Proof

I woke Friday morning determined to see if I could make the inner star of this pattern, and if so, was it worth it?

It was! It wasn't difficult, and Proof Of Concept was rapidly achieved.

Before long, Initial Proof was followed by three more baby Proofs:

By wine:30 tonight (Saturday) this was accomplished:

Too late did I notice the outer corner 4-patches weren't identical in the original pattern. Instead of duplicating each other, they mirrored each other in the panel. Too bad, so sad, not gonna change it!!!

Some of the medium blues throughout, and all the red squares in those corner 4-patches, came from fabric from this roll of 10" squares, found in the Community First! Quilters' legacy stash.

Red being what it is, I immediately soaked those squares in nearly-scalding water and gave them time to "bloom" and release their excess dye.

To my astonishment, they didn't bleed at all! To my additional astonishment, they shrunk by up to 1/2" in both directions. Knowing that (and knowing I'd soon forget it), I soaked, air dried, then ironed everything in that roll. Nothing bled, but everything shrank and skewed.

I've never been tempted by "Layer Cakes" before (not trusting them, basically), and this experience has done nothing to change my feelings!

Last night my mind wouldn't let go of the idea of ripping the borders off this and getting it righted . . .

. . . mainly, probably, because I've decided it won't be a quilt after all. With blocks only 3" it will be much better suited as a cute little wallhanging.

Such a stoopid thing for my mind to obsess over, but that's what it does, like it or not. So it's now sitting on the table, with a seam ripper, next to my recliner. (How it got hold of a seam ripper, I'll never know!) So now the top and a seam ripper are on the table next to my recliner. Picking out those stitches should be a satisfying time-filler. I also figured out that, if necessary, I can extend the green borders (the bottom which was probably incorrectly measured/cut) by adding posts of another oriental-type fabric. I haven't even started this and already I'll be glad to have it finished!

And because my brain seems to be in overdrive lately, I planned this as well--the conclusion of a WIP started back in December 2022:

 

I've recently added almost 4 yards to my ongoing 2.5" scrappy border roll . . .

. . . and have been itching to try the Arkansas Cross Road block . . . 

. . . especially as my scrap squares are starting to overflow their containers.

I know, I know. Hardly seems fuss-worthy. But "June" is bustin' out all over, and it's time to start using instead of just creating/saving! These are my 1.5" scraps. Two- and two-and-a-half-inch containers are much fuller!

To the computer!

Played around with a couple of ideas:

I like the second one best, and it does a fair job of using up some of both accumulations--the scrappy border roll and the plethora of 1.5" squares and rectangles.

I was thinking that I'd need to find and buy more muslin, but when I pulled out the project I discovered that

1: I didn't use muslin, and 

2: I still had plenty of what I did use.

This one is so chock-full of fabric memories, I might not give it up for donation. Time will tell.

Lady of the Lake has been progressing too, but that's a tale for another day.

(Added at wine:30 on Sunday afternoon)

 I don't know whom I thought I was kidding--those stars weren't going to stay that way! Four elements made me change my mind:

1: a good night's sleep,

2: the realization that only half the corners needed to be fixed,

3: the realization that only 2-1/2 seams per corner fix needed to be picked out and resewn, and

4: the realization that I had already put in more time and effort fixing a stranger's project than I was willing to put into my own? Crazy talk!

This shows three of the fixed stars. The lower right star was still to be corrected, but I took the photo at this point to remind my faithful readers/viewers what my original, mistaken layout for the corners had been.

(The panel star, so you needn't scroll all the way up again.)