Sew Sampler Box February 2023

     We are back after an epic road trip to both AQS Daytona AND Quiltcon-- 1100 miles! I'll be sharing some highlights of the week in the next post... but guess what was waiting for me when I returned!

     Truth is, I was pretty excited after my January tablerunner for the February's challenge-- I am creating a project out of just the Sew Sampler box fabric each month this year, as well as using everything in the box. January's box was fabulous. While I was away, I watched a *SPOILER*  YouTube unboxing one night while on a fourth floor oceanfront balcony. Yep, that's a geeky quilter. Then I had fun on my iPad doing color studies of the fabric while the waves lapped the shore. It sounds a bit obsessed, but that's how I enjoy myself!

    IMHO, this is a second month that Fat Quarter Shop has hit it out of the park. I already had my eye on the Corey Yoder "Sunwashed" fabric and the pattern this month is a really good one to go with it. That is one of the best parts of these boxes-- you're bound to get treated to something you might be on the fence about adding to your stash.

     There's also a box of pins-- I am always bending mine for machine embroidery purposes-- much appreciated. And there's a needle case-- that would have been helpful on my trip-- hee-hee. 

     There's a pair of thin and super grabby tweezers that will be totally useful when turning projects right side out, or trying to fix a paper jam in my printer! And some bags for quilty scraps-- I took a class at AQS that involved a lot of tiny pieces so these will help me stay organized-- I really want to finish the class project-- I'll tell more about that in the next post.

    The Sunwashed Jolly Bar also came with it's own pattern-- it's a super modern and easy one. 

     The Bliss Quilt along is in Block 11-- I'm just collecting them for resale. After one more box, a new yearly project will start. Maybe this will be the year I jump in for that, too. All in all, a very generous box-- thank you Fat Quarter Shop!

    So back to my project sketches. One of the things I love about buying collection pre-cuts is that you get a little piece of every fabric. I love sorting them into colors and considering the possibilities. "Sunwashed" has a little bit of everything-- yellow, peach, red, light blue, darker blue, and green. So I kind of analyzed the pattern block to get ideas. I do love the pattern and would have totally considered making the full kit, but I'm trying to stay true to my original idea of just using the fabric in the box. I may add fabric later on, but for now I really want to use the basic rule of sticking to the box for new design possibilities. Sometimes just setting up some arbitrary rules helps the creative process along.

     I did a super rough sketch of the block, (does it appear I had too many Pina Coladas?) studied how many pieces of each color were included, and colored the blocks accordingly. It seems like I have enough for three blocks-- PLUS, I think the border idea on the pattern provided using wide stripes is super good-looking, so I hope I have enough leftovers to work it in. There's also a ton of white in this collection I'm saving for the borders. Some of them are a bit busy.

     Here some of my favorites-- I'd love your input on which you like best-- I named them for reference and so you can understand the differences:

     As you see, I'm just blocking with the colors-- I'm not showing any of the fabric patterns. The collection includes some large ginghams-- I love them, but I know they are going to be problematic. So I will just use my sketch as a color guide and see what happens! 

     This is a really enjoyable process for me. If you start a quilt with a very comfortable feeling, knowing exactly how it will turn out, and that it will be beautiful like all your others--  maybe it's time to take a leap into the unknown. That uncomfortable, unsure position is the place you want to be creatively-- grow! One disappointment I had with the AQS show is that you have the same selection of alphabets and sheep, kids and dogs, and large photographic flowers from the same artists-- you could easily swap out the winners with any other show of the past few years. I'd be amazed to see more of a progression in design-- some truly new work. In art school, I had a design professor say-- "once an artist has achieved commercial success, it becomes impossible for them to create anything of value." I'm not saying I totally agree, but it makes for a great discussion.

    So that's my start on February Sew Sampler Challenge! I can't wait to get started, but of course there's a ton of unpacking and a March Bowl Filler set that is very, very late!

    Be sure to weigh in with your ideas on the box-- so far, I think I'm one of three who are taking the challenge to sew the samplers this year-- sew along with us! What better way to experiment and expand your color sense than with a little monthly box of fabric.

xoxo

Carol