Stringing along at end the year...

Well this is a rare occurrence... two posts back to back... has hardly happened in over a year... probably won't happen again for a while but one can hope... at least I'm hoping that my quilting mojo has returned and I will be making posts on Monday to show what I've accomplished.

Now, there are other things I should be doing (aren't there always other things I should be doing?  don't answer that...LOL) but I my eye caught the shiny squirrel of the Moda String Along ... you can read the email post here...and they showed some very interesting vintage string quilts... and this one grabbed me instantly...

this is from the book  Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts by Mary Elizabeth Kinch and Biz Storms... and while that yellow sashing and border are kryptonite to me it was the big  blocks made from small pieces  that intrigued me.

Now I have some scraps such as this bag ...

and then there are my scrap bins...

So I have plenty of fabric to play with... in case you are wondering the wire bin unit came from Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago and I have seen similar units from time to time there.

 Now I didn't have the book when I started so I'm using my own proportions for my version of this quilt... I'm going to have 3 rows of 3 blocks ...the blocks are going to finish 15.5 " square and I've cut the sashing to finish 7.5" ...

I started making slabs of "fabric"... they are of different widths but are all 16" long...

and yes they are every bit as bright... if not brighter... in real life...lots of bits and bobs left over from other quilts... polka dots, stripes, plaids and novelties.... I LOVE LOVE LOVE novelty fabrics...

here's a close-up of a couple of slabs... of course it has to have some polka dot chickens...

and there are some cool pigs...

and Michelangelo from TMNT peeked in...

and multi-colored cats waving at a passing yellow submarine...

lots of memories including this mechanic's tools piece that is from the first quilt I made for my brother who loved and washed it to pieces...

and here is my first complete block with sashing mocked up around it...

this doesn't capture the true color of this Moda Grunge ...it is called Pool and it is more to the green aqua side than this shows... I've played with filters but I just can't get it right under artificial light and it is raining  cats and dogs right now so taking it outside is not an option...

Anyway the turquoise cools down the hot colors that I like so much. I love the gold on the inspiration quilt but I knew that so many of my scraps are yellow and orange that it wouldn't work for me... so the plan is 9 total blocks... I'm starting with one wide slab and adding a second narrower slab and then calculating how much width I still need to make a 16" square ... this is so much FUN FUN FUN... I haven't enjoyed a project like this for quite a while... I'm making a humongous mess and adding in the novelty fabrics is bringing back lots of memories.  In the end it will be a bit of an eye spy quilt which will hopefully entertain my "to be born in 2019" grandchild when they get a bit older.   In the mean time it is entertaining me!

I'll be playing with this  during the week but I do need to shift gears and work on a baby quilt for a shower for this yet to be born grandchild... I found some adorable fabrics I bought years ago in anticipation of this event and I think I've settled on a very simple sawtooth star block so it shows off the fabrics... I'll show you all a picture after the shower which is the beginning of February. I need to sew it up now so I get it to the quilter and get it back in time. 

Today I'll link up with Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday...and Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!... and Love Laugh Quilt for Making Monday...

Also you can follow the hashtag #modastringalong on Instagram to see what everyone else is up to with this project... lots of cool ideas for using up strings and scraps...and you don't have to have an Instagram account to look at Instagram... I have a love/hate relationship with IG... I LOVE looking at all the creative stuff there and get lots of ideas for things I want to do... and I HATE how much time I can waste there looking at all the creative stuff  there where I get lots of ideas for things I want to do...LOL

As we close out 2018 and welcome 2019 I hope each and every one of you  has  wonderful year ahead filled with joy! Thanks so much for coming to read the ramblings on this blog... I hope I can entertain you with my craziness...I know is leaves my friends and family shaking their heads but as my son has told me on numerous occasions ...you are crazy, but it isn't the kind of crazy we can have you committed for....yet.... its that last part that has me worried...LOL

happy stitching-

carol fun