Saturday 12 January 2019

QAL: The Unconventional and Unexpected: Overlapping Octagons

I've decided to join in The Unconventional and Unexpected Quilt A-Long . The QAL is being hosted by Sujata Shah, whose work I have admired since I bought her book,  "Cultural Fusion Quilts". The inspiration for this QAL comes from the book "The Unconventional and Unexpected", by Roderrick Kiracofe. For more information check Sujata's posts on The Root Connection. I have chosen to start with the quilt "Overlapping Octagons".

I decided to join in after much deliberation. After all, "Do I really need another project?" "Yes", I answered myself, "You have to move on and this will be a new challenge."

My fabric choice is this:
 
blue and neutrals: a bulging bucket of blues and the right hand pile in the box. My supply of neutrals is very low, and in need of urgent replenishment.
with a few splashes of:

orange: starting with the scraps on the left.
Yesterday I started sewing blue strip scraps together along the short ends as leaders and enders in another project. These will be chopped and sewn together with others to make the string rectangles in the Overlapping Octagons. I shall be ordering more neutrals/ low volume during next week.

My plan is to cut the fabric freehand with the rotary cutter, although I shall be piecing the strips on phone book pages to keep them stable, as I can't manage to cut on the grain freehand, and would like to avoid wobbles and bubbles!

I'm already enjoying this project and look forward to sharing information and progress with others at Basket full of Scraps.

I'm linking to
http://wendysquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/2019/01/peacock-party.html
Click on the button above to see more works in progress.


Happy sewing

Marly.


7 comments:

Chantal said...

Oh Marly! What an interesting quilt this is. I'm in love! I want one too! It has to go on my to-do list for now as I have already started something new this year. My goal is to move my UFO so only one new project per season is allowed. Sounds fair, right? Anywho! I know my tons of tiny little bits would be happy in this quilt. I'm looking forward to see your progress. Enjoy! ;^)

Lisa J. said...

Hi Marly: I love your fabric choices for this project and I also love that improv pieced blue basket that holds your fabric. I think you will have fun with this quilt along.

Christine B said...

Looks a very exciting project. Shall watch your progress with interest! Have a lovely weekend! Christine x

Wendy @ Wendysquiltsandmore said...

I've seen a lot of people who are joining the quilt a long with The Root Connection. I'm resisting myself, but will be interested to follow everyone's progress. Thank you for linking up to the Peacock Party.

Marti said...

It sounds interesting. I like your colors and am curious what your finished block will look like. Yes, always need to start a new project!

Kaja said...

This will be an interesting project, so I'm not surprised you are joining in. Great fabrics to start with!

Sandy Panagos said...

Some people can never have enough projects going, right? Looking forward to seeing what you do. The colors are great!