I'm sewing along!

A few nights ago, Kim announced a scrappy quilt sew-along on the YCMT blog. At first, I thought "hmmm...sounds nice, but there is no way I should be diving into another project at this point, especially something as mentally taxing as a quilt!" Then I read on to see how fun and easy this project was going to be, and how she would make up all the instructions as we sewed along (read - no thinking for Carla). I decided to make a quilt for a spot in my house that is crying for some warmth and color. Meet my bedroom wall...

The previous owner of our home actually left us this gorgeous birds-eye maple storage headboard combo. She was downsizing, and we were beyond thrilled to get it! I can't remember exactly, but I think she had a beautiful print hanging above the bed. I didn't unpack our pictures for about 3 months, so I just pretended the array of nailholes on the blank wall was somehow artistic. When I finally got the decorating bug, I couldn't find a single picture I liked for that spot. I finally slapped up a little quilt that I made for my very first apartment back in 1995. As you can see, it is too country, too small, and too girlie for the space. It would make me much happier hanging in my sunny sewing room.

I went through my stash (which is still amazingly organized), and couldn't find a good array of pieces in the colors/styles I wanted for that space. So I decided to stop by my local quilt shop and pick up a few fat quarters to work around. I hadn't been in a quilt shop since well before the "Thrifty Under Fifty" challenge, so I went a little crazy...

The shop was in the middle of inventory, and lots of gorgeous designer bolts had been relegated to the clearance section for $3 a yard. At that price, I flippantly bought a yard of everything that appealed to me. I figured that whatever I didn't use for my quilt would revitalize my dwindling stash. I ended up going with the green and rust toned fabrics for my project. Since the new fabric was nice and flat (unlike my previously wadded-up stash), I was able to just "stack it and whack it."

I cut 32 rust-toned squares and 32 green-toned squares in about 5 minutes. It would have taken me hours to press and cut my wonky stash pieces, so I feel my fabric splurge was justified.

Part 2 of the sew-along was posted last night. I'm trying to decide exactly which green fabrics to pair with which rust fabrics. I don't want to think about it tooooo much - I need to save my brainpower for all these eBook updates. I have another one just about ready, so look for the details very soon!