Closing Out 2021

While my husband is having adventures in stirring pudding, waiting for it to boil, I am going to post about the final two or three projects I completed this year.  I have decided the Drunkard's Path quilt, which I named Drunkards Pink, will be posted with the best photo we got of it during the wind and freezing cold on December 18 at Scentsy in Meridian.

The bottom edge is cut off, but other than that I cannot complain.  It is big, 72" X 72", so it needs two people to hold it up, or it needs to be hung up somehow.  I set up the camera on a tripod, and my husband had the remote clicker.  I had bean bags pinned to the bottom, for us to step on, to keep it from whipping up.  I felt like we were the only wind block between Canyon and Elmore Counties.  After I adjusted the camera, back a little bit, the photos did not improve.  So, this is it!

This is the back of the quilt.  I pinned some short tubes of fabric on the back side, just below the top of the quilt, for something to hold on to when holding the quilt up.  This reduces the number of fingers and knuckles in the photos, when used properly. 

This is my completed block-of-the-month quilt.  Our quilt group did a block-of-the-month challenge for 2021.  We were given a list of fabrics for each month of 2021: January is really bright fabrics, February is stripes, March is tone-on-tone, and so forth.  Then each month we were e-mailed the instructions on how to do the block for that month.  I did an extra three blocks so I would have a longer quilt.  The quilt size is 58.5 inches by 37.5 inches.  I also sized all my blocks to be 9.5" square.  I really do not like 12.5" blocks.  Remember, when you click on the photo it enlarges the photo, so you can see the details better.  The December block has fabric with a little metalic in it, upper left block, and the very center of the block is paper-pieced.  Some of our less seasoned quilters did the paper-piecing on theirs, so I thought I should not skip out on that process just because I am in search of instant gratification.  That tiny center took me hours to finish, when I would rather have done something else.  Credit goes to my friend, Shannan, who was also at the quilting retreat in October.  She got me started and coached me on to completion of that tiny little center square.  This quilt does make me feel like I accomplished something worthwhile.  I have since made more of some of these blocks to use in other quilts this coming year.  We are having the big reveal of all our BoM quilts at our meeting at the end of January.  I am glad mine is finished. 

On December 26, I made what I call a souffle' pillow for the cat that lives in our house.  She detests familiarity.  I made it to fit in a cardboard box.  I put batting in the top and bottom portions and quilted the top.  I put a zipper in, so it can be washed. 

I used fabric scraps to stuff it with and added a few tablespoons of catnip.  So far, Miss Particular has not thought it enticing enough to sit on.  The zipper will aid in additional catnip application, should it be called for.  Highly likely.

I close out 2021, with hopes of kitty bed occupation and many more quilts to come in 2022.  

Dr. Seuss Quilt

A friend was wanting something special for her first grandson, who is due on the scene in January.  She contacted me to see if I could create something special.  I had seen the new Dr. Seuss fabrics on-line at Jordan Fabrics, and I heard they were to be had at The Quilt Crossing.  She loved the Dr. Seuss idea.  So, I proceeded with a Jelly Roll from Jordan Fabrics and yardage from The Quilt Crossing.  

The fabric I had for the binding, "Oh, The Places You'll Go" was not quite what my eye wanted for the binding.  I looked through my bright stash and found this fabulous fabric, I got in the sale section of the 'Sew and Soak' website a couple of months ago.  It is perfect!  All it's colors are in the quilt!

My binding turned out perfect.  The red and white stripped outer border is from the Dr. Seuss collection that was released around 2013.  I had bought some down at The Quilt Barn (Kimberly, ID) way back then.  I had used about 3 inches of it, so I had plenty to add to this quilt.  

It is bright, fun, and soft and fluffy, just like a baby quilt should be.  She wanted it a little on the big side, so it is 51.5" by 51.5".  It is busy in just the way Dr. Seuss would expect it to be.   My friend loves it!

All Kinds of Quilts

I have been making all kinds of quilts these last couple of months.  The big 'Drunkard's Pink" quilt, I finished in November, but have not managed to take a photo of it.  We headed out to Scentsy on Saturday morning, early, and it was too windy.  It was also biting cold!  We jumped back in the Blazer and came home.  The wind has not died down yet.  What is with the wind this year?

I got my BoM quilt back from the long-arm quilters on Thursday.  I just need to sqaure it up and get a binding on it, and it will be finished.  It is the main one for my quilt group's 2021 quilt challenge.  I am so excited it is almost finished!

In October, I did piece an adorable wall-hanging for a friend.  I finished quilting it late last week.  The measurements are 14" X 15.5".

The bird block I got from Lynne Tyler's blog: patcherymenagerie.blogspot.com     I made four of these blocks, just to see if I could do it (and I was procrastinating getting my other quilt projects done).  I put one of the birds in this wall-hanging.  One is in the vertical row quilt that is currently on my design wall.  The other two have Santa hats and will go in my Christmas quilt that I hope to make in 2022.

In November, I did a presentation on ways to bind or finish your quilts.  It was at my quilt group in Kuna.  I started by demonstrating a 'turned quilt'.  You actually sandwich the front, batting, and back first, then you turn it, then you do all the quilting.  

You can see there is no binding on this quilt.  It is all stitch-in-the-ditch, so you don't really see the quilting either.  If it were not so bright, I would call it invisible.  I made this quilt specifically for my presentation, so I simply used some orphan blocks and did not take any time to worry about aesthetics.  It was a demo.  I did get a few good comments on it, but I am wondering why.  It is quirky, but not that good looking.  The blocks are 12" X 12".  I suppose it would be a fun quilt for a three-year-old to have a picnic with her tea set and dolls.

I did complete a large baby quilt, that I was commissioned to do.  It is a Dr. Suess baby quilt.  I need to get a photo of it, as well.  I am excited to get it 'delivered' this week, so it is out of my hands.  I will get those photos posted as soon as I manage to get some taken.  

Veteran's Day Quilt

Chris and Donna helped to make three of the blocks in this quilt, then I finished it up so our quilt group can donate it for Veteran's Day.  Our group averages three or four quilts donated for Veteran's Day each year.  This one I photographed at the VA Medical Center before turning it in.  

I have lots of red, white, and blue fabric.  I have a bin of red and white, a bin of blue and white, a bin of red, white, and blue, and a bin of RWB scraps.  I have managed to use more of blue and white fabric this year, so I can now get the lid on the bin.  I should try to make a quilt with just blue and white fabrics, which is why I started collecting blue and white fabrics in the first place.  I tried to use them up doing the Sunset Sail quilt a few years ago, but because I needed two yards of one fabric and none of my two yard bits were the right tone, I hade to buy more fabric!  That was a lesson in futility. 

Halloween Bunting Completed!

What?! In time for Halloween?  How unusual.  Yes, started last weekend and it is already finished.  I thought I should just go ahead and post it.  I am not becoming efficient, if you were wondering about that.  Sometimes happy accidents happen.

This is just a preliminary hang-up job, to see how it looks.  I will be hanging it outside for Halloween.  Yes, it will involve a ladder and adding a hook to the outside of our house.  One end will be anchored in our blooming cherry tree, thus only one hook.  I can hardly wait!  [for more bunting info, click on the link in the left margin:  Festive Bunting You Can Make Yourself]

Happy October

It has been a busy month with auto appointments, pet appointments, people appointments, yard sale weekend, and a long camping weekend.  I still have hardly put up a decoration for Halloween.  I did make another Halloween quilt, however.  This one I actually photographed in October (instead of February or August).

This is the one that I pieced all the blocks while out camping in the woods in July.  My July post has some photos of the quilt in progress.  The light sashing fabric has tiny little black spiders on it.  I got it quilted in September and the binding on in the first part of October.  It was deliberately made for my co-workers' son, who is turning ten on this Halloween.  My dad's birthday was on Halloween, and it never occurred to me to make him a Halloween quilt.  I know this young man will appreciate and enjoy it for many years to come.  He wrote me a thank card in cursive.  I don't know if he has discovered that the bones in the border fabrics glow in the dark.  They do!   

On our camping trip, last week, we went up to Brownlee Reservoir, where I made some skull blocks.  I feel a skull quilt in my future.  These blocks are going into bunting to be hung out on Halloween.

Military Uniform and More Quilt

I made a quilt from military uniforms and more.  It is commonly known as "Erik's Quilt".  It has everything to do with what he wanted and who he is.  That is his story and I am not going in to that here.  First I am posting a photo of the finished quilt, then I will elaborate, a bit, on how I did it.

The planning for the quilt started a wee tick over one and one-half years ago.  Erik was a photographer in the U.S. Army.  He is still a photographer.  He grew up in Germany and his brother served in the German military in Afghanistan. 

The clothing Erik gave me, to include in the quilt, is in the upper photo. It includes a t-shirt, which I pieced into the back of the quilt.  I failed to photograph the back of the quilt, but I do have photos of those blocks, just prior to them becoming part of the backing.

This is the early stage where I just wanted to get a feel for the colors and possible combinations.  I dulled my seam ripper ripping those desert storm fabrics apart.  Later, I quit ripping and just used scissors to cut away the seams.  I did not want seams in the quilt, to reduce bulk and weight.  I chose one pocket to include and I cut the inside of it down and surged what was left closed before I pieced it into the quilt.  I removed the buttons, then sewed them back on, after the quilt was quilted.

I absolutely wanted a half-square triangle border in the quilt. I wanted a framed focus on the military fabrics in the center.  Then I worked my way out.  I already had the black and white film fabric in my stash, so that made a dynamic border, as well.

When it came to cutting into his brother's uniform shirt, it was difficult to make that first cut.  This shirt is amazingly well constructed, and with great design.  I made sure I only cut what I needed.  I have another project in mind, as a gift to his brother.  I made sure I got the German flag from the right arm included in one of the pieced blocks in the quilt.

All the clothing Erik gave me has meaning, so I wanted to include it all and the other things he wanted in the quilt.  The other things were mostly in the fabrics I chose to go with the clothing fabric, including a nice smattering of Hawaiian fabrics (chickens, Army men, and Scotty dogs, oh my!).  The dark red with eagles actually looks a little cammo-ish from a distance, so I really like that effect.  The black is not solid black.

I wanted the German and American flags in the quilt.  Piecing the German flag was easy, but the American flag is another story.  I went into my patriotic fabric stash and settled on the eagle carrying the flag, and another piece for the center of the balance "flag" top border.  I did not want the binding to cover the edges of those pieces, thus the red strip at the top.  There are three different red fabrics that pulled the whole quilt together.   This includes the Hawaiian shirting fabric on the outer side borders.  Another reason for the Hawaiian red fabric is it has yellow and black in it, to add more color to go with the German flag.  I made Erik's name and the year in the bottom border using the red and yellow, so it is carried throughout the quilt.  I knew all along that I wanted the browns and sands to be in the outer border.  It grew so much that it was not as much in the outer border, as I had predicted.

My long-arm quilter told me I could not get everything on the front, and he was right!  When my daughter came to visit in May, we went on a spree to The Gathering Place in Rupert, ID, where I found some awesome llama fabric that needed to go in.  My daughter found the unicorn fabric at Sally's Back Porch in Shoshone (on the way back from Rupert), that had to go in . . . so I made blocks for the back of the quilt, too!  It was a nice balance on Erik's sister's t-shirt.

Yes, the quilt back is predominately pineapples and plaid. It has a nice ring to it!  And it looks good, too!  I may have to ask Erik for a photo of the back of the quilt.

In front of the main hospital building at the Boise VA Medical Center.

He loves it and I got the reaction I was hoping for, when I gave it to him.

Remember: if you click on the photos it makes them bigger, so you can see the details.

Halloween in August

Did you notice all the 'Christmas in July' events this year?  I noticed several, and some were at quilt shops.  I have completed my 2nd Halloween quilt for this year.  Actually, I made a Halloween quilt top while I was out camping in June/July.  That one still needs the backing constructed and the quilt quilted. After that quilt, I made another quilt top out of those scraps and some other scraps in my Halloween Scrap Stash.  Say that fast four times.  Anyway, I finished the scrappy one and hand-stitched the binding on, so I could enter it in the Western Idaho State Fair.  It has been entered.  All the quilts will be judged on Wednesday, and then on display when The Fair opens on Friday, August 20.  If you understand log-cabin blocks, you will notice that this one is four really big log cabin blocks using varying widths of fabric strips.  It is a liberated log-cabin block quilt.  Officially:  scrappy, wonky, liberated log-cabin Halloween quilt.

I have this overflowing bin of Halloween fabrics, which I have gotten under control.  I can actually get the lid onto the bin. That is why I made two Halloween quilts this summer.  The previous one, I completed in February and posted a photo at that time.  I managed to make that photo look like it was Halloween, but how do I get some spooky fall look in August?  I took advantage of the smoke from all the wildfires that are polluting the air in the valley (and all over the place!).  My husband and I got up early on Sunday morning and drove out toward Caldwell and found a couple of fields to pose in front of.  I had my husband bring his gloves and he was allowed to hold the quilt up with his fingers showing.  How liberated of me, to allow such a thing.  Anyway, it is kind of a scary pose in the fog (smoke) with some eerie orb in the background (the sun).

Here is a shot of the back.  It has a six-inch wide casing across the top, so The Fair folks can hang it up.  The casing covers up the way cool bat fabric that I used at the top of the backing.  Oh, well.  It was long-arm quilted by Virginia at Crab Apple Creek Quilting.  I knew I wanted these spider webs when I took it to her.  She made it happen!

Who knew?

Who knew that the adorable Queen of Skunk Cabbage, would grow up to become the adorable Gluten Free Quilter?  In my younger days, my dad worked for the Forest Service.  This resulted in me spending a great deal of time on the Boise National Forest, exploring, fishing, wading, throwing rocks in the creek or river, picking/eating berries, drinking root beer, and taking naps.  Due to the COVID-19 situation, my husband and I have taken several trips up to my old stomping grounds and 'camped out'.  He bought a couple solar panels, inverter, and a large capacity battery, so we could catch some rays.  Those caught rays powered my sewing machine, iron, and a fan all day long.  There was still enough energy at the end of the day to run our TV so we could watch some murder mysteries after dinner.  Some camping trip!!!  

We went up on June 30 and came back after the 4th of July weekend.  Here is the skunk cabbage!  Oh, you can see a little bit of the creek, behind it (upper right).

Here is our camp site.  This was the first day, and we did not have the awning up yet.  You can see the two solar panels just to the right of the American flag.  We towed our Blazer, so we could go exploring on some days.  We are always looking for a new nice place to camp, but this is our favorite.  About 90 feet on the other side of the Blazer is the creek; an excellent place to cool off.

We had some extraordinarily high temperatures in Idaho during the last six weeks . . . it got pretty warm up here in the late afternoons, so a cold dip was a wonderful thing.

Here I am piecing a Halloween quilt.  I got all the blocks finished and sewed to each other, while using solar power out in the boondocks. I have a braided rug under my table, where I place my peddle and bag of pieces and parts.  There is usually a breeze, so my blocks are under my ruler and pop-up to keep them from blowing away.

These two shots seem a little on the dark side, but you can see my blocks, my bunting, and the evergreens beyond.  This is almost like saying "What's on the Design Wall In July?"

We drove up to Lower Lave Mountain Trail Head, to check out the creek there and see if there were any campers.  The road, in the photo above, is the one we came up to get to Lower Lava Mtn TH.  It is a one-track road with no turn-outs, but this would be a fabulous place to camp out if you do not use an RV to do your camping in.  There was no one camping up there.  The creek was much lower on July 2nd, than it had been last August when we were up there.  Then we checked out Long Gulch Creek, down where Long Gulch Guard Station used to be, and it was as low on July 2nd as it was last August.  There are little fishes in there, and I wonder what will become of them if the creek dries completely up!  I caught my first fish in Long Gulch Creek when I was six years old.  It is beautiful up here, but I think the Forest Service is letting it go.  These hot temperatures are not good for the creeks and their ecosystems.

This tree survived the huge fire that came through here in the early 1990's.  Not much left here to indicate there had been a nice guard station here.  This is where we camped over the 4th of July in 2020 (last year).

Obnoxious III

Wait a minute!  Where is the posting about Obnoxious III?  I have investigated the situation, and it appears I did not post about Obnoxious III, last November, when I completed it.   I just had sooooo much going on last fall!  I had to glean through my massive collection of photos to find it.  Without further ado, here is the photo of the amazing Obnoxious III quilt:

After I made the red border on this one, is when I decided to put red in the center portion of the next one (Obnoxious IV).  I did actually complete this last November.  The blocks are 5 1/2 " blocks with a back and forth rotation orientation to make the zig-zag effect happen.  It is quite a simplistic design, so pretty quick to assemble, sew, and get finished.

Obnoxious IV

 If you look back on my September 27th post, titled "What's on the Design Wall in September,"  you will see what this was looking like last September.  It is finally completed.  It is very bright, all except the little tree in the lower right-hand corner.  I truly believe it is obnoxious, however, several of the quilters at the meeting last week, were saying, "That's not obnoxious!"  What?!  Are you kidding me?  It is certainly not reserved, glamourous, or sophisticated.  It IS obnoxious and I love it.

I just really had to put that red in there.  I used the black with yellow and orange bursts from the backing on Obnoxious III, and pretty much used up every scrap of it.  I deliberately made sure there was not as much pink in this one as the previous three.  I added the blue and my wonky houses.  The blue and white VFW fabric came along just in time to be the binding on this quilt.  It is like the topping on the cake!

Left Overs Make Eight Point Stars!

Happy June!  The heat is here and I have been busy in the AC.  I have alot of green, brown, and blue fabric left over from making the Crayon Quilt Challenge quilt, so I used some of it to experiment with eight point stars.  I happen to have the Bloc Loc set of flying geese rulers.  I have never used the largest one, so I decided to give that a go.  I made nine blocks using the large flying geese ruler and this is how the quilt turned out.

If you wish to give this a try, I figured out how to 'add a page' to my blog.  Look to the right and you will see the heading "Tutorials".  Click on the Eight Point Star tutorial and see what it is all about.  Not so very hard.  Give it a try and let me know how you do.  See the tips portion, as the half-square triangles border was made using the part you cut off from the flying geese.  Amazing!  

OMG! G is for Goodness!

 OMG!  Did you see the new "Cutting Corners Kits" at Jordan Fabrics???  The demo is amazing!

I don't buy kits, but the demo is amazing! Trust me on this.

Crayon Quilt Challenge

Oh my! I nearly missed posting something in May.  It has been busy. Last September, the quilt group I belong to started a crayon quilt challenge.  We actually met in person at our fearless leader's house, where we social distanced in the back yard and had dinner and show and tell.  Also, a brown paper bag was passed around and we each reached our hands in and pulled out five mystery crayons.  What we did with the crayons was make a quilt with those colors and have done by our May 2021 meeting for a big reveal.  I actually got my quilt done in February and hung on to it for the big reveal.  

Of course it is a snowball quilt with owls in the centers.  As it happens, my colors were brown, green bean green, and three different shades of blue.  I do not have much brown (yuck!) fabric and less green bean green.  So, my pal, A and I went to Joann's first, just to see what we could fine.  She found one fabric that matched one of her crayons.  I found these adorable owls; not exactly green bean green, but if you actually color with the crayons to see your colors, you can color less hard and get something a wee tad lighter.  Then we went to the quilt crossing where they were very helpful with finding us additional fabrics, so they could lighten our wallets.  I found several decent green bean greens for my quilt, along with that amazing blue I used on the corner triangles that pulled my whole quilt together.  The good news is, I did go sorting through my stash and did find some wonderful blues with greens and combination blues, so I did use some of my stash.  After this one went to my favorite long-arm quilter for quilting, I played around with eight-point stars using my left over crayon fabric colors.  I did make a second quilt out of those left-overs.  I think there is enough for two more quilts!  Will it never end?!!!

Spring Bling and an Artful Pillow

I am keeping busy with three big quilt projects, but in between I like to break and do a smaller project. I was asked to make a wall hanging/art quilt for the Nurses Week raffle coming up in May.  I put on my artsy thinking cap and dragged out some of my scraps and grew an art quilt.  Once I got the central part completed it had to rest a few days, until I could decide on the background/border treatment.  I settled on the amazing yellow fabric I bought from VFW website.  Then, I had to think about how to quilt it.  I knew I wanted to use my walking foot and do it myself.  I looked back at my "Greedy" wall-hanging for inspiration.  I stitched in the ditch on most of the center portion and continued repeating parallel lines, and took it on out into the framing area of the piece. 

The cherry blossoms where in full bloom on the tree in our front yard, so I photographed my finished work in that springy location.   Remember you can hover over the photo, then click on it to see it enlarged.  It has bunnies, sheep, bees, butterflies and so much more!

Sometimes I just want to try something I see. I get it done then, I can get back to my bigger projects.  I belong to a club called Mr. B's Preview Pack Club.   Every quarter I get a little packet from Benartex Fabrics which has a news letter called "The Fat Quarterly" and a few 5" X 5" cuts of a new fabric line.  At the end of March, I received my quarterly packet, which had instructions on how to make a 16" pillow cover with the 5" X 5" squares that were included (if you also bought some of the same fabric line for the main color and the backing).  Well,  I have a crap ton of fabric, so I used my own fabric to make this marvelous pillow.  I still have the purple squares, from Benartex, which I am sure I will use at some point.  

You sew the 5X5 squares into half-square triangles, then arrange them in rows of four, to achieve this pattern.  So you sew together sixteen half-square triangles and the pieced part is done!  It was amazingly simple. I used some of the left over fabrics from the Tile Style quilt I made last September-October, so I have gifted this pillow to the owner of the Tile Style quilt.  The top is quilted. After I quilted the top, I surged around the edges, before putting the back pieces on, so it will hold up well in the wash.  Ta-da!

Poker Run Quilt aka Horse Quilt Finally Finished!

This quilt gave me a few headaches, but I have persevered and it is complete. It is the last of the nine UFO's on my list to complete last year.  It was all done, but the binding on December 31, but I had to let it wait a bit longer, because I also had to sew 18 button eyes on it.  But it looks great.  The second one down, on the left, is Old Blue.  In March, actually, I photographed it in front of building 34, at the BVAMC, a historical site, which back in the old days was a horse barn.  It seemed appropriate.

Joe and Gayle are the quilt holders and actual quilt admirers.  If you wish to know more about this quilt, it is mentioned at least three other times on this blog, in past posts.  Or send me a comment, I would love that. 

Nine Years of Quilt Blogging

As March, 2021, closes, I realized I have been doing my quilt blog for nine years.  When I began my Gluten Free Quilter blog, I did not know where it would take me.  I actually started it, because my family members were saying I was technology challenged.  I do not have a cell phone and I would say things like, "I don't do MyFace."  I think I blended My Space and Facebook . . . oh, well.  So, I started by jumping in to designing and creating my blog.  I think it looks pretty unique for a blog, and it is totally me.  What I did not count on, is how I can go back and see what I did in years past.  It is a nice historical record of my quilting and a few other things.  

At the first part of March, I took my Husqvarna in for service and they took three weeks.  I sewed some nice drapes for the upper window in my quilt room, on my old Necchi machine.  It did a great job.  To hang my drapes I had to move a lot of fabric out of the way, to get the ladder in place.  I cleaned and folded and sorted and vacuumed and dusted, and wow!

Here is Ebony stretched out in the sun, beneath the buffet.  It has not been this clean and tidy since we moved in (2015).  Kirsten and Jane's quilt room is actually set-up on the buffet, so they have a ruffled valance in the front window, on the right, and their design wall covering the left window.  Right now, all their stuff is stacked on my big table, but will be move back shortly.  Happy 2021!

One Year Anniversary of Our Global Pandemic or What's On The Design Wall in March

My Husqvarna is in the shop for a tune-up, so I am working with my Necchi sewing machine.  It has taken about a week to get re-acquainted with it, and I think I am turning out some pretty good eight point stars.  I could be sewing buttons on horses eyes, while my machine is in the shop, but why would I want to put the final touch on a quilt and then have it done?  

Today, I received my first injection of the Moderna immunization for Covid-19.  Then I got an e-mail stating that today, March 11, 2021, is the one-year anniversary of when the World Health Organization proclaimed the pandemic.  I feel I have something to remember it by, by getting my shot on this day.  Actually, my arm is the reminder, at this point.  It is a little sore, but that is just fine.  In four more weeks I get number 2 and that is the one I am worried about.  I am going to try not to think about it and just keep sewing, just keep sewing.

I hope to get my machine back by Saturday, so I can finish working on the military uniform quilt that is on my design wall.  I did make a ton of the half-square triangles on the Necchi.  I did not sew them together yet, as I do not know how long the border will need to be, once the center part of the quilt is pieced.

One of the quilt groups I belong to sent the BoM, for April, pattern to us, so I studied it and got it all cut out and the half-square triangles and flying geese parts completed, but don't want to sew them all together until I get my Husqvarna back.  I was, naturally, looking at one of the quilts I photographed at Sisters in 2018, and decided I could make the block, with my half-square triangle and flying geese skills.  So, I gave it a try and they look amazing.  I had to make more and try different color combinations. 

Jane let me use her design wall.  I actually made 15 blocks, but I did not want to remove the cone fish, thermometer, and random "cool" scraps from the wall.  I have pulled a lot of my scraps out and have made a mess of my quilt room while waiting for my sewing machine.  I originally thought having my machine in the shop would give me an opportunity to tidy up the quilt room.  But not!  And those horses still need their button eyes sewed on.