Continuing on from last time...
With the rainbow strings UFO project set aside, I moved on to the next UFO. This is another string-based project I started but never finished. (Seeing a trend? I get excited about string-piecing and crumb-piecing— strings especially when I want to use the treadle— but sometimes I don't start with a very specific end in sight, and even if there's a plan, momentum stalls out once the fun part is over.)
I had two stacks of string blocks, one blue-green/aqua and one pink. A while back, I'd pulled some pink and blue/aqua fabric for the next proposed phase of the project, but I wasn't sure I wanted to do the work that involved. It didn't sound like fun, but I wasn't sure what else to do, instead.
So I wasted part of a day one weekend just thinking about it and looking a quilt blocks to see if anything jumped out as a superior alternative. After all that, I reluctantly admitted that the original idea was still the best thing I could come up with. 😖 I should've just started doing the work and saved that time! As it turned out, the part I thought didn't sound like fun actually wasn't so bad, after all, and those stitch-and-flip units came together quickly. (Frustrating, how often that happens! And I never seem to learn!)
Anyway, the first step was cutting a bunch of background squares and making stitch-and-flip corners...
I sewed up the bonus HSTs right away, as I went. (Those are from the triangular pieces that you trim away after stitching and flipping the corners.) I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but even if they just go into a crumb or string project, they'll be put to good use.
I've also been saving all my too-small-for-crumbs scraps to use as stuffing (for some as-yet-undetermined future project). I haven't been saving them for that long, really, but they do add up pretty quickly. They're what's in the plastic bag in the photo above.
Next, it was time to start playing around with how to arrange everything. I started by putting the string blocks into groups of four (by color)...
Then I added in the stitch-and-flip blocks... (This isn't all of them— just what would fit on the wall at one time. The rest went onto flat surfaces, out of the way.)
And then it was time to sew things together. I opted for the webbing method with 4x4 units. I do like webbing for this scale of work— much, much more manageable than with the whole quilt, in my opinion! All the benefit of keeping things easily in place, but much less irritating than trying to wrangle a whole quilt this way and that.
As the 4x4 blocks come together, I'm sewing them together into rows of 3. The whole thing will be 3 x 3 blocks. Not very large, but fine for a lap blanket at the couch. I'm just looking forward to seeing it done! For something that I didn't even want to think about for the past several months, I'm happy with how it's turning out. Pink and blue/blue-green aren't my favorite color pairing, but it'll be okay for spring.
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I rearranged some things in this corner of the craft room, recently (though it may not be noticeably different to anyone but myself). It started with wanting to use a particular box for my bobbin storage. That meant moving what was already in that box to a different container, which inevitably ended in just about everything on the two shelves being at least nudged, if not completely rearranged. Funny how that happens! I think I've got it all sorted out again, and it's good to lay hands on things every so often, just to remind yourself of what you have and where it can be found.
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Now that the 2nd UFO project is nearing completion (well, nearing the flimsy stage), it's time to consider what comes next. I have more UFOs waiting in the wings, or I could let those wait and work on something new...
