In late April I’m going to a quilt retreat.  Among the activities is a “Challenge Block” and a “Swap Block”.  This year the Challenge or Lotto block is the 10″  from Quilters Cache.  Any shade of blue with white on white background. I’ve made 2 so my name will be tossed into the bucket twice to win all of the blocks.  One year I think there were enough to make 3 quilts, so 3 people took blocks home.

This year’s Swap Block is Friendship Scrap Block, also from Quilters Cache.  The ‘ring’ is supposed to be a cream with a small print (this photo is slightly overexposed)  with medium darks with subtle print or solid of my choice. Since the sign up is still open, I don’t know how many blocks I’ll need to make.  My plan is to make at least a dozen blocks between now and when the final count is released.  If I have more blocks than I need they’ll be tossed into the box to be used later. If I need more blocks, I’ll be well on the way to having them done.

So, why am I working on these blocks 10 weeks before I need them?  Well the next two weeks will be devoted to working on the house.  My brother will get in tomorrow night and we’ll hit the ground running on Tuesday. First up — plywood to make a platform for the antique brass bed and getting a mattress.  I sent the rails out to get lengthened and didn’t know when I’d get them back, so didn’t want to buy a mattress until I had a place for it. I’ll eventually need to get or make a bed skirt, but I’ll worry about that later.