Surprising serendipity from my stash

My niece was married a year ago, quite far from home (Canada). She now lives in Peru so I may never actually be able to give her a hug. But she is such a gentle and sweet soul that I wanted to celebrate her wedding with a special quilt. I found a great geometric pattern in a magazine that would use a wide variety of prints - so I thought that would be fun and fresh.  The directions called for making 10" blocks - so I thought it would be a great size. The cutting instructions asked for cutting in strips of various widths - so I thought it would be a quick project.

 

So I started to pull some fabrics from the stash. It is exhilarating to be able to find what you need from what you already have. lots. of.  No need to shop.

 

The colours are perfect for Peru (in my head at least). I found 7 prints that played well together and a great coordinating fabric (enough of it too)! I was ecstatic that I had such great prints in my stash. I probably would not have found such a great set had I headed out to the quilt shop (but I never need an excuse anyway).

 

I started cutting my various strips Width of Fabric (WoF), the next instruction was to cut 10" lengths and assemble them. Why couldn't I sew the strips together and save time? Oh well, back to the pattern. So I assemble 49 blocks individually. 

 

Wait a minute now I have to assemble rows of six  8 1/2 blocks. Where was that instruction? I reread the cutting instructions again, yep 10" pieces. I am still perturbed by cutting them apart instead of sewing the strips together but I a getting over it because I really love my colours and how they came together.

 

I reread the step that says to assemble the 8 1/2" blocks so they must be there somewhere but what happened to my 10" blocks... reread again.. oh yes there is a step that says to cut each 10" block down to 8 1/2" WTF! Yep, waste all that beautiful fabric was supposed to be cut into scrap bits... but I want all of my fabric and I do not want to cut any of it off.

 

What a crazy idea! Make large blocks and then cut them into smaller blocks! I threw away the silly pattern and worked out my own, using the full 10" blocks.

 

The blocks laid out on my design wall.

I really love it. I am hand quilting it in a Lily motif, similar to a flower in one of the prints. It is a slow go though because none of my fabric markers show against all the colours, except the chaco liner. It however wears off by the time I finish a flower. I am so slow - 90 minutes per flower if I am also watching TV. I won't have it done by Anniversary #1.

PS. I know it has been a long time but a lot of living, quilting and stuff has been going on.