I haven't been so excited about a sewing project in some time! Well, that's a lie, I am excited about all the sewing projects, but this one is special. Can you believe it? I got TWO quilts out of Moda BlockHeads 3!
In my opinion, that sew-along went way too long, an entire year, which is a long time commitment to one project. I ended up with over 80 blocks in four different sizes, and had the unrealistic notion that I could combine them all into one gigantic quilt. It wasn't a quilt, it was a tent, and I ended up taking all those blocks apart. The lint situation was dire, I am telling you. What a mess. I sure wish I had planned ahead better.
So, the quilt in the photo above (the one on the floor) is the quilt I ended up making from the 30 8" blocks. It is a generous lap-sized. I do plan to put a border around the outside. I found a navy, red, and cream paisley pattern from a recent 3 Sisters collection (the fabrics I used in the quilt are mostly from older 3 Sisters) ranges. Alternatively, I could put a rather narrow border of the background fabric around the border. I doubt it would be more than 4 inches wide. You guys are great with advising me: do you think a navy print would contain the blocks and look good? Or are the blocks busy enough, and a cream background border (even a narrow one) would be a better choice?
This beauty is my second MBH 3 quilt. It is comprised of 12" blocks and 6" blocks. It is more bed-sized at around 72" square. Sheri McConnell of A Quilting Life used this setting for her quilt, and I loved it. It is similar to what I was envisioning for my original circus tent quilt, but smaller, better organized, and less overwhelming. I still need to sew the blocks together, but I am pretty happy with the arrangement.
Thank you to all you amazing readers who advised me to use the "not like the others" half square triangle block by Lisa Bongean in the middle! It works very well there, and even though the color, style, and configuration of that block differs from the others, it works well as a center point. Besides, darn, all those half-square triangle points came out great, I need to show them off. I rearranged a few other blocks and remade the one in the upper left-hand corner (with a lighter background fabric), and now I am happy with the result.
What a relief that those blocks didn't go to waste and that I ended up with two quilts for my trouble! Thanks to you all for weighing in with your suggestions, they were brilliant!
Now I am ready to move on to Moda BlockHeads 6 and other projects! Have a wonderful weekend, friends.