Saturday, February 9, 2019

Sand Castles and other fiddly bits

I'm totally in love with my Sand Castles blocks.  I got one yellow block stitched up for February's RSC -


and then another.


Taking a closer look at those two I had to admit they were rather boring similar, so I'm going to have another dig through my yellow scraps and see if I can come up with something a little bouncier.  In the meantime, I grabbed another red for last month,


and then did one in a multi-color with no dominant color, which would have been hard to squeeze into RSC format.


Up on the design wall they went!



You can my goosey temperature blocks on the left.  Here's a close-up of the first week in February.


It was a goofy week, since we went from -10 to 62 in a 48 hour period.  It's hard to know how to dress...

I'd hung up a piece of a black starry print as a possible sashing for my geese, but I'm having my doubts about it since the darker blues disappeared right into it. Picking a sashing color is going to be a problem, since I've pretty much got every color involved in my temp scale, including white and gray which could have been tapped for sashing if I'd thought ahead at all.  (note to self:  try to think ahead more often)
It did occur to me that I hadn't used pink (though I'm thinking of using hot pink to indicate temps over 100 degrees this summer)  (hopefully there won't be much call for it) (because yikes!), so I grabbed the nearest hunk of pink (more of a coral actually) and hung it up behind the geese.


Eh.  On the other hand, I don't actually have to make a decision on this for another 10+ months, so I've got lots of time to dither.  (It has occurred to me that I could use the colors that are going to represent the high temp as sashing for the low temp months, gradually swapping them for low temp colors used for sashing in high temp months.  Sounds complicated and grisly, so I'll be giving it more thought.)  (The easiest way out would be to just skip sashing altogether, and that option is still in play.)

And you might have noticed that one big block trying to sneak into all the pictures.  I've got one triangle star to show off.


I've spent scraps of time over the last year or so, cutting triangles and sticking them in a bin.  The blocks are a bit nit-picky to sew, but I do love my fiddly bits.  There's no plan and no hurry - I just am in love with this block so I'm going to sew some stars.  Sort of a slow-motion squirrel, you might say.


Linking with soscrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come see all the golden scrappy wonders!




20 comments:

Magpie Sue said...

Those Sand Castle blocks are going to make for an impressive quilt! That star deserves to be in almost every shot too. ;-)

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Your are a scrapper after my own heart - love all the fiddlies.

Wanderingcatstudio said...

I love those sandcastles!

Chantal said...

Lots of gorgeous blocks on your wall. The multi-color fabric is something else. WOW! I'm in love! Do you have to make the 4-patch as you go or did you had a big bag of them already done?
For the temperature quilt's sashing, have you thought about plaids? Or something similar you aren't using to make the geese? A different pattern could be what you need. A newspaper print, maybe? Just saying. I love your triangles star too. I would never tackle such a hard block but you make it look so easy ... and gorgeous! Stay warm! ;^)

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

I love those Sandcastles blocks! It is very tempting to start in on some, because I now have that book...but I will try to resist. I enjoyed getting a peek at your other projects, too! We have also ricocheted from temps in the 60s to below zero, and I will be very happy when they go up again.:)

Kathy S. said...

I'm playing along with you on the Sand Castle blocks! I am using darker browns for my neutrals. It will be interesting to see how they all end up, but I LOVE these blocks. Your design wall has a lot of fun scraps.

The Joyful Quilter said...

Wonderful YELLOW bits in your blocks! Best of luck with finding a sashing fabric for the Temperature Quilt when the time comes. Off to take a look at what the Sand Castle quilt will grow up to be...

Sally Trude said...

The combination of your Sand Castle blocks are fantastic...a bit too fantastic really. And then the beauty of the star. I see that the Sand Castle block is very contagious and I suspect your star is too.

Mystic Quilter said...

My goodness, your sandcastle blocks look amazing when you have four together, can't wait until the end of the year to see a finished top!

Jo said...

Loving your sandcastles. May do this for rsc2020.

Libby in TN said...

You DO like your fiddly bits! That star is impressive.

Kate said...

Oooh, lots of fun scrappy projects. I thought my wild and goosey blocks were fiddly, your triangle star beats that for sure. That star is a beautiful way to use up scraps. Happy stitching this week.

MissPat said...

I love the way the triangle bits in the star block look curvy when sewn together, but my OCD tendencies would never let me actually make a block that fiddly. It would wind up being my version of totally demented.
Pat

chrisknits said...

I wash going to suggest using different color sashing. It would be cool to use the high end on the low geese and vice versa!

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Oh I do love a busy design wall, and yours is looking wonderful! And the 'triangle star' is looking great, very tempting!

Cathy said...

I can see why you want to keep playing with Sand Castles! Love that block! Wow!

And I almost feel like making another Triangle Star that's totally scrappy this time.

kmkat said...

I am in love with your Sand Castles blocks, too!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

I always love to see people's design walls. You really have some lovely projects in the works. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

Louise said...

I am loving how the Sandcastles play together! What a fun quilt that will be :)

Nancy said...

Your sand castle blocks are such fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how they'll all come together. Is this a Bonnie Hunter pattern? Her blocks (and quilts) always have a million small pieces in them!

I see lots of people posting temperature blocks. Where did the idea originate, do you know? Is everyone doing geese? I hesitate to suggest grey for sashing, but is there a grey you haven't used for the blocks that could tie them all together? As you say, you have more than 10 months to decide. I chuckled when I read "(note to self: try to think ahead more often)." I've been thinking the same thing lately as I work on the little rubies quilt with all the browns -- of which I don't have enough!