Carolina Christmas Revisited

I don't know that any of you remember that around Christmas I was working on a mystery quilt called Carolina Christmas. I didn't use Christmas colors for mine, and unfortunately I didn't get a chance to finish it before I had other projects with deadlines to work on. Well, with scooter rally things dominating my life right now, I didn't want to start anything, but I needed to do some sewing to save my sanity. I dug out Carolina Christmas today, and made a little bit of progress on it. This first pic shows some of my blocks on my design wall.


These 16" blocks are made from four 8" double bow tie blocks. I have all of the 8" blocks done, but I didn't get a chance to make the 16" blocks while the mystery was going on.


Here is another 16" block together. I got all of the star 16" blocks done today, there are 13 total. The next chance I have to sew, I'll be working on the other 16" blocks, made from the poinsettia 8" blocks. There will be twelve of those. Once I get a few of those made, I'll start auditioning sashing fabrics. The mystery quilt didn't call for sashing, but some of the women added sashing and I prefer that look. I also like the fact that adding sashing will cut back on some of the really bulky seam intersections.

When will I work on the other 16" blocks? I honestly have no idea. I took today to sew, but I am babysitting 3 days this week, and the rally starts Friday. I'm hoping to get at least a few of the other 16" blocks sewn up this week, and pick and cut the sashing. I have a few different ideas for the border, but I won't decide for sure until the center is done. I've even considered not putting a border after the sashing, so I really need to see the center to figure it out. I don't want to use the border designed to go with this quilt. It's pretty, I just don't want to make it. I might use that border on a different quilt though.

I just love quilting, mix and match things, change colors at will, and make a pattern your own way. I think that's why I enjoy mystery quilts so much. Everyone starts out with the same directions, but everyone adds their own ideas along the way. The finished quilts seem like they should all look the same, but they never do. With everyone's different fabric choices, and people setting their blocks differently, there is always amazing variety in the finished quilts.