Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM - Block #1!!!

It's finally here!!!!
The Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM starts today!!!

 Are you as excited as I am?  I hope so!  

I love a BOM, and I especially love one that is fun and simple to make - 

and Jacquelynne has made sure these blocks are all of that!

(Our first hint is the word "Simplicity" in the name LOL!)

(If you're new, you can go HERE to find out all about the BOM )

Here is my Block #1

Since Jacquelynne used her lovely Cottage Charm fabrics to make her blocks (go HERE if you'd like to see her Block #1), I decided I would go with something totally different.  One of her suggested examples showed a black background and lots of bright solids to give it an Amish look - and you know I loved that!  I pulled all my solids out - I even bought a few more!

I had really been on the fence about how I was going to handle the center snowball in each block.... applique? ..... embroidery? ..... leave it blank and do some fancy quilting in there? .....

But then ..... I stumbled across this gorgeous Laurel Burch cats panel while digging for potential Patchwork of the Crosses fabrics - and inspiration struck!

What if I put a cat in the center of each one?!?

And then surround it with black, then lots of bright colors?.......

Not solids of course, but fun prints to emphasize the cats......

All my pieces cut out and ready to stitch.... the center panel already has it's black border and cut down to the required 6-1/2" square size.

Although I am totally in love with this idea, it is proving to be a little tricky because those center snowballs are only 6-1/2" square, and most of these cat blocks are going to be very close to that, leaving little space for a black border around them.  I may have to get very creative!!!

I love the way Jacquelynne makes her Flying Geese units!  I had never done them that way before.  I found it to be a very easy method, and my units were perfect!  Look at those points!  *polishing shoulder LOL!!!*

I have to admit, I just had to save the corners that were cut off - they made the cutest little 1-1/4" half-square triangles!  I simply sewed again a little less than 1/2" away from the first stitching and cut them off.  No messing with bias seams for me!

This is a little trick I learned from Bonnie Hunter, although she actually measures where she sews that second seam so she doesn't even have to square up the resulting hst unit!  That Bonnie is one smart cookie!!!!

For my half-square triangle units, I used a silver metallic gel pen to mark the diagonal center of my black squares.  This mark didn't matter because we don't sew on it; we sew a scan 1/4" inch away on both sides, then cut on that marked line.  But for my colored squares I knew I would actually be sewing on that line and it may show later, so I used a Frixion iron-away pen for them.....

I played with leaving the snowball corners out and making the center a square since the black was so narrow around the cat, but I just didn't like the orange star points just jutting out there all by themselves.....

I decided I would have to sacrifice some of the black border and make the snowball corners in orange so the star would connect all the way around.  I think it was the right decision :)

Sew..... are you sewing along?

If you're signed up, your email with the pattern is waiting for you now!  

What fabrics are you using?  

And what are you planning for the center blocks?

Yes - I want to know everything!!!!

  

Share photos of your blocks on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram 

using the hashtag #SewSweetSimplicity.

 

Also linking up with:
Patchwork Times - Design Wall Monday
Freemotion by the River - Tuesday Linky Party
What a Hoot - BOM's Away!
Cat Patches - October NewFO Challenge

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=