Checking In on the Thirties Sampler

Hello to all.
I hope you've had a great week and were able
to work on play with a fun project or two.

I'm linking up to 
Quilting, Patchwork, Applique again this Sunday
to show my progress on the 30's chain quilt.  

I've already shared this one but I now

have three of these made.

To be consistent, I began cutting out three

of this one and then ran out of that dotted fabric.

(I always think I can make it work!)

But no worries, another scrap used up.

Now I'm making four of each block:

two in one set of fabrics, and two in another.  

Why am I being so technical about all of this?
Because I am constantly looking at levels of

scrappiness.  I love scrappy--but within limits

so I call it "controlled scrappy".

(I'd like to think I coined this term but who knows?)

I am a person who likes order but with

allowance for beauty and creativity.  

It seems to me this is how God creates.

This probably is why I love chain quilts so much.

By all means, give me some parameters...and then

let me do what I want.  Anyway, I'm always interested

in what it takes to keep a scrappy quilt orderly

(what is going too far and what is not enough)

 so I pay attention to things

like how many blocks are in what fabrics, 

how many different blocks there are, etc.

Speaking of blocks, here is what

I made this past week:

Again, there are two of each pictured.

Btw, I really like this block design and there should

definitely be more of these in my quilty future.

 I've been doing a good job scrap-busting so I felt it was

acceptable to bring in some newly-purchased fabrics.

I'm not going to be super-strict on the 30's theme.

If something blends well enough (like the yellow),

I declare poetic quilter's license.

So that puts me at 15, which is a decent showing

for the week.  Could it be that I'm slowly catching up?

Slooooowly.

Now, because I know you're wanting to

see them all together:

I went back and added in the sashing on the program.

These are small but I wanted to place them side-by-side.

With that color, I guess it looks pretty dark and un-cheery

but that aside, I do have a decision to make.

IF I choose sashing, and it's likely I will, I have this

green that I used in the sashing and on the back

in my previous quilt:  

(yes, that's the same red, too)

I really want to put it on the back of this quilt too, if I
have enough, so I guess what I'm getting at here is that 
I'm not sure what I would use for the sashing.

(This means:  I'm thinking of fabric shopping.)

For reference, my first version of this quilt

turned out like so:

Ugh, I never went back and got a better picture of that one.

Seriously, one day, when there is no wind and the lighting

is *just* right, I will get all of my quilts out for a photo shoot, 

and it will be like seeing them for the first time.  Maybe I

should  just put them all outside and charge admission...

(This would certainly make that fabric shopping more fun!)

It really is bright and cheery.

Fyi, I do not plan on doing a piano-key border on this

second, bigger quilt.  That's a time I think I went

too scrappy for my taste.

Well this post has gotten longer than I intended but

it has been nice to get everything laid out to see

where I'm at and to think about where I'm going.

Where are you going with your quilts this week?

 Happy quilting!