Obsessed

All week I've been plowing through my 1-1/2" scraps, hell-bent on using them up, and I have no idea why. I've decided on a Triple Chain pattern I screen-shot from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville site (the "Leaders & Enders" page listed under "Tips & Techniques!")

After ironing out that pile of sewn-together strips and squares, I found I had 29 completed 25-patches and enough paired-up 10-patches (2 rows of 5 squares) for building 52 more, for a potential total of 81 checkerboard blocks. I had also created 42 middle strips (5 squares with a white square at both ends), so only needed to sew up 10 more of those.

A few minutes with my graphics program, and I could see that 84 of both blocks (checkerboard and alternate) would give me the best layout (12x14, or 60"x70") using what I had. I still had plenty of 1.5" squares to create 3 more checkerboard blocks.

I'm sure I'm making the alternative blocks differently than whatever instructions might be out there. I've cut 84 3.5"x5.5" rectangles from white/off-white/white-on-white/white-on-off-white fabrics, and 168 1.5"x3.5" rectangles from the same. To the ends of the smaller rectangles I'm sewing contrasting 1.5" squares, which results in a completed strip of 1.5"x5.5", to be sewn to each side of the large rectangle. Once that's done, the block is a 5.5" square (unfinished).

I've sewn as many of the 1.5"x3.5" rectangles as I could to the last of the 1.5" strips (anything longer than 8").

Awaiting trimming.

The alternative block construction will have to wait until more medium and dark squares land in the muchly-emptied case I use for keeping those scraps.

Used to be jam-packed.

I've still got plenty of 1.5"x2.5" 'bricks',

A similar case, now empty, held all the 8"+ strips.

but it would be such a waste to trim an inch off those. They'll probably wind up as one of the borders.

I've started preparing for the newest Leader-Ender Challenge,

and I think by the time I've cut the necessary triangles from these 2" strips, I'll have created enough 1.5" squares from the resulting scraps to finish the alternative blocks and get this Triple/Irish Chain underway.