Curve It Up QAL - Block #2

We have so much coming up for us in the next week that I knew I needed to jump on getting the second block done for the Curve it Up QAL.  I really didn't want to fall behind, so I downloaded the PDF and got busy.  Jenny's sister Helen over at HGMR Deco Quilting designed this block which is called the "Curve It Up" Sawtooth Star.

Working with these fabrics is really stretching me.   The line has orange, purple, aqua and green, and not all of them play well together - not for me anyway.  And a lot of them have large patterns that don't work in small pieces, so I had to go raid my stash to add a few more solid-reading fabrics to the line.  The curved orange stars are from a fat quarter I dug out of my stash :*)

I originally wanted to go "matchy-matchy" and use this pretty aqua with the dragonflies fabric in the 16-patch center.....

But as you can see, it just didn't work.  The aqua was a perfect complement to the dragonflies fabric, but it was just blah in the block.  I knew I had to punch it up with some color, but I was concerned about using the purple in there, afraid it would be too garish, but eventually it was really the only choice that allowed that center to pop.  Once I got it put together I was thrilled with the result!  I love the movement of those purple squares in there!

The block went together easily, although at first I had some qualms about the fact that the star points don't go out to the seam allowance and they don't meet in the middle.  Once I realized it was designed to look like that I decided to get used to it :*D

I thought it would be fun to add a decorative element to this block by fussy-cutting the flowers in the corners.  After I figured out where I wanted to cut the first flower to get the look I wanted, I put some Omni-Grip on my small square ruler and traced the flower design on it so I could place the ruler exactly on the same place with each subsequent flower.

              Here are my first two blocks of this QAL together.....

This has been fun and challenging, and I am delighted that I decided to join in.  I'll be linking up to Jenny's Flickr Group HERE.....

I also want to show you something I won last week from my friend Leslie who shares her gorgeous art quilt works over at MarveLes Art Studios.   This girl is a serious artist and makes some wonderfully quilty, sparkly, delightful pieces - you will want to check her out!  She is also one of the sweetest bloggers I have met here on Blogger :*D

This hand-painted watercolor drawing notecard is what I won!

Don't you just love it?!?!!!!

I'm so happy with this little card and can't wait to frame it and hang it in my sewing studio - huge smiles!!!!  Thank you so much Leslie =^..^=

I may need to take a little break from the blog this week with all the things going on right now.  Today we celebrated our youngest grandson's first birthday....

What a CUTE birthday cupcake :*D

Tomorrow we are going to the stadium to see the Carolina Panthers play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  I sure do hope they decide to play well tomorrow :*)  It is supposed to be cold and cloudy, so I will be bundling up very, very warm!!!

After that we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving, as I am sure many of you will be doing as well.  May I send to each and every one of you - whether you live here in the US or not - my sincerest wishes for a wonderful holiday surrounded by all those you love!

Happy Thanksgiving!

=^..^=

Teresa

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