Delectable Mountains.

I have been working on the Whirligig UFO as a part of my quilt guilt 2016 UFO challenge.  I had gotten a lot done already and as I gazed upon this beauty on my design wall, all done except for borders, I decided, It's too small!  I had enough extra fabrics to make  more blocks, and so I did, I added an extra row, so the quilt is now 5 x 5 instead of 4 x 5.

I also started on the borders.  Also with leftover fabric, mostly scraps, I made 44 smaller delectable mountain blocks that I had been thinking of doing.  Eleven per side.  I think it will look  fantastic!  Here's my progress!

As I gazed upon the new improved version, I decided I really really didn't like one of the blocks.  Dull and boring in color, and so I ripped it out and made a new block, a red one!  Can you tell which block I ripped out?  Maybe that gray one in the 3rd row?  Or perhaps the brown one in the 4th row?  No.  Actually, I might have replaced that gray one... it is also a little on the boring side.  But I didn't have enough fabric left to redo one in any other color!  My delectable mountains used up every possible scrap of any decent size!  Ok, which one, you ask.  The olive green one in the 2nd row is the ugly duckling!  Puke green if you ask me!  And so now my quilt looks like this!  Better, eh?

Scrap Overload

I have been working on multiple quilts (the Mystery quilt, Asteroids, Rainbow Kaleidoscope for the quilt guild presentation, whirligigs, plus miscellaneous things --cow, etc.)  Needless to say, my sewing room is in need of a serious cleaning.  I should put things away from one project before I start another, but nooooo.  Isn't there an old saying about a cluttered room is the sign of a gifted mind?  (THAT's MY story, and I'm sticking to it!)

Anyway, to say that I am a scrap hoarder is an understatement.  Ever since I learned that paper-piecing can use the SMALLEST scraps, I've been keeping almost everything!  And my scrap bins overfloweth!

I have decided to make an actual quilt with those scraps, and this may take years and years to do.  I am cutting squares in various sizes, the smallest being 1.5" square.  If a scrap cannot make a 1.5" square I am tossing it out!  I cut the largest square I can from a scrap, the largest being 3.5" (3" finished,) a 2.5" square (to finish at 2") and 1.5" (1" finished.)  I plan to sew scraps together (as in the picture above) and then arrange them in some random combination to make a 12.5" square (finishing off at 12").  These will all be sewn, not strip piecing, so it will take some time.  I am making it a goal to sew one "square" a day (16 one-inch pieces in a 4x4 arrangement) or a 16-patch of 3" squares, or a 4 patch of 2" squares, or whatever it turns out to be.  When I have a significant amount of squares, I will make a quilt and call it "Scrap Attack."  A have enough scraps to make about 100 of these kinds of quilts!!

Whirlygigs

Now that I have finished piecing Asteroids, my design wall is empty.  I have a UFO that is about 3/4 finished, so I decided that shall be next.  Up onto the wall it went, and I finished the remaining 8 blocks in record time.  Here it is:

I like this one!  It is full of colors and was easy to make.  I don't know what I will do with it once it's done, but that's not really important to me.  I just love making quilts!  I have to sew these 20 blocks together, and put on some kind of border--  first a small 1 or 2 inch black border to frame it, then something with the colors from these blocks.  I have a lot of good size pieces of each color, so I could get a little creative.  Maybe something like I made for Anna's Painted Lady.  I was also thinking of a "Delectable Mountains" type border, as that could repeat the angles of the whirlygigs.  I don't want it to be too big or flashy though.  Time will tell.  I'll keep you posted!

You can find the pattern for Whirligigs in this book
Midnight Quilts by Lerlene Nevaril.