The First Act of Avoidance

I pin basted Child's Play. Still debating whether to quilt it from the back, following major lines in the design of the backing fabric, or whether to basically custom quilt it on the front. I know, I know, if I would only give in and learn to free motion quilt I wouldn't have this issue. Well I'm not ready yet so let me show you what I'm doing instead. ;- )

Back in the day, when I was a fresh young quiltmaker, I had this vision of making a quilt that would be reminiscent of what I consider "pioneer quilts." I wanted to use simple pieced blocks in indigo blues and turkey reds with shirting print backgrounds. This is what I had when I pulled the bag out recently:

I thought there were more blue blocks but I guess not. I don't believe I'd thought about how to set the blocks. Back then I was lucky to get a block or two made in a sitting as my children were all still little and/or in school. Now I can't bear the thought of a straight-on setting with sashing. After I made a few more blocks I put the bag away again.

The other day I was looking for a quick something to do for my 15 minutes of play. I don't remember how I came across it but I found an intriguing block in an antique quilt. I went into the scraps I'd received from V~ and made up a sample.

Fun! So I got out my indigo blues and shirting prints and made a few more.

Wheeee! I like these blocks! I made a few more. Then I got out the Churn Dash/Monkey Wrench blocks to see how they would look together. One thing led to another and pretty soon I had this on my design wall:

I think I've made a breakthrough with my pioneer quilt. :- )