A Quick Trip

A reader asked me the other day whether I thought Thimbleberries fabrics would lend themselves to the Scrappy Trip blocks some bloggers have been making--Bonnie Hunter/Quiltville has a tutorial on making the blocks with strips of fabric.  I replied that I thought Thimbleberries fabrics would be great, because one of the theories behind Thimbleberries colors is that all of the fabrics go well together.

And, since I had a rather large pile of leftover 1-1/2" squares from the Harrington and Hannah quilt, I thought I'd test my theory.  I made four blocks using the same colors in the same positions.  In the end, I think the eye would have tracked the pattern much better if the fabrics I used had been all the same in a row, as you'd get with strips rather than individual squares in varying tones, but my little challenge to myself was to use what I had on hand.  After I made the four squares, I decided to link them together with a sashing made of the same blocks that continued the color pattern out into the cream sashing border.



This little guy turned out to be about 20" square.  I quilted it simply, following every other diagonal "chain," beginning with the greens near the center, then blues, reds, and repeat through the colors again; finally I stitched along either side of the cream border and then bound it to match the red outer border.

And guess what?  I now have my first Christmas 2013 gift made!  I'd like to get a few more things made throughout the year so it won't be a mad scramble at the end--after getting sick just before Christmas this past season, I'm even more motivated to plan ahead this year.

I still have quite a pile of 1-1/2" squares.  I wonder what else I can make?