Growing Trees and Not Enough Fabric

Test Set

I've started a new project!

I started out by trying to make my triangles using regular rulers at first.  It was complicated and took a lot of time to figure out, but I had almost got it.  And that was when I realized I wouldn't have enough fabric to make this method work.

So I broke down, found some coupons in my inbox and bought the silly tri-recs ruler set at Joann's for half off.  It was a very good move; well worth the money!

I finished making my test set and started cutting into the real fabric.  After I made my largest triangles (6 inch tall blocks) I ran into a big problem.  I started thinking about what came after the trees and realized I need easily twice as much sky blue as I have.  Oh no!  I bought this fabric forever ago, so getting more is almost certainly out of the question.

The blue already used is in the back.

I really don't want to have to take out what I've already done and start over with something new, but I didn't plan on this being scrappy.  I scrounged around in my stash and came up with the following options to consider supplementing the blue I've already started with.  I'm not convinced any of them are working for me, so I'll probably be heading out to the store in the next few days to see what I can find...


So, what would you do?  Go scrappy or find a new blue and start over?

A Secret Finish!

I have a finish to share today, and it's a doozy!

I've disappeared for the past few months because I've been working double time to finish a secret quilt.  (Surprising people you know with a quilt gets a little tricky when you have a quilt blog!)

This quilt began at a mystery weekend several years ago.  I started the hand quilting in December of 2012.  The last binding stitch went in Saturday.  (Record time! That's about 1/3 of the calendar time it usually takes.)  Tuesday it was gifted.  And now I can show it off without ruining the surprise!

So, without further ado, I give you... "Secret Garden."
Hand Quilted.  Approximately 62x80.

Linking up with Finish it up Friday.

Sunday Stash

A little while ago I bought fabric for another quilt when I had no time to start it.  And since I'm not exactly trustworthy when it comes to not overloading my project list, I've had my husband holding on to my acquisitions.

But yesterday I reached my goal and unlocked my fabric!  So I can't help but show it all off.  And as I type, the first batch is already through the wash.
 

The funky black above is the border.  The first border I picked was giving me such trouble.  I kept picking out colors to go with it and coming up against the fact that the colors matched, and I didn't like them at all!  Once I realized that, with the help of my awesome husband, everything started to come together!



Tans for the background and some small borders.  There's a lot of tan.  I think there is 5 yards of the fabric on the left.  It's a big quilt.  Bigger than I expected it was going to be... with a lot of open space.

I can't wait to start cutting in to it all!

Linking up with Sunday Stash!

Labor Day Progress

I hope everyone had a nice long weekend!  We had some unexpected sun and so there was a lot of hiking, kayaking, and swimming going on around here but I did make some progress none-the-less.

Here's a little sneak peak at what's going on over here these days...