Trial and error. Mostly error.

Here's my first Fall finish, a small Irish chain table runner made from cheddar scraps and Kona snow.  It measures 24.5 x 28.5.  I machine quilted it and tied it with brown Perle cotton, but when it came out of the dryer almost all my ties were undone.  Dang it.  They looked cute too.  I had to pull them all out.  For the moment it's going to stay as is. Who am I kidding.  It will stay like this forever.  Moving on.

These blocks have been staring at me for 2 months now.  I've been hunting for a background fabric for the setting squares and side triangles, but nothing felt right.  I even bought 2 yards of Kaufman Essex linen blend online, in a dark charcoal, and was so sure it would look awesome, that I immediately cut into it and threw the squares up next to the 9 patches.  Bleh.  As you can see I opted for an off white background.  Kona snow again.  Typically my default color of which I am trying to get away from using so much of it, because all my quilts are starting to look the same to me. I have a whole bolt of this in my closet, so I just caved in and used it.
That charcoal fabric would have been great as a tunic or dress, but because I cut it up I now have twelve 8" squares and a small amount of yardage.  That means I can make a very short top with 12 pockets. Sounds about right.

I started this ripple because it's been in my head at least 3 years and it needed to be made.  When the book Homespun Style by Selina Lake came out there was a granny blanket on page 71 in a similar colorway and I wanted it with my whole being.  Okay that's pretty dramatic, but I loved it!  If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you may have noticed that I hardly use purple or green in anything, let alone together in the same project. I like other things people make with these colors, but I rarely ever reach for them first.  Time to cast off color prejudices and try the other crayons in the box.
I'm using the neat ripple pattern by Lucy at Attic 24.  The pattern is so incredibly easy that I regularly screw it up every 2nd or 3rd row.  I have ripped back at least half of this blanket so far.  Mistakes happen when you're not paying attention and you're crocheting at the speed of sound, light, or how fast I run when being chased by a mad dog.

And finally, after seeing so many mini quilts on Instagram by Temecula Quilt Co., I impulsively bought the online pattern, Taryn's Baskets, downloaded, printed, dove into my fabric, cut, pressed and in just under a couple of hours had completed two 5" squares. The seam ripper is working overtime on this one.  My points are finishing too close to the edge, and most will have the tips cut off when I add the setting squares.  Grrrr. Taking apart 1 1/2" squares is not one of my strengths. Buying things online apparently is.
Here's to learning by our mistakes.  Cheers :)