BOM 3- teal and orange

About a month ago I joined this block of the month group on facebook and I made my first block (which was block #3).  I loved the end result, that I just took off making a few of them, wanting to see what a few of these lovely blocks linked together would look like.

After making a few, I stepped back and examined them.  My first thoughts, "wow this is going to be a bright quilt.  Hope it won't hurt your eyes and glow in the dark."  And then I thought " this is going to be a bright quilt- and definately makes you smile!" So I kept going, and 30 squares later, some 400+ HST, I have all the blocks done.  :)

Now the question is, how should I lay out the quilt top??  this block is so much fun because it has so many options!  So, what is your thoughts??

option 1?

option 2?

option 3?

option 4?  

or option 5?

What do you think???

gray HST- gosh I really love HST!

HST, one of my favorite kind of quilts.  This one I got the idea off of on Pinterest.  Saw it, and decided I need to try to make it.  So I grabbed some random bright fabric and went to making HST with dark gray for contrast.

Then I started working on the layout.  I did this one in chunks to help keep everything lined up and try to keep my sanity.  After staring it for a long period of time I would get a little dizzy.  :)

But in the end, I think the top ended up looking great!

Linking up to http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/ for finish it up Friday!
and linking up to Richard and Tanya Quilts for Link a Finish Friday  

sew 2 large get 4 small HST

So I recently joined a block of the month club on facebook where I learned to make this beautiful block!

Along with learning the pattern for this block I also learned an excellent trick for making HST quickly.

This pattern required 4.5 inch HST.  For this technique, you take two 7-inch squares and sew a 1/4 inch stitch around all four corners.

And after sewing a bunch of 7-inch squares together, you end up with a nice stack of sewed together squares.

Now you cut in half diagonally

then cut each half into half again

Which results with each 7-inch sewn together square as 4 4.5-inch HST!!!

Yes, my mind was blown after learning about this (after a soccer game of all things!)

My world of HST is now changed forever!

Thank you Quilting Bee!  :)

stormy night

So what else should I do on a stormy night other than sew??  I will have to say my pup, Draco, had other ideas, like cuddling him and saving him from thunder.  But at least he curled up under my sewing table (taking up my foot room) while I finished up the top of a fun block quilt I started.

My inspiration for this quilt actually came from the fact I had a ton of 4.5 inch squares left over from a project I was going to do, then changed my pattern at last minute.  I don't regret the change, now I have a new challenge of using up all these 4.5 squares (in cotton and flannel!)

After working on some HST quilts, I wanted to do something less complicated and yet bright and fun. So I ended up putting these pieces together for a nice lap size quilt once it is finished.

Looks like more storms tonight and tomorrow, so perhaps I will get some more much needed sewing done!