WIP Wednesday - March Globe Trotting Blocks

I've felt like I'm behind all month with my bee commitments.  I think that's what February does to you.  It so short that you barely have time to settle into the month and it's already gone.  I've managed to do some catching up, my Sew Pieceful blocks are done and I finished the March block for the Sugar Block club last week.  Last night I was able to get my March Globe Trotting block done.

This is another mystery block of the month with each block inspired by a city or location.  March was inspired by Chicago.  I'm using Rapture, by Pat Bravo for this quilt and I'm really happy with how the soft colors both blend together and stand out all at once.

For March I used Vivacious Marvel Orange, Dreamscape Sun, and Bonbons Candy (don't you just love the fabric names?).

March Globe Trotting Block

Here's the layout so far.  Blocks will be sashed with a thin piece of fabric, though I haven't decided on a print from the collection yet.  I wanted to see how the blocks looked before choosing.

I'm linking up with this weeks WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

Happy Quilting!

Globe Trotting with Pat Sloan

As if I didn't have enough going on already.  I joined another Block of the Month Quilt Along.  This one, hosted by Pat Sloan, is called Globe Trotting.  This is a free Mystery Block of the Month program.  Each block in the nine-block series is designed by Pat Sloan and will come complete with a free pattern, tutorial, and a video demo by Pat.

At first I wasn't sure what I should use for colors for this quilt.  I debated using the Peach - Coral - Orange color palette that I'm using for both the Sugar Block Club and the Auriful BOM but I worried about burning out on that theme before the end of the year so that wasn't an option.  Then I remembered that I had gifted myself a fat quarter bundle of the full Rapture collection, by Pat Bravo at Christmas time and thought it would be perfect (plus I was feeling kind of lazy and didn't want to take out all of my fabrics to pull together a bundle for this project).  Win-Win.

You can find the full bundle at Pink Castle Fabrics.




So off I went choosing and cutting and piecing.  If I thought that trimming all of the HST's for the February Auriful Block was hard, man, was I mistaken.  The January Globe Trotting block, called Washington, DC, is made up of 40 HST's.  That took some time.

Over all, I'm very happy with how the January Block came out.  the pattern does get a little lost with the Rapture prints but I'm thinking that with some thoughtful quilting it will turn out just fine.  This finished block measures about 22" square and rest of the quilt will be set up as a border around this focal block.

Since I was on a roll I started on the February block as well.  This one is called Venice, Italy.  It finishes at 10" square.  It was an easy block.  I had fun choosing the fabrics for this block too.  I decided to use one of the larger focal prints from the Rapture collection, Wild Beauty in Saffron.  And because this is too good to not share, Here is what Pat has to say about this print:

"She goes by her first initial. She is fearless. She is sophisticated. She loves to sketch with markers and have a glass of wine while reading her latest vintage-find. She dares to wear bold prints with bright-colored hues of lemon, red, and blue. She loves to be raptured by the beauty in everything she sees and wears her heart on her sleeve."

What a great description of the fabric and the woman who inspired it!



Here's my final layout as of February.  I think its going to make a very fun quilt.  It will be colorful and vibrant without being weighted down by that very same color.  And if I finish it in time (and get enough pink into it) I think I know who this finished quilt will be gifted to.

Happy Quilting!