Doc

I think I should begin this post by saying that the biggest challenge in making and blogging about this month's Schnibble is refraining from titling the post, "What's Up, Doc!"  That being said, when I saw the "assignment," I was eager.  I had never done a card trick block before.  When I was showing my quilt around, I heard that frequently.  I wonder why that is?  The block wasn't difficult, I just found it best to complete each one individually so as not to get things turned around.

This is probably my last Schnibble here in Hawaii.  I say "probably" because the packers come on the 4th and who knows if I will have a chance to complete June's in only 3 days.  (The possibility does exist, but is "probably" not likely.  We'll see!!)  Since it is, I decided to take out my completed quilt and photograph it with Hawaii in the background.  Here is what I came up with. 

I did not use a charm pack for this project.  I have been collecting black and white fabrics for over a year now and wanted to use them in a quilt.  I like black and white and one other color quilts real well, but what color to choose?  I like red, but it seems like I've seen many "newspaper quilts" (you know-- black and white and read (red) all over!) quilts lately.  I finally decided on turquoise.  It seems like turquoise has become a favorite of mine since living here.  I refer to it as my "favorite Hawaii color."  It is easy to understand why--the water, the sky, etc.

I began by dividing my fabrics into "black and white" and "white and black."  Each block had two cards of the dark, and two of the light.  I pressed differently than the directions said to because of the darker background.  I began by pressing all the half square triangles to the turquoise fabric.   My plan included using a solid black for the little corner squares in the sashing and then I really wanted a black and white stripe for the binding.  I love striped bindings!  I didn't have one, so I did a little online shopping.  I found this first:

And it was EXACTLY what I had in mind.  I put it in my cart and then, because I had typed "black stripe" into the search at Fat Quarter Shop, I continued to scroll through the results.  And came across this:

Be still my heart!  Was the turquoise the right shade?  How did I feel about the yellow?  I thought about it and decided to order both.  If I used the yellow, I would need to put it somewhere else to "make sense."  I saw that it was from the Lemon Grove line and looked for coordinates.  There was something that looked like I could "fussy cut" something from for the little cornerstones.  I bought a half yard of that, too.

 When the fabric came, it was perfect!  I looked over the coordinate and settled on these little sun shapes.  I loved them!  But, can you believe it?  In a whole half yard, I was two suns short of the number I needed.  Do I order another half yard?  I decided on cutting two of these little birds, instead.

I still wasn't one hundred percent sure of the completed top.  I took it to my bee and showed it with the stripe to use for binding.  It got rave reviews, so with renewed confidence I came home, layered, quilted, and bound it.  The binding really makes it!  I love how it came out.  One of my goals in doing Another Year of Schnibbles is to push myself out of my comfort zone, and this sure is but I'm really pleased with it!

One more "Hawaii shot."  If you look on the horizon, to the left of the boat you can see Diamond Head in the distance!

I have to say here that I have completed (quilting, binding, etc.) all of my Schnibbles by the end of the month.  It is killing me that I may not be able to do June's or July's!  (We do not arrive in Virginia until the middle of July and who knows when we will get our stuff and get unpacked!)  And if Sinta and Sherrie wanted to share the next one a little early so I could get it done before moving, I sure wouldn't tell anyone what it is!  I can keep a secret!

Aloha,
JoAnne