I've had...

...a lot on my plate these last two months ---- influenza + missing a week of work and losing my Sweet Petey were among the "stellar" highlights. I am two months behind on bee blocks (ouch!) and still have a few Christmas gifts that were given in process but need to be finished. On top of that, the drywall crew showed up this morning and tracked mud (the gray kind) up and down my stairs and onto the living room carpet ---- mayhem is certainly in the air! {Where's Allstate when you need it???} I dare say my Kenmore and me have had little face-time, but I did manage to play around with Corel so I can at least share something sewing-related.  *grin* 

I like a couple of the patterns that accompany Moda's "Candy Bar" collections, but I am so not sold on this particular pre-cut. I just don't see the point of 'em (especially at $25 a pop!), even though you technically get the full line from four fabric collections. I like charm squares and jellyrolls because they strike me as much more versatile. With a candy bar, you're stuck with a 2.5"x5" rectangle --- of 40 different prints. Hahaha....I think "stuck" sums up my attitude quite well, no matter how "cute" they might be. I get a hedged in feeling whenever I think about them.  *grin*  That said, there is one pattern in particular, Mixed Nuts, that I happen to like. So, I drew up a couple guides to help me chop up fat quarters and/or yardage and get the same pattern, only bigger and a little more orderly.

Here goes!



This is my thinking for a more "scrappy" version of Mixed Nuts --- you can get 12 - 5" squares from each fat quarter (so, 24 perfectly sized rectangles), plus a strip of 4 - 2.5x5" rectangles or a 20" strip for a scrappy binding. The charm-size squares still let me chain piece a bit with some background fabric, and I have the option of cutting from different lines of fabric and making my own custom "Candy Bar" line up.



This option lets me cut less up front AND sew faster ---- a little strip-piecing wonderment! I really like the look of Simple Girl, Simple Life's Mixed Nuts baby quilt. It has a definite controlled feel while still being scrappy. I thought the strip approach would make this quilt come together right quick!

Here's the skinny on my cheater 'Candy Bar' method:



Like I said, myself and the Kenmore have been at opposite ends of the universe for some time now, but maybe this is the push I need to get back to my machine. I've also got a "memory quilt" drafted to keep the Flabster Abster in our life, just a little bit. I'm not quite ready to let her go and be a thing of the past...

p.s. Yes, yes, yes....I noticed the missing "S" --- 2 half strips pair with 2 half strips in the first cheater example, making a plural of background strips necessary.  *sigh*