Monday, November 28, 2016

White Squares

The first clue for Bonnie Hunter's En Provence mystery quilt is to make 200+ all white four patch blocks. Today we are all showing our work. I've been thinking that this may be the most "low volume" link up ever!

I've changed my mind about how to handle these several times since Friday. My first thought was to use my flamingo feature fabric:


But then I realized that 200+ squares would be a LOT of fussy cutting, and I changed my mind. Please click here to read the whole flamingo story, including my revised colourway.

Let's be honest, I was thinking that all those white squares would be really boring. But then I remembered that I had done exactly that in both Mod Trips and Hanami, with their pieced, low volume backgrounds. And I'm very happy with both of them! So, I'll just do it, I said.

I pulled out my white fabrics. Most are leftovers from Allietare. I still have larger pieces of these:


And small dribs and drabs of these:


I'm now using these for the third time, and the excitement is wearing thin. But, I have a couple big chunks of this...


..."Big Blooms" by Patty Sloniger for Michael Miller. This is a really lovely quality fabric, with a high thread count and crisp print. I used a fair bit in Allietare last year...


...and when I restocked with another yard this summer, the owner of the shop asked me what I would use it for. "Just stash," I said, and I mentioned that I'd put it in Allietare, "but the pieces were so small that you couldn't really see it."

So yesterday I thought, am I really going to cut it up in tiny pieces again? No! Plain squares of the Big Blooms it will be, and hopefully my 1.75 yds will be enough for the whole quilt. If I have to, I will piece a few blocks to fill in. Or, I may even want to piece a few just to change things up. But for now, Clue 1 is done!

Looking at the math, these white squares account for almost all of our allotted white fabric. There is at most 1/2 yd left. And, they make up about one quarter of the finished top! So, that is a lot of progress considering I haven't sat at the machine yet. :D

Please click here to return to the link up and see everyone else's white squares low volume blocks. Happy quilting!

17 comments:

  1. Oh yes, I'm tired of looking at my whites, which I don't care for. Trying to get rid of them. But they are in every quilt I make it seems! Love your Michael Miller fabric.

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    1. Yes, you are quite right Andee! And the lesson to me is to avoid any final decisions until I have the actual fabrics in front of me. :D

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  3. Love your flamingo fabric. They are too cute. And your Allietare block is gorgeous!

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    1. Thanks, Ramona! I think they should be pretty fun to work with. :D

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  4. I like the variety of your "whites!" I especially like the fabric you purchased more of! How fortunate your shop still had it! I didn't take the plunge for the mystery; but, plan to print off the pattern for later!--Terry

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    1. That is a good plan. Bonnie really seems to be making one great design after another these days, so you will likely be happy to have it!

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  5. Good decision to go with the Michael Miller print; it will give the quilt the same feeling as a pieced block would. Looking forward to seeing this quilt come together.

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    1. Yes, that is what I think too, with all the lines. Thank you! It's going to be interesting. :D

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  6. this is a challenge yoy are doing think I reas on another block that you have to make 300 4" blocks with the white best of luck

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    1. Thank, Iva! It will be fun to see how they come together. :D

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  8. I love that Michael Miller fabric, good choice!

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    1. Thank you! It's going to coordinate surprisingly well, I think!

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  9. Really like the fabric you are using in place of making 4 patches. And how quick and easy was that! On the other hand, I slogged through making all of the four patches.

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  10. Your neutral fabric is gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing your version come together.

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I'm told Blogger has been bouncing some comments, so if it happens to you I'm sorry! But the settings look right so I can't explain it. In any case, thanks for reading!

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