A variety of blocks

Happy Labor Day!  It is nice to have a holiday to serve as a bridge into a new season.  We are noticing that fall has begun here in central Vermont.  Mornings have been dark but crisp, and the sun sets before 8 pm now.  Leaves are beginning to turn and even fall.  Apples are appearing in the stores.  I'm looking forward to making spiced pear jam again and also an apple cake.

I spent the last few days working on a variety of quilt blocks.  I counted my Harriet's Journey blocks after I made this month's eight.  I now have 56 and am beginning to run out of fabric.  I had started with a variety of whites and a fat quarter bundle of "Moody Blooms" by Moda.  I later bought a few more half yard pieces and just ordered another yard and a half for a border.  I'll wait until October to decide on a layout.  I may stop then and plan to put them all together in late December or January.  Many of Chiaverini's blocks are paper pieced, something I hadn't counted on when figuring out how much fabric to get.  

I signed up for an elephant block swap, so I started making some blocks and ended making all eight that I will need.  These were fun to make in Kaffe Fassett and other bright fabrics.  The pattern I'm using makes a 10.5" block, but mine ended up just a little shy of that size.  So I may make a few more to swap and keep the ones that are too small.

I'm thinking about making a few other animal blocks including birds with long legs and paper pieced dogs and cats.  I may also vary the backgrounds a bit because the solid black, while dramatic, really strains my eyes.   Maybe charcoal gray or even a blackish print might work.   The swap blocks aren't due until January, so they are now resting in a pizza box until I decide what to do.