Bad Lynne sent me some 2.5 inch orange squares to use as leaders and enders for my current project. I guess that she needed to get those rascals out of her basement sewing space before they started a fire.

I have started making ten inch HST blocks (half red strips and half neutrals) so I can create the "barber pole" quilt idea that Ellen shared some time ago. Here are the first five blocks and since I am using 1.5 inch strips I will have quite a ways to go.

(Look how the camera distorted the bottom block when I put the blocks on our picnic table. LOL)

I have an idea of how to use all of the leaders and enders I am accumulating while stitching all of these strips into HST blocks for Ellen's idea. I found this idea on Pinterest and I like it because it is not the usual "checkerboard"; the white space is a rectangle, not a square. I plan to use black as my rectangle, not white.

Curiosity prompted me to stitch up one sixteen patch block just to see how it would look and I had to be sure and include one of Lynne's oranges in the process. The block measures 8.5 inches so it won't be hard for me to calculate the size of the black rectangles I will need.

Judy,

Both of your projects look like so much fun!  Love the strings best, though.

Cris in MT

It is going to be pretty when it get done.

Those all look great. I am likely gonna do some green strings and make a big star outta them.

I like both of these a whole lot. I think I shall be making both of them soon. 

Thanks, Cris. I'm not sure I'd consider all of this stitching exactly "fun" but since it is in the high 80s in Ohio already I'm huddling over my cool sewing machine rather than go outside in the heat these days.

I don't even want to sit at the picnic table to finger press the leaders and enders .....

Thank you, Viola. Don't have any deadlines so I'm just moseying along with both projects ...

I look forward to seeing your big green star.

I'm also dying to see how you quilted Dee's quilt.

Do you mean I'm an enabler of scrap quilts, too? 

After all these years of encouraging people to spend money I must be slowing down. 

It looks amazing. I was painting cabinets all day today but promise to post photos this weekend.