Bow-Tie Blocks, Sorting Fabric and Quilting

 I did it!  100 more Bow Tie Blocks.  They aren't all orange but there is no repeat fabrics.  Woohoo!

Just 400 blocks left to make and squeeze into this bin. Back in my 20s, I managed to wriggle my size 10 bum into a size 8 jean—no stretchy fabric needed. So, I'm fairly confident I can tackle this challenge.  HA!

Last weekend, I loaded the Twinkler quilt onto the frame, and that's when the saga began. Basting the top edge turned into an epic three-hour battle of fixing one machine problem and causing another.  Shredded threads, broken needles and parts falling off. But victory was mine. By the end, the thought of quilting was about as appealing as a root canal.

There was gray and brown fabrics to be sorted for the Bow-Tie Blocks.  The scrap bins for both colors are lacking enough prints.  The decision was made to pull fabrics from the larger fabric stash to keep to the rule of no repeat prints.  I also had to pull from other colors.  My grays are now gray, black and whatever else I could find.  But there are 100 more prints and that's all that matters.

A 5-inch square is enough for one block.  So, I cut the small squares, and the larger fabric was placed back into the larger fabric stash.

   It might be a mistake, only time will tell but I decided to use cream prints along with my browns.  I'll make a couple test blocks with the cream fabrics before cutting all of them.  If the test blocks are to pale against the white background fabric, I'll pull more fabric from other colors to replace them.

It's hard to believe, but after digging in my stash for hours and cutting little squares, I'm tired of petting and playing with fabric. Mark that on the calendar!  So, today I'll start quilting the Twinkler quilt and when my back needs a break, I'll plop my bum in a chair while I iron the fabrics in one of these bins.