Snowballs

 Isn't it interesting how you can lay out your project, let it sit either on a design wall or Thinking Bed and STILL miss things?  Many years ago, in another lifetime, I finished a cross stitch sampler, positioned it on a chair so I could walk by and look at it before sending it to the framer.  I looked at the thing for a week, determined it was good and sent it off.  When I picked it up at the framer there it was, a whole row of miscounted stitches.  At some point I determined that any mistake I found AFTER was not going to be fixed.  The thing was professionally framed and hanging on the wall. 

So, here it is, the snowball quilt that didn't hide the bird fabric.  I whipped if off the machine and outside into the sleety rain to take the photo. It isn't finish ironed yet, I truly whipped it off the machine, threw it over my shoulder and outside to pin up.  

I had fun with choosing the fabric for the other squares and remembered that when I did a few other scrap busters I had more fun with those than precisely planned quilts.  The flying geese, the butterflies, this, they were more fun. After doing so many browns I realized I needed some lighter squares so back to the stash I went. This really was a stash buster in that I was able to use pieces that were bigger than scraps but had been cut in to for other things. (I recently saw a post where a guy said anything less than a fat quarter is a scrap!  What???)  These are 6 inches finished. 

The term 'snowball pattern' is loosely interpreted here for the sake of shape, not white snowball squares. We get enough of those for real in winter. 

The mistake?  After seeing it when it was photographed, the upper right quadrant isn't balanced in color.  Too many darker browns gathered together up there. No, I'm not fixing that. And that last row on the right looks wonky because it was breezy and they were moving. 

I really like that the birds aren't hidden, that fabric shows up well and making them every other square makes it all about them.  You can see the need for the iron finish and that will happen.  

Dining room table is cleared off but I think I'm going to make another one of these and start the cutting for it.  I can't remember when I put together a quilt top so quickly.

But for now it's time to start baking cookies.