Slow going...

I'm working away at a couple of things right now. I'm back at Three of a Kind, a pattern from Judy Martin's book Scraps.

 I have 26 of these blocks done, so only 10 more to go, plus all the single square units that go around the outer edge.
The other thing I'm working on is the quilting on my sampler quilt. I'm using this one as a learning tool for all kinds of things, tight background fills around applique being one of them.

I've decided I'm not a fan of McTavishing, although maybe this wasn't a good piece to try it on. From what I've seen, that technique requires larger open spaces than what I have here. But I do like the look of that back and forth "C" shape. It has the added bonus, when done near the applique, of filling the background and outlining the applique at the same time. It took me doing half of the center appliqued area before I discovered this. This could be a very good thing to know when it comes to quilting both Cactus Rose and In Full Bloom. I've also added those three in one bubbles to my repertoire, and I am trying very hard to master curved cross hatching. Who would have thought it was so hard making sure the ruler was turned the right way? So far, I have one out of the four sections that I've done that are done correctly.

This one is right.                                                                         This one is wrong.

                  

Because I've decided this is a learning piece, and not a show piece, there will be no ripping. It will be a graphic lesson in how not to do it. I'm trying new techniques inside the sampler squares, as well.

The royal blue background in all the sampler squares are testing other very dense fills. I like the way it is making the pieced portions of the blocks stand out. But, it is all very time consuming. I'm giving myself to the end of the week to finish this. If it's not done, I'll take it off, and work on the quilts I have waiting for customers.
 I think I'll spend the rest of this evening working on more Three of a Kind squares, and then later on, some knitting.