Being laid up has it's benefits

Not being able to walk around and being forced to rest my fractured foot really does have it's benefits.  It means I can sit and sew, or knit, or crochet without the guilt feeling that I really should be doing something else. So this week I've been catching up on all three.

Firstly, here's this week's block for the sampler quilt SAL.

Splendid Sampler 2 - Around Four Corners by Rachaeldaisy.

This one was easier to execute than it first looks.  

The first hurdle I have to jump over is choosing the right combination of fabrics. As I'm going all out scrappy with this one I haven't got a dedicated matching set of designer fabrics to fall back on.  But being scrappy doesn't mean I can just use the first thing I pull out of the scrap basket.  They have to go together.  I decided I wanted a dark background for this block and then chose four different spotty fabrics for the circles.  I actually cut them out and made up one circle, but when I put it on the background block it just looked too busy, and the circle was indistinct.  I knew it wasn't going to work with four differenet patterns.  The background was already patterned so it needed plains to stand out.  I chose the four colours that are in the flower motif, and luckily, I happened to have pieces of each of the colours.

 I used my Kay Buckby Perfect Circles to make the circles and am very pleased at how smooth and round they are.  I appliqued them onto the backing square with invisible thread.

Time to make: 4 hours  No. of pieces: 17

I've now made nine blocks for ths quilt.  This last block really stands out from the others as it has a dark backgound.  I shall have to make sure that I include others with darker colours in them so that they blend in with all the others.

I've also finished the embroidery part of a bag I want to make.  It is the Blue Butterfly Bag by Gail Pan.  I took it away on holiday with me and made a start on it but didn't get as much done as I thought I might.  This panel will make three of the blocks in the patchwork design.

I've sent away for a few supplies that I need to make the bag so will get on with other projects while I'm waiting for them.