It's a Scrappy Trip-along!

I didn't really mean to do it, but I started a new quilt this week. I have a zillion WIPs I should finish, but the stress of the holidays and the big finish of my Swoon and Field Study quilts made me cave. And I've been longing to start another super scrappy quilt. This design has been on the front of my back burner for almost a year now after seeing this one and this one and this one.

As soon as I began, I was possessed. These blocks are addictive! And apparently contagious, too - suddenly everyone is making a Scrappy Trip Around the World! Katy, Rita, Lindsay and Brenda are all making one - Brenda has even started a Flickr group. There are also rumors that Amber, Ashley, Heather, Laura, Dana and too many more to name are joining in! I'll be posting my pics on Instagram too. I'm lucyandnorman there if you'd like to follow me.

This is what a finished block looks like. You just need 2.5 by 16 inch strips, six per block. Put them together, and they look like this-

I used the tutorial over here. It's easy, a ton of fun and so satisfying to use up all this scrappage and stashage.

Obviously I'm going as scrappy as possible but specific color combinations are pretty too if this is too wild for you. But I've got a stash to bust so scrappy it is for me.

I hope to see you over on Flickr and IG. And Happy New Year to all - let's send 2012 out with a scrappy bang!

Belle Swoon

Is it really almost Christmas???? This year has gone by entirely too quickly. I haven't accomplished near the amount of quilting I would've liked but I did finally finish my Swoon! Though the only reason that happened was because it needed to be done in time to gift for Christmas. I'm taking a risk posting it in case the recipients are lurking around my blog, but I'm just too excited not to share it with you now!

Of course you've seen a million finished Swoons by now and there is nothing terribly unique about this one, but it did turn out beautifully if I do say so myself. I used an old collection from Amy Butler called Belle that I had buried deep within my stash. 

I think the large-scale prints and bright colors play well with the Swoon block.

And I know you are all wondering about the absolutely gorgeous quilting, right? This was done by none other than the fabulously talented Krista Withers. Krista's work is breathtakingly inspirational. We decided on a simple baptist fan pattern for this one just like the original Swoon. I will be bribing Krista soon to do some free-style on my hopefully soon to be finished Colorwheel Spiderweb. 

So that's my Swoon! It will be a bit difficult to part with but I know I can still visit it. I hope you are all able to find a bit of time to relax during this hectic season - I know I'll be glad when all of my ninth hour crafting is done. I guess I had better get back to that. I'll have my finished Field Study Diamond quilt to show you soon.