This project was posted unquilted a while ago, but it's now beautifully quilted by Anita of Prairie Creations, a friend and fellow guild member. Isn't it gorgeous? There is a simple grid in the center and various leaves, vines, dragonflies, butterflies quilted around the border. This is a large quilt, approx. 90 x 105 inches. It's now bound and only lacks a label.
A while ago, ONE OF YOU asked on YOUR blog, "What's on YOUR bed?", I kinda cringed when I looked at how sad my current quilt looked after 10 years of use, and abuse. When cool days return, this new "Checkers" will be on my bed.
If you look closely, you will see it is simply 4-patches and pinwheels - how easy is that? But the pinwheels DO have a determined direction, so if you choose to make this one, look closely. I believe any colors would work, as long as they are lights and darks. My palette is the same as I usually love, I call them 'foresty colors' - muted greens, browns, deep eggplant, melon, etc.
There are 4 bright blue pinwheels that at first, didn't 'go', but in fact, are now playing an important role in the quilt.
The inspiration for this quilt came from one of my books, and a Better Homes and Gardens photo, and Bonnie at
www.quiltville.com.This was such an easy yet effective project, I might just make another smaller one for Project Linus, using some of my leftover kids prints!
My stash of RED scraps is getting out of control. (Yeah, what's new about that!). This Judy Martin quilt, Country Cousins, has been tugging at me for YEARS! Then a few days ago, I received this Land's End catalog of all these red and purple and pink and orangey bathing suits. I'm not purchasing bathing suits but this ad was the catalyst to start somthing RED. 
I kept it simple, decided against, Judy Martin's design, and started Buckeye Beauty or Jewel Box. Bonnie Hunter also has a similar design. What fun! Making this one is fairly FAST! Here are 56 blocks - for now, I'm aiming for 110. The block is 6 in. finished. I need a total of 240 4-Patches, and 240 HSTs. I'm halfway there! 
Here are my strips of red and light, pressed and laid out on my cutting mat. I still have issues with cutting accurately, with eyestrain and accuracy, so I purchased a June Tailor Shape Cut ruler. It has slots at every 1 inch and half inch. This works VERY well for me. Each cut strip remains precisely the same size, and I'm not straining my eyes. I've showed the ruler before - it's one of my favorite tools. It's a bit flimsy, so I store it on it's side between furniture cabinets, along with big square rulers. This was under $30.00 at JoAnns and I used my 40% coupon. I've VERY happy with this gadget. An entire mat full of carefully laid out strips can be cut in just a minute or two. Press down firmly on the ruler and nothing moves. One must be careful to cut at the right slots - it's easy to get carried away and miss your mark! I used my Olfa cutter - not all cutters work.
Here it is with the ruler laying on top of the strips, ready to cut! You slip your cutter into the slots along the edge of the ruler. This would be PERFECT for a variety of blocks, especially when you have hundreds of cuts to make. I haven't tried it on anything but strips yet.
