Crazy-making Blocks

The red and white stars have been put on hold for the time being. I got a little stuck when it came to making filler blocks. Bonnie just used whole cloth squares inbetween her Ohio Star blocks but I can't bring myself to do that. So I'm trying to make low volume hourglass units to spread out my star blocks. We'll get back to that eventually.

In the meantime I have a wedding quilt to create. I've been collecting various green prints - the only color cue I've been able to get from the bridal couple! - and worked to find a process that I would enjoy while at the same time producing a quilt the newlyweds would like.

The floral print you see above will be the back and maybe an outer border on the front. Maybe. You're only seeing a portion of the greens I've collected. Don't tell my husband, but I think I spent more than we budgeted for fabric for this project. ;- )

I've decided to use the stack and slice and shuffle process again. I enjoy the variety each stack of prints offers and it allows me to make five or six blocks at a time.

I began with 14" squares of fabric and made five cuts for six patches in each block.

The theory was to make twelve inch finished crazy patch blocks. That meant trimming the blocks to 12.5" once they were reassembled. The first time around I had two that came out big enough to trim down to 12.5". The other four were far too small and wonky. That really threw me for a loop. I've used this process often enough that I felt very confident I would get good results. Apparently I was a little too confident!

This morning I figured out what I'd done wrong. I'd turned a pair of patches upside down when sewing them back into the block. So I've taken those blocks partially apart, turned those patches right side up, and made other adjustments where necessary (and possible).

I now have the first five blocks done. I'm not sure what I'll do with that too-small block at this point. The next step is to try another stack, see if I can get 12.5" out of them, and then make further decisions. I may be able to add scraps to the small block and include it in the quilt top or I may not need it. I'm not 100% certain how big this quilt is going to be yet.

Between the seaming of the crazy patches I sewed up these two 9" liberated stars:

The owl print in the lower block is stinkin' cute. It's a new arrival at my LQS. I may have to go back for more... maybe make myself a new set of potholders to replace the burned and stained pair currently on display. :- )