The Joy of Squirrels

Welcome to Treadlestitches!  

Sometimes, my quilting is planned out carefully.  I might have deadlines to meet, quilts to make for an occasion or a quilt along or a project like Hands 2 Help.  There could be other reasons to finish a quilt, like actually getting a holiday quilt done before the holiday, or completing a quilt for our group's donations.

And then there are the squirrels.

They come along without warning.  They seem harmless, but they are irresistible.    Something catches your eye in a book, online, in a magazine, at a quilt show.  Your brain keeps working on it, picturing it in your colors, thinking of slight changes you might make, imagining what scraps might go with it.
When this happens to me, resistance is futile.  The squirrels will win.  I know I'm going to set everything aside, and make that quilt.

It started here, with this book I checked out of the library:  City Quilts, by Cherri House.  I wasn't really looking for a new project, just for something interesting to read.  (I am a bit sick of reading about T. Rex dinosaurs, which are Little Buddy's favorites.)  I had no intention of starting a new quilt (especially since I have no lack of UFOs to finish), but as I turned the pages of the book, I saw this:

The quilt is called City Play, and was inspired by a colorful playground.  Before I knew it, I was pulling fabrics and sewing.

It starts like this...

And then you add sashing like this...

Wow, what happened?  Cherri House had a terrific idea that completely transforms a nine patch.  I am happy to say I used her pattern.

Here's the top, all done.
I changed the size of the squares, and made my quilt smaller.  I also changed the placement of some of the colors to better fit the scraps I had.

And here it is, after quilting and washing, hanging on the clothesline to dry.

There are even some dark blue sections, as a nod to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month.

I'm back to working on quilts on my To Do list now, like my OMG for June, a dinosaur quilt (what else?) for my Little Buddy (this is the center).

I'll stick to my list for the time being, but sure as the sun rises in the east, another squirrel will come along.  And I know I'll run off after it like a crazed hound, leaving all the other projects behind.

That's the joy of squirrels.

This week, I'm wishing you the joy of something you just can't wait to work on.
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Angela at So Scrappy
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts  (My Fly Away Home is featured there!)
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict