Great blocks and beautiful quilts are growing on your "chaotic corner". Have a great week!

Jayne said...

Chaos is in us all! You have so many gorgeous projects going on! They will all work out in due time!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I had seen that Bonnie Hunter pattern and love the checker board look I like quilts set on point

LA Paylor said...

Love the colors with black and white, all those little pieced squares!!! Couldn't you find a checkerboard fabric lol?
Fab work, no worries about incorrect blocks as it all goes in the spare parts dept for later anyway!

Barb Neiwert said...

What fun use for your scraps - I love them!

Louise said...

I think you found a good solution to the corner problem. The checkerboard "streaks of lightning" look really cool and I understand why you really want to preserve that! Lots of scrappy happy stuff going on in your studio :)

Wanderingcatstudio said...

GAH! All your project amaze me! Sea of Tranquility is going to be amazing.

Julierose said...

The sea of tranquility is going to be a stunner! So many pieces to set in the right way...arghh!! I can no longer crawl on the floor--I empathize with you....;000
hugs, Julierose

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

You have so many fun scrappy projects in the works. I love the checkerboard quilt. Happy to see you were able to figure out a solution to use more scraps.

Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

Sally Trude said...

What a lovely Sea of Tranquility...I almost can't bring myself to mention the one obvious flaw...a disturbing lack of orange. Are you saving it for the binding or was winter more brutal than you're letting on. And yes, the checkerboard rails does depend on its vertical set. Glad to see you back at full force.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Love your 'checkerboard' blocks! And what a great pick for your setting triangles on your 'sea of tranquility' top too!

Deb from Frugal Little Bungalow said...

so much going on...you blow me away! :) Always fun to keep up with you.

Jo said...

Both quilts will be great.

Cathy said...

Oh. My. You are the quilting definition of a whirling dervish! I love those pinwheels and the checkerboard rails (especially on point). But how you keep it all straight is the big mystery!!

Cathy said...

Oh, what scrappy goodness and forward progress! I might have missed it...I didn't see what you did with that little scrap leftover after you cut the Ringo bits into Totally Demented bits.

Happy crawling! Hope it's gentle on the knees.

Kate said...

Very pretty pinks! Your checkerboard scrappy quilt is such fun! Your choice for the setting triangles for your third project is perfect. Congrats on having such a successful week.

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

Beautiful projects! I love your pink blocks, and this Sea quilt is going to be amazing!

Magpie Sue said...

Love your checkerboard rails! And yes, that is the perfect setting fabric for Sea of Tranquility!

Ann said...

So many lovely projects. You've chosen such happy color combinations, too.