Block 44: Scrappy Strawberry Block

Here we go...the last block! I think we saved this one because we liked it--the Scrappy Strawberry block:

I had plenty of reds to chose from. Much like the patchwork pumpkin, I arranged the lights and darks to mimic a sunspot on the strawberry. My greens are a little less convincing, but I'm not going to let it bother me.

In the pattern book, the triangles of background fabric on the lower right and left were done with two half-square triangles and a solid square in the corners. That looked like too much seaming to me, so I changed it to a single triangle on each side to cover the area. It worked well to simplify the seams in the finished block.

Here are all the blocks in the virtual layout:

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Here is Kim's scrappy strawberry:

I think we used quite a few of the same reds, but her greens are quite different. (And here you can see how the pattern instructs you to do the lower corners.)

Although the scrappy strawberry was my last block, it was not Kim's! After considering layouts she was going to do with the blocks she had in 12" and 6" sizes, she discovered she needed two more 6" blocks to make it work.

The first is a variation of a rail fence block, done in the colours that our barns were painted on the farm we grew up on.

We had four barns and the trim and matching silos were each done in a different color.

Here second additional block is a 6" version of the maple leaf block done in patriotic red:

We both eliminated the "Old Glory" block that was in the book so Kim decided to replace it with this homage to the Canadian flag. It's very striking in person.

And I'll even give you a peek of our layouts:

While spending Christmas at my mom's, we had time to lay out our quilts to show each other in person. (Mine is sashed in the foreground. Kim's is in the background and she had just started adding sashing to her blocks.)

And most of the family was kind enough to take a break from the festivities to parade into the side room and check them out.

Now I am finished telling you about all of the blocks. It's a project I have very much enjoyed doing with Kim. I am eager to get the blocks sewn together and I have some ideas for a pieced border. I think I will also add some length so I have to work out how I want to do that. Our plan is still to have them finished by or on Easter weekend 2017 when we will be meeting at my mom's again.