Swatch Book and New Quilt Top

I really like solid fabrics.  And Connecting Threads online fabric shop has a great selection of solids, mirage, and basic prints in their Quilter's Candy.  They are good quality, reasonably priced, easy to work with, and pretty!

I bought several charm packs, and some yardage, and went crazy, and created a swatch book.  That way, I'm sure I'm getting the right color when I order.  30 pages later....

This definitely says something about my personality :)  But I love it!

Afterwards, I had a lot of charm squares, and decided to make a quilt with them.  Since they were so many different colors, I decided to try 9-patch blocks alternating with X pattern blocks in a lattice design.

Is it too wild?  I'm still not sure how I feel about it, because its SO different from my usual quilts, but I think when it's finished and quilted, it'll be really nice.  If not, I'll make the 9 patches a solid center section for another quilt, and use the X's with more subtle colors

What do you do with your charm squares?

Mary

Tessellating Star Instructions

Tessellating patterns are interlocking patterns that repeat.  There are a lot of different patterns, but I was really intrigued by the tessellating star, so thought I'd make one.

I wrote these instructions for myself for future quilts, but thought I'd share them.  This is my first attempt at instructions, so any feedback would be appreciated!

One of those quilts!

Some quilts are just trouble!

My uncle asked me to make a quilt to put at his mountain cabin. I thought I'd found a good pattern, Snowball blocks alternating with Nine Patches. I had lots of "woodsy" fabric in my stash.

When I put the blocks on my design wall, I didn't like it AT ALL!

So I cut the nine patches in half, and got rid of the snowball blocks. After trying several layouts, I still didn't like it :(

I ended up sewing the blocks back into nine patches, leaving out some fabrics and putting in more darks. It felt like I was going around in circles! 

Instead of the Snowballs, I used a different block (Puss in the Corner).  Finally, I got the blocks rearranged, and this time I'm happy with the result.

I sure hope the quilting goes better!

Mary

Easy to Make Design Wall

Here's a great idea for an easy and inexpensive Design Wall -- your fabric sticks to the flannel so you rarely need pins!

I made two - here is a picture of one of them.  They are side by side so I have a total of 8' x 8' of design space!  They can be rearranged or I can just use one if I want!

Simple Instructions: