Snakes in the Grass

I am so lucky!  I belong to a great group of quilters.  We do a lot of work for charities, generally getting together once a month to sew.
Unfortunately, I can't sew with them now that I'm babysitting full time.  My little buddy likes to go with me to visit with the ladies and take photos for the blog, but we don't usually last longer than half an hour.
Since I can't help in person, I like to take home something to work on in the evenings, or when Little Buddy has his nap.  Here are some of the strips I took home last time.

Can you see the print in the orange?  Yes, it's snakes!  Yikes!  I am NOT a fan of snakes.  I just can't help it, even though I know most snakes are harmless and actually do good by eating rodents, etc.

There were three different colorways of these snakes including red (above) and black.   So, kind of scary, but still very colorful, right?  I could just think of them as toy snakes.  Yeah, that's it.

So I used the snake strips and some other bright  and light strips from the group stash, and added in my own scraps, to make 16 patch blocks.  Here's the view from my makeshift design wall at the beginning of this week.

And here they are, finished into a top, resting on the grass.  The blocks measure 8 in. finished, and the quilt top is about 49 in. x 57 in.  I hope the child who gets this one will be charmed by the snakes.

I used the tutorial HERE to make these blocks up.  It was very quick and easy.  Thanks very much to Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for writing up the tutorial.  If you follow her directions, each block has only 5 seams (!), and the blocks fit together perfectly.
I'm still unplugged, as Mrs. Pfaff is not repaired yet, but the backing and batting are ready for quilting as soon as she is healthy again.

Here's how far I've gotten on the RSC challenge this month.  Our new color is red.

Are you wondering what this is?  This is part of my new system for storing 2.5 in. strips.

This is an overhead view of the brights drawer.  Each color of strips are rolled up together, so I don't have to go hunting through the drawer to find them.  You can probably tell which colors haven't been used yet  for the RSC challenge (especially dark blue and orange).  There are also rolls for multi-colored strips and a special one for Kaffe Fassett fabric.
The red rolls above are reproduction fabric (on the left) and bright reds (on the right).  Nothing is ready to sew yet, but the fabric is out of the drawer, so that's a start.
Red is the perfect color for early summer.

Strawberries had a short season here this year, but my oldest grandson and I picked them at the local farm last week, and the jam is in the cupboard ready for winter or giveaways to family and friends.

Our raspberries are ripe at last!  Little Buddy helps me pick every morning.  By help, I mean he holds out his hand and says "yum-iny" and I give him berries.

Even with his help, lots of red berries make it into the house.  This is what I picked today.

And here's the design wall right now, full of novelty hearts.  I've got whales, owls, bananas, monsters, monster trucks, cats, dogs, even sharks.
But no snakes.

I'm wishing a lovely week for you, and lots of lovely quilts.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
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