Block-a-Palooza, Blocks #11 and 12

Don't adjust your monitors - it's my photo that's crooked :)

Well, I finally got caught up on blocks, just in time to get started on Tia's block. Can't believe we're up to 12 already! Well, 13, as of today.

Block #11

E-Magazine, Fat Quarterly brings us Block #11! Yes, mine is more of a St. Patty's Day homage - I call it the leprechaun block, a conscious decision to embrace the green. I had some construction issues (per my usual :)) - there are a lotta points in there! But overall I like how it turned out. I like the grungey X in the middle.

Block #12

Block #12 comes to us from Jennifer over at Sugar Stitches. Her original design called for the diamonds to be two flying geese blocks. I perused the Block-a-Palooza Flickr group and noticed that some people were fussy-cutting the diamonds and making them a square in a square. (For my non-quilty relatives and friends who read this blog - you should check out that link because people are doing some amazing things with their blocks, and fabric choices make a big difference!) Anyway, I liked the look of those un-cut blocks and decided to follow suit.

This was originally a pink/white block, then I decided I would try to draw out some of that pesky gold/yellow/orange-y color, reversed myself again, and then settled on adding in green. I'm still cutting off points and I have a wobbly goose in there, but I like it, warts and all.

It's so funny, not sure if I've mentioned it before, but these are not colors that I am ordinarily drawn to. I love deep, rich colors - reds and blues, jewel-tones, purples, set off by black or dark grey etc. I just happened to see some other Nicey Jane projects (photos of other people's quilts) and thought how lovely the fabric was and when I saw it on sale at The Fat Quarter Shop, I scooped it up. It happens to me all the time where I'll say, "I don't really like [insert color]" and then I'll see something with an accent or motif in that color and I'll do a 180.  And now, there really isn't a color that I can say I don't like; there is always some project or some fabric out there that changes my mind. That's the main reason I really like this quilt-along. I'll see a block and think, "I'm not sure about that" - whether it's the design, my skill, or the fabrics I'm working with - then I'll do it and, lo and behold - love it!

And, as icing on the cake - I won one of the mid-way giveaways! A layer cake of Sunkissed fabric, which is the banner fabric for the quilt-along! Very springy, just what we need during the seemingly endless midwest winter! (We often get snow in May - I know, right?!)