Project Quilting 12-4 Snail Trail block

 We have Snow! 

I've been looking out the window a lot this week. I'm not a big fan of cold, but I like when there's snow on the ground. So, as I finished up my quilt today, this is the accumulation of the snow... so far... it's still snowing here. It's a fine snow, so it's taken quite a while for it to pile up around here. It's fun looking out this window and remember all the years my kids would be out there playing and sledding. Such wonderful memories. If I get motivated, I'll take a walk to the Lake and take some pictures there. It's been a while since we have gotten this much snow and our lake is so deep it doesn't freeze. Anyway, onto the challenge...

The Cats are Cold

25" x25"

I had done a snail trail block a few times in the past so I was familiar with it but I was adamant I was NOT going to make a bigger quilt this time. Still, snail trail lends itself to the best impact being repeated in several blocks... But I really didn't want to make a big quilt. I found this one on Pinterest which uses just one snail trail for it's tails and then simple blocks for the rest of the cats. It seemed like something I could sketch out easily. I saw it made both like this and with a snowballed corner on the cat body. I liked keeping it more geometric. 

Every source I looked at for making a 12" BLOCK, gave different cutting instructions. I decided to make an 8" BLOCK and cut the pieces , 5 1/4", 3 3/4", 3', and 2", then sub cut the first 3 into half squares on the diagonal.

I practiced, and started on my precious Cherrywood fabric. These cats are using some fabric from the  "Alaskan Sunset" collection. I liked the humor of using that in the week of sub freezing temperatures. 

Both of my girls, who are living on their own, decided to own cats. We have had cats while they were growing up, but now we have the two dogs and no cats after ours have passed away from old age. So, it's a tribute to Psyche, Bob, Luke and Star. Maura's Luke is quite the scene stealer in her Zoom classroom. Cats are fun.  

So, what did I learn this time? I am usually clueless about quilting. This week, I became a bit more adventurous about free motion quilting. I gave myself permission to play and not be perfect. I also tried sewing a binding on totally by machine. I sewed it on the back and flipped to the front and I used a foot called a piecing foot guide which kept my stitches running right along the edge. I was mostly pleased with that experiment too. 

I had some thread breakage. I noticed when I went to block the piece, the water evaporated quickly. I'm wondering if the humidity was affecting my thread.. or if it's just too old? Maybe I should just get rid of it? Not sure. 

Calling this challenge done and happy with what I've learned.