Leveling Up!

 Now that I've made a few more orange peel blocks, I thought that I might make them into a medallion for the centre of a quilt.

Of course, then I needed to think about their layout.

This was my first thought.

Hmmm.

 This was my second thought, which I prefer.

I had thought that I'd sash the blocks, after sewing them together into sets of four..... but actually I like these laid out as they are.  They show the secondary circles better this way.

So, now I will sew them together and then add some borders - unless I sew them together and then decide to add some more orange peel blocks to make it larger.  I love how fast they are to sew (I don't bother about pins and more or less get away with it) but I'm not keen on the cutting out.  Always more decisions to make!

And the 'leveling up'?  After decades of using spools of Aurifil, I've decided that I should invest in a cone stand.  It will pay for itself in about two cones of thread, I estimate - and as a household that won't take much more than a year on current usage!

Overwhelming Urge

 You know when you get an overwhelming urge to do something or try something?  My latent urge to make some orange peel blocks has emerged!

I've always liked the look of them, but have never given them a try, except, perhaps, as a Dear Jane type applique block.

I've seen several quilts with them recently.  I was smitten.  I wanted to have a go.

I sent off for some templates.  I started cutting fabric.  Oh my, that's a slow part of the process!

None of the layering up and multiple cuts at once that I'm used to.  Each time a template was used I was having to place it carefully so as not to waste fabric.  The block will finish at 6". So easy to machine stitch the gentle curves, but it means using yardage rather than scraps.

I'm having fun playing.  These are the only completed blocks so far, and it won't be a quick process, but I'm having fun playing with the fabrics and thinking about different layouts.

Alongside this I've been making sure that my quilt records are up to date.  Mine are only a basic presentation for each quilt that I make, of a photo, title, date of construction, and perhaps notes about the pattern and who the quilt is given to.  Once that's complete, I'm going to do my regular computer file backup.  I'll encourage you all to do the same too.  Much better to have a backup of your files if you chosen technology does have a wobble!