Quilting abstinence

I have not done any sewing since beginning of November last year. Dear "Nina" (Bernina) is still at the "doctor" in Port Louis for check-up, so even if I had wanted to sew - I couldn't.

I have tried to convince myself a break from sewing/quilting is OK, to reload the batteries, get new ideas, inspiration etc. It is not that I was not able to do anything though. In my previous post you can see my UFO's from 2010 and older. The "Star Burst" quilt is ready to be hand quilted (yes, I'm doing it!) and the other quilts are ready to be sandwiched etc. Ever since I started quilting, I have dreaded the finishing; it's almost overwhelming - sort of... An idea to make smaller projects (I can hear you say that!)... yes, it is, but I looooove making bigger quilts - that's my "problem"! :)

I managed to stay off until a couple of days ago, when a severe abstinence hit me!

After some hours of gardening, I was on the couch reading a quilting magazine... Don't know how many times I've had a look in that magazine, but first that day I saw two blocks I wanted to try! One of the blocks for the baby/kid quilt(s) and the other one for the BBQC - read on...

Excited I went to my sewing room and fished out the bag with baby/kids fabric, sorted it on colors....

... and started cutting...

I know I have cut way too much for one quilt only, here I have enough for 54 blocks (9" sewn into quilt). Perhaps I'll have enough of the white-on-white - background - for one quilt only, not even that... I'm zero when it comes to mathematics, so what I have to do is start sewing the blocks and first then I'll see..... It's going to be a scrappy quilt, using at least 14-15 different fabrics/shades.

If I had known it takes ages to get my "Nina" back, I had started working on the BBQC (Brown Bag Quilt Contest) already before I went to Norway! Deadline is March 1st - not that much time left!

Correction! Just got to know deadline has been postponed to April 1st! (Wonderful!) 

Long time ago I received some lovely, purple fabric from Sharon in the US. Brown Bag means you are going to swap your "ugliest" fabric with your swap partner. 

I can't say the fabric I got from Sharon is "ugly" - are they? Purple isn't exactly my favorite color, it is outside my comfort zone when it comes to colors, but that I guess is the challenge! :)

If you want to see the "ugly" fabric I sent to Sharon, take a look here.

It took me quite some time to figure out what to make; it's going to be a tablecloth or table runner - have yet to decide on that. I have decided on the blocks, but that's going to be a secret! :) I also had to add one fabric from my stash. I hunted high and low, and the light one to the right on the photo is the nearest matching I came...

Well, it felt wonderful cutting fabric again - I have cooled down a bit now - LOL! Didn't know I missed it that much, and even by fooling myself to believe I needed a break for loading the batteries - hahaha!

Now it is just to wait for my dear "Nina"!