September's Splendid Bonus Block

Yesterday I posted a big catch-up on the Splendid Sampler blocks. Today I have the Splendid Sampler  September Bonus Block finished. The Bonus Blocks are  extra blocks for fun or to incorporate with the other official Splendid Sampler blocks in the quilt. 

The September Bonus Block is in honor of time to return to school. It was a really cute and quick little block to make. The design is representative of the old fashioned chalk boards that children used decades ago.  Instructions for this and all the Splendid Sampler blocks as well as information on the designers can be found on the official Splendid Sampler web page (or by clicking here).

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Some of my blogs included a segment  called "Garden Variety Inspiration". This consisted of photos of various things in the vegetable garden, flower beds or just around the yard for inspirational ideas on color(s) and or texture to try and duplicate with textiles in our quilts and art projects. It is my intention to try and keep this little section going on a regular basis. Maybe not with every post, but often. So with that said, here is today's "Garden Variety Inspiration" photo.

This is an Okra bloom photographed in our garden earlier this month.  It is such a soft pale yellow with a pop of deep red in the center and the medium green stalks and leaves give great contrast!

That's all for today. May the rest of your week be filled with fun projects!

Progress on a Splendid Journey

The months have slipped by since I last posted progress on The Splendid Sampler quilt along.  We are currently on Block 61 with a cute little back to school  Bonus Block (which I haven't worked on yet). This is my version of Block 61 entitled Traveler.

I must say this has been a wonderful experience. There are a lot of very talented quilters sewing along and there are a lot of new quilters along for this most Splendid journey.

It is always a pleasure to see the blocks each quilter makes. Even though we are all using the same basic block design/pattern, with the differences in fabrics, colors and creative license no two blocks ever look exactly alike. I am constantly drooling over fabrics and blocks. I am using Pat Sloan's fabric line "One For You One For Me" for this sampler.

As of this posting, I have 58 of the 61 blocks completed. There are three hand embroidery blocks in various stages just begging to be completed; but my abilities at this give a totally new perspective on the term "slow as a snail" or "snail's pace". They will eventually be completed and put in place with the rest of the blocks. Here are the poor little embroidery blocks...and in case you are wondering ... I'm using the Sticky Fabri-Solvy water soluble stabilizer to print the designs on. Best stuff since sliced bread!

So far, I have made three of the Bonus blocks. Since I was able to acquire some additional fabric in this line, I may go back and remake the flip-flop block and turn this one into a mug-rub for my sewing room. It matches another wall hanging in there. At the time, I was worried about running out of fabric before completing  the project!

And I know you are wondering what all the rest look like, right????  Well, here they are!

As of right now the plan is to sash this with the dark blue swiggly fabric in this line with possibly adding little cornerstones from the lime green dot. BUT a girl can change her mine. All I know for sure is that this entire sampler top will be made from the One For You One For Me fabric line.

So that's about it for now on the Splendid Sampler blocks. I will try to do better about keeping up on the postings for this. It really is a wonderful group and a great quilt along. It's still not too late to join in on all the fun so just hop on over to The Splendid Sampler and jump in!