One of my favorite blogs, Very Kerry Berry, was a participant in the Sew Out Loud quilt along. Due to her postings on her blog, I got interested in the blocks they were making. These bloggers are SUPER talented. I haven’t actually tried any of the blocks yet (intimidated much?), but when I saw they were having a contest where anyone could design their own block, I knew I had to give it a try. I have never designed on my own before, so I was nervous, but I had an idea, so I figured why not try?
So of course you want to see the block I designed right? Well here it is!
The quote says “Live Long and Quest for Scraps” … this is a little play on the phrase “Live Long and Prosper”. The theme of Sew Out Loud is “Quilter’s Wordplay”, so I figured changing up a famous phrase is a pretty good way to have wordplay!! Also, did you notice something else about my phrase?
Down the left side, the larger letters of the main words give the initials “LQS” which is also short for “Local Quilt Store”. Pretty clever right? Oh yes, I was rather proud of myself for thinking of that one!! hehe (maybe it’s only clever to me! :))
The outside edges radiate orange and yellow. These two colors blended together more than I would have liked, but this block would look great with any color combination of scraps. Each ray is made up of lots of scrappy pieces.
Aren’t we always on the quest for more and more scraps as we cut more and more fabric into beautiful quilts? That’s the idea I was going for here. The larger your scrap pile, the more love you have created with all the quilts you have made. Then of course we have to find a way to use all those wonderful scraps, so even more quilts are created!!
Whether I win or not, I will post a tutorial for this block on my blog. I just have to figure out the best way to create the template for the block first. The pattern will actually come with two options for the phrase in the middle, the one I stitched and another one I thought of …
“Life, Love and the Quest for Scrapiness” Again this is a play on another famous phrase. “Life, Love and the Pursuit of Happiness” and you’ll also see that this phrase also has the initials “LQS” and fits very well with the scrappy theme of the block.
I have entered my block over at the Sew Out Loud’s Flickr page. It is now up to the judges to pick their favorite.
Just the fact that my lonely little block gets to be in the same universe as these same absolutely wonderful bloggers is a huge accomplishment for me. Honestly, this is the very first time I can say that I independently designed a block. I had no specific outside inspiration for this block (except of course the guidelines for entry). The idea just popped into my head one day. I really and truly enjoyed the designing process, and even if I don’t win, just the amount of joy I got from making this block, and knowing what it will mean for my future of quilting and designing, is worth every second spent on this block.
Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Happy Quilting!
Rachel
