Practice

One of my favorite quilts still, is my Kaleidoscope quilt, which I made along with Elizabeth/Don't Call Me Betsy over a year ago. It lives on our family room couch, and is the first thing I reach for if I get a little chilly. At the time, it was a real stretch for me, both in technique and fabric selection. But overall, the quilt-along was a really positive experience. So I knew when I saw Elizabeth's Lucky Stars block of the month club, that even though it  consisted of entirely foundation paper pieced blocks - not really my comfort zone - it would be worth doing. And I couldn't resist the opportunity to brush up on my skills, or at the very least, keep them active.

First up was a practice block, which I finally got around to facing last night. I understand the purpose of having a 'practice' block, but there's no way I'm considering this block any less special than the other 'lucky stars' I will eventually make this year. It's just plain cool.

Anyway - I have a palette in mind, and that would be loosely following that of Architextures.

I don't have the whole line, but I have several, and did purchase a charm pack of Architextures coordinates. I plan on using a bit of all of the above stack plus other prints from my stash as I go along. You can see I've already added in that bottom print from Juggling Summer.

Here is my first block, with the background I intend to use throughout. It's called "Swirling Star" and measures 6 1/2". It's great that the patterns we get have two options - this smaller block plus a 12 1/2" block. Since so many of the blocks I seem to make are the larger size, I decided to go with the smaller for this project. They may end up together in a quilt, or used in small projects as I go - not quite sure. But I do know I can't wait to try the next one!