Spring is here and summer is on its way, which means its wedding season! Which also means that my weekends for the next 6 months are nearly booked. So I will have to do as much as I can on my quilting in the evenings after work, and on random days off. No biggie, but its going to be a race to the finish line.

Pinterest is a constant source of inspiration, both in how I want to decorate a house I don’t own yet, and in creating beautiful quilt blocks. I feel like every day I see something else I want to try! Here is my current work in progress.

Yesterday I came across this lovely string X block, which when put together with 4 blocks total creates an X shape.

Dan’s mom dropped off two great fat quarter bundles over the weekend for me to play with, so what the heck! Lets try it!

Now, keep in mind that when I find blocks online, I dont have any instructions to go with them. I like winging it and figuring out how it works on my own. It’s like solving a complex algebraic equation. That’s half the fun of quilting, in my honest opinion.

This is how my first draft turned out:

What I learned for next time:

I want the white strips to be thinner and I want the sizes of the inside strips of assorted colors to be more varying in size.

I think I will start digging through my scrap bin to find all different kinds of patterns and colors to continue this quilt.

I also saw a great Lone Star block that I just had to try.

Now, the colors in the example were a bit much for me. She had a few examples of different color combos that were a bit more monochromatic and conservative, so that’s what I went for.

Obviously, mine is not finished (and this picture is horrible!). This block is intricate and takes a while to finish, especially when you are winging it and keep putting the blue strips where the white strips need to be (oops!)

I am thinking I will finish this one and use it as a corner piece for another quilt.

I am one large block into another zigzag quilt, but this time its a different sort of zig.

I am building this quilt out of Children At Play by Moda. I love the playful fabric, although I do think at this point that it would be better suited to a design that allows for more of the printed details to show. We will see how it goes. I may have to get another FQ of Children at Play to use in another design. We shall see!

What are you all (or y’all, if that’s your thing) working on this week?

Another thing I need to work on? Finding a better way to display my blocks for taking pictures, because painters tape makes them look wonky when no wonk is required