Brackman Bricks & Stepping Stones Quilt Top Finish

There are two types of "finish" when it comes to my quilting projects: it's a "finish" when a quilt top is done and a "finally finish" when the quilt is quilted and bound.  I have to admit that I have more finishes than finally finishes and sometimes there are many years in between when one of my quilts goes from finish to finally finish.  This doesn't bother me as much as an UFO which for me is when the patches are cut and ready to be sewn into blocks or the blocks are done and ready to be sewn together for a top.  UFOs happen because I get distracted by another project or I've decided to put it aside because I'm not quite sure if this is something I want to continue to sew.   My 2017 Project List initially had 46 projects in which eight of them are UFOs.  From these eight UFOs, the Brackman Bricks and Stepping Stones was my oldest UFO which I started almost four years ago and I can now say it is a finish.   I could really to go into details about the thought process and the making of this quilt top but then this post would be in written in chapters; I'll just give some tidbits instead.

• I originally intended to make Bonnie Hunter's Lozenge Quilt (see it here)  which I thought would use up a lot of the stash and scraps from the early Barbara Brackman fabric lines I have accumulated. I spent several days picking fabrics, rotary cutting around 350 3-1/2" x 6-1/2" rectangles and over a thousand 2" squares and then drew sewing lines on the back of the 2" squares which were going to be the connecting corners.  After doing all of this work, I decided that I didn't want to sew all of these squares onto the rectangles so the patches just sat on my shelf while I figured out over the course of the next few years what to make with them.
• My answer turned out to be a version of another Bonnie Hunter pattern; Bricks and Stepping Stones see it here, I just needed to change the patch sizes so I could use what was already cut and it turned out I had more than what was needed.  So from the thousand of 2" squares with the lines drawn on the back, I sewed matching four patches, some blue/light and some red/light.  By the time I finished sewing the four patches, I once again I put the project back on the shelf because I wanted to work on something else.  
• When I was compiling my 2017 project list, I decided that this quilt will be put on the list and I would finish the top once and for all.  Last week I devoted a lot of time sewing the four patches to the rectangles and then this week sewed the blocks together while going back and forth in my mind as to what size I wanted to make the top.  I had enough rectangles to make a king size top but I would have to make another 100 four patch units which didn't thrill me.  I need a new king size quilt for my bed during the Winter but couldn't decide if I wanted it to be this quilt with the Brackman fabrics which would mean I would need to make a new wallhanging.  In the end, I decided that this quilt would be a bed quilt for the guest room or for the family room couch.  It measures 78" x 90".
• This quilt is definitely going to my longarm quilter and there's a strong possibility that it can be a finally finish for 2017. I just had to decide if that's what I want it to be.  BTW, this quilt did not make a dent in the Barbara Brackman stash.

For me, I like having a mix assortment of projects; some that appeal to the task oriented/practical side of me which are the projects that I can use up scraps from past projects or stash accumulated from past purchases and some that appeal to the play side where I am inspired to make something immediately because of something I've seen,  like on Pinterest, and I happen to have the right fabric in my stash.  It seems like I  am forever balancing my projects and trying to decide what I should be making; this is why I like having a Project List.   And when I get overwhelm and can't decide, I know it's time to take a break.  Fortunately, this doesn't happen too often.

This week, I also finished five more Smitten Blocks which means I watched a lot of Gilmore Girls.  These blocks were a little easier than the first five I made so far and I'm still enjoying the process.  The making of a voodoo doll named Carol has not yet crossed my mind.

It's now March and I did not buy any fabric during January or February--two whole months of fabric fasting--this is a big record for me!

Minus 100 Yards Challenge YTD Total: -45.625 yards

It helps now that I'm blogging and reading other quilters' blogs that I don't shop or look for fabric online, I'm even resisting the sales.  I love finding inspiration or like-minded quilters with the same angsts as me online.  I've been invited to participate in the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop so I will be learning how to improve my blog, increase my blogging skills and get more involved in the online quilting community.  I am so excited.  

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