Must Be Crazy

Since I have so many UFOs (Unfinished Objects), I decided to join the American Patchwork & Quilting's 2017 UFO Challenge. Participants are to make a list of 12 UFOs and APQ announces each month which number we are to work on. For January, it's #6, which for me is the Floating Stars quilt that I am making for my nephew, Bradley. Unfortunately for me, a large percentage of my UFOs are projects that I haven't even started yet, which gives me a lot more to finish than, say, someone who just has to put on a binding. And Bradley's quilt was one of the ones that I had the fabric for, but hadn't even started anything yet. However, that has already changed. I assembled one block because I wanted to see what it looked like.

Then I completed about half of the Square A's.

Then I finished all of the Square A's.

Four of them didn't fit on my design wall, but there are 32 A Squares, plus the 2 B Squares required to complete the first block: 34 out of 64 total squares. Now I've got 30 B Squares to complete.
Meanwhile, Pat Sloan has started The 182 Day Solstice Challenge, which will be a block a week from winter solstice to summer solstice. I wasn't going to join. I definitely did not need another project. But seeing everyone else's pictures on facebook,  I decided to give it a try as well. I considered using Northcott's Porcelain Blue line since I have 5 fat quarters of it and I absolutely love it. But I know that 5 fat quarters are not going to be enough for 25 blocks. Today, after work, I stopped at my LQS. I don't have a whole lot of time from the time I get off work to the time the LQS closes, and I really wasn't sure what I wanted to try or what I felt gave the "look" I was looking for. I ended up buying a metre of two different fabrics to experiment with and see if I liked the combination.

It's definitely a unique look, but I think I like it. The lighter fabric is snow-covered evergreens. The darker is a tonal fabric that looks like pinecones. I figured it was a good combination with the evergreens. So, it's basically going to be a monochromatic quilt. I still have two more blocks to do to catch up with everyone. Once I've done them, I can determine if I like this combination well enough to purchase more fabric to do the whole challenge in it.