Double churn dashes and challenge

Because the next few months are a bit uncertain with our planned house sale and move down the street, I thought I'd better get a jump on making this year's Friendship Block Swap blocks.  They aren't due until Sept. 30, but as hostess I can't hold everything up.  Ten people have joined the Double Churn Dash swap, and the blocks finish at 20".  Even the nine blocks we'll receive will make a nice-sized throw.   I plan to have 12 blocks, including this odd one, so my finished quilt will be 60 x 72" without borders or sashing.

Above is my first sample, made last fall.  Later, we decided to make all the half-square triangles in dark blue and the center square in the cream background also.  It's a stash-buster so we can use whatever accent fabric we like.  The sheer size of these blocks makes cutting a bit daunting as I worried I'd run out of the scraps of cream background.  Tuesday I cut all the pieces out (unusual for me as I like to cut as I go) and was pleased that I had enough cream background to finish.  Yesterday I started putting the blocks together and found them easy to sew with a little juggling around due to their size.  Chain piecing really helps.  Another UFO done!

Because it was sunny yesterday, I took a picture of the panel challenge piece I made for one of my local guilds.  Each person bought the same panel at $8 and is to make something quilty out of it.

The panel is pretty generic and a bit too nostalgic for my taste, so I jazzed it up a bit with some mythological creatures.  You can find Big Foot, Pegasus, the Loch Ness Monster, and more here and there.   And Elvis is driving the truck!  All that grass made deciding on a quilting pattern difficult.  I tried big stitch quilting with embroidery floss but it didn't show and I took it out.  In the end, I simply followed the contour of the land using variegated fall-colored thread.  It's due in April (I think).  Next on my agenda:  the guild mystery quilt.