Measure, Cut, Repeat

The better part of this afternoon was spent prepping fabric for BA Modern Quilt Guild's upcoming Charity Sew Day.  Thank goodness for rotary cutters- I can't imagine the tedium of cutting 5" charms with scissors.  It was fairly tedious making umpteen 5" charms even while armed with a rotary cutter!  Leftover scraps were cut in varying widths to be pieced into 5" blocks. 

Art Gallery Fabric studio scraps were generously supplied by Pat Bravo and the AGF team, as well as by Julie at The Intrepid Thread.  I still have quite a bit of fabric left to cut up, but I'm giving my poor rotary cutter a break.  Plus, the blade needs to be replaced, or at the very least sharpened.

Jen and I have some fun things planned for Charity Sew Day this Saturday.  The Art Gallery Fabric charms are part of a block challenge in which we hope to complete at least one, maybe even two, AGF quilt tops before the day is over.  We've also sprung for some cool prizes (at least we think they are, anyway) to keep the momentum going once the charity sewing commences.

We'll also continue to work on the current quarter's block- string blocks.  Quilts made by the guild this quarter will be donated to Project Night Night. 

Hurray for holiday weekends!

     Thanks to a kind friend, my family spent the long Labor Day weekend in California gold country.  We had an amazing time at the preserved gold rush town of Columbia, where we panned for gold, dipped candles and bowled old west-style.  We also enjoyed fishing at Pinecrest Lake with friends, hiking the Natural Bridges trail down to a flooded cave leading out to the New Melones reservoir, and just plain relaxing at the home where we were staying.
     In spite of all the outdoor activity, I was able to get a little sewing done.  Earlier this summer, I pieced a bunch of half-square triangles using white Kona cotton and a mix fabrics (including some lovely Jenean Morrison Wild World prints) with no concrete project in mind.  It was just mindless sewing of fabrics that had been in my stash for quite some time.  I learned about the 100 Quilts for Kids challenge through the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild and decided this would be the perfect project for those orphan HST's.

I agonized over the layout for over an hour before settling on this zig-zag layout (the kids are actually holding it sideways).  The quilting and binding should go fairly quickly since it's a crib size quilt.  Then it's off to Project Night Night, where this Wild Zig-Zag Quilt will make its way to a small child in need of warmth.