Those Flipping Corners

I'm back in my studio! I realized a few days ago that I had been suck[er]ed into (by a friend's overwhelming enthusiasm) a project that was Too Soon and Too Much, so I asked that we pump the brakes on that until after the holidays. There was no need to dive headlong into things right this minute--which we were doing--and everyone else agreed. Big load off my mind, and lots of time freed up as a result.  

My pile o' squares, after their Big Adventure in Wisconsin, weren't content to going back to Leader-Ender status when we got home.

I've got 16-patches, 8-patches, 4-patches, 2-patches, things clipped together, things floating free, and although I have a list of how much I need and of what, I couldn't seem to keep all this straight no matter how often or in what order I sorted and counted.

Just a reminder of what I'm working toward:

 What I needed to do was start making blocks with what I had, and sort things out as I went. 

However, if I made a block like this . . . 

 . . . that would mean I'd have to undo most of the 8-patches I'd already assembled so that I could put 4-patches in the corners. That wouldn't do! The blocks needed to be viewed from another perspective. Also, I needed to start making those mostly-white squares.

So I cut some 2.5" squares from the white fabric I'd set aside for this project, and started adding those flipping corners. And, I remembered my apostrophe about using bricks instead of squares for those corners, a minor victory in my book (the remembering, that is). A recap of the tutorial:

After several passes and several sessions of unstitching, I finally figured out that I needed to sew a couple of threads-worth away from the diagonal. I dared not line up the bottom angle with the stitching line.

The stitching line is just to the right of where the two fabrics overlap/intersect.

As long as I stayed a thread or two off the true diagonal line, there'd be enough fabric to fold back and create a good corner.

Yesterday I made enough of the white blocks to work out the way to make this Arkansas Cross Road block, using the 8- and 16-patches I'd already assembled.

This I can work with!

So work with it I did. Today I cut the rest of the 168 white squares needed and sewed 1.5"x2.5" bricks onto one corner of each. Here they are, waiting for the next pass.

Maybe not the neatest of methods, but it's mine. 

Wraith kept me company, of course. He's a sucker for a back rub, as long as it's hands-free. One must get permission first, of course . . . 

. . . and then it's All The Rubs, All The Time:

From head to tail, as long and as often as I can stand it.

Another project nearing completion stage is the last of the pieced backings I'd planned from the BOM bags donated to the Community First! Quilters. I'd left it in this stage at the beginning of the month (isn't it amazing how a simple 5-day trip somewhere can totally disrupt one's routine?):

The plan

The center

Top and bottom (turned 90 degrees)

There's the 9" strip to add to both sides of the center, then this can all be assembled and eventually be put to use.

This flimsy is hanging around . . .

. . . so I pulled some batiks for its backing.

Another project for another (very soon) day. It'll be very similar to another I've done, and I'm totally okay with that.

It's so good to be back in the studio, planning and sewing!