Guess what? I’ve made a bunch of progress lately with my second Pas de Deux sampler quilt. It occurred to me that I could finish the quilt top prior to our departure to America next week. There’s nothing like a goal to get one moving!

This Pas de Deux is going to be named Sugar Plum in honor of the Nutcracker ballet Sugar Plum fairy. The color palette reminds me so of my ballet days. Since the sampler name is also ballet-inspired, it feels tied with a bow.

These Still Point blocks are the trickiest sew in the entire quilt. They utilize y-seams to create a flurry of twists and turns.

But the tradeoff to stretching your wings is the view once energies take flight. There’s a special zing of pleasure and satisfaction when you succeed at something that took pluck. I love how this Still Point group turned out (though I have to admit that the blue and white quilt version is still my favorite).

So, Still Pont complete! Next up, surrounding Pas de Deux ensembles.

Thank goodness for a design wall! It helps tremendously when auditioning possibilities in a modern style sampler quilt, such as this. I really have to see how the colors and values relate to each other, especially in terms of position within the quilt itself.

Sometimes it takes ages to settle on fabrics, but this Transparency group came together super quick. I had wanted to use this arrow print by Anna Maria Horner in the quilt, but had not yet found a place. It’s a favorite. These big squares are a nice way to feature it, don’t you think?

So that’s two new groups for Pas de Deux, and one more still to come!

Ta da, Orange Peel!

Ok, I love this one. It’s really a pleasure to sew. I’ve machine appliquéd the curves with fine thread, so it hardly shows. They come together so quickly!

You should expect an orange peel quilt from me this fall. I have in mind to make one for my family in our new living room color scheme. Maybe a quilt-along is in order?

Well, here’s my Sugar Plum work-in-progress. I definitely love each individual element, and usually I’m pleased with how it looks all together too.

Sometimes I’m not so sure. Sampler quilts are hard that way! The sum is different than the parts and that difference can be confusing as a maker. Have you experienced that too?

I plan to echo the darker colors (blue, gold, coral) in the remaining sections of the quilt, in hopes of weaving a coherent melody. We shall see. For sure it will be the kind of quilt that’s fun to explore up close, and that is the way we experience quilts most of the time, after all.

Back to it!