A Gift and Churn Dashes for Chookyblue's Sew-Along

Cynthia of wabi-sabi quilts made two delightful quilts for her yet-to-be-born twin granddaughters.  She noticed the churn dash blocks I'd been making and emailed me to offer some of the backing fabric she'd used for the back of the twins' quilts.  

It arrived not long ago.  The fabric is gorgeous and I love it!  Along with the fabric, Cynthia sent this wonderful postcard.  The best part of the image on the card is the little toddler/pre-schooler pulling the maid along as if to urge her forward more quickly.  Haven't we all seen little children do this?  The Dutch painter, Jacob Ochtervelt, captured the gesture, facial expression, and movement of the little girl so exquisitely.  The gifts are delightful, Cynthia.  Thank you so much for thinking of me.

I've made just one block with the fabric.  The colors work perfectly.

I think I could have been more careful in my cutting so that all the corners would have been sharp, with color there instead of white.  I'll be more careful if I make another one.

I have now 50 churn dash blocks in varying tints and tones of blush, coral, salmon, apricot, peach, and pink.  These are so hard to photograph for accurate color!  The lights look lighter and the mediums look either darker or brighter.  Previous posts with closeups (here and here) might be more accurate.

The questions I'm asking myself now about these blocks are --

• Is there too much variety in the colors?
• If not, should I be careful about the arrangement of the blocks for color?
• If so, should I make more light, more medium, more slightly darker/brighter blocks?
  

And I think it's time I start to consider the layout of the blocks. 

Straight set?

On point set?

With or without sashing?   Below are two fabric options I have on hand that might work for sashing.  Both seem a little dark to me.  I also have a really pale, almost blush, fabric but I don't think I have enough of it.  Width of sashing?  And then cornerstones:  medium, darker, the same fabric as the background, or different?

Or maybe an alternate set with churn dash, plain fabric, churn dash, etc.  Will I have to search for fabric?

There's the size of the quilt to consider and decide, too.  I guess I feel like I need to make some choices now so I know whether to make more blocks. 

There are so many options and decisions when making a quilt, especially when you're deciding as you go along instead of using a pattern.

Many thanks to Chookyblue for hosting this sew-along.  She has a list of participants with links to their blogs in the sidebar of her blog.  I think there are 41 of us.  Such a variety of quilts we'll have when we're finished!

Just recently one of my biggest challenges to making and finishing a quilt is finding backing fabric (at a price I'm willing to pay).  Prices of everything have gone up, including fabric.  Maybe I should begin choosing backing fabric before I begin a quilt?

We've had several days of wonderful thunderstorms, several days of just rain, some hot and humid days, and now, today, it was in the low 80s with low humidity, too.  One of those summer days one dreams of in the depths of winter's snow and ice.  A perfect day.

I hope you're doing well!  Thanks for visiting (and leaving a comment, if  you do).

--Nancy.