What to do with leftover blocks?

I found a GREAT idea over at Modify Tradition! I used 12 1/2 " Quatrefoil blocks to make.....Ricebags with removable/washable covers :) These will be gifts for some of my favorite quilters, who all happen to be related to me. We are off to Paducah on Wednesday for 4 days of quilty fun! Don't look, Joy :p

Elizabeth's FQ pack from SewMamaSew

Elizabeth's FQ pack from SewMamaSew, originally uploaded by myittybittyquilts.

So, I recently decided that I was going to make a picnic quilt for my cousin and his bride-to-be. He has two young boys involved in sports and I figured they would be spending a bunch of time sitting outside watching ball games :) I was checking out her gift registry and saw that her basic house colors were grey, brown, and green. I don't know the bride very well, so I wanted to go with the colors I knew she liked. I'm just planning to do large simple squares. Anyway, I saw that Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson had put together a FQ pack for SewMamaSew and it was just perfect! I went to order it and the site said Sold Out :( I thought I would just look for something similar and I saw the pack again in another section of the store and this time I was able to order it.. Hmmmm...not sure what happened, but I'm tickled! Not only was I able to order it, but the package was here on my door step in 3 days! Way to go, SMS!

I have been in a bit of a sewing slump, therefore a blogging slump. I did need to get a few things done, though, so today I set aside the time to get re-acquainted with my sewing machine. My aunt picked up these vintage blocks at a flea market somewhere. I think she even got them for free. She found sashing and border fabric and pieced the top, then asked me to quilt it. I mulled around a LOT of ideas. Researched how quilts from the 60's era would have been quilted. I realized that this quilt very well could have been tied. I knew I wasn't going that direction, so I began to think of doing the Baptist Fan pattern, or maybe Clamshell, then I thought of cross-hatch quilting. I hadn't done any of these on a quilt larger than a doll sized, so they all were a bit intimidating! I finally decided that my good 'ol stipple would work swimmingly on this quilt and as soon as I made the decision, my mind was free to get to work on it. I'm pretty pleased with the results and now I have a little extra cash for the trip to Paducah!