Now What?

Okay.  Let's say, "hypothetically" you are following along the AMB Blog tour and you like what you see.  It's Just.  Well, it's just you don't really want to make 50 blocks.  Say you want to make just one block. Your state's block.  Great.  A block.  What are you going to do with that?  Added it to the 100's of others you have saved, stored or stashed away.

Most certainly not.  Today I am going to show you what I have done with my 'test' block.  I get a little OCD, on occasion.  This project happened to be just such an occasion.  I made a test block from fabric I had laying around, just to make sure everything was going to turn out as planned.  Just be thankful.  It could have been a real disaster.  I digress.  So this test block.  I had it sitting on my cutting table, staring at me.  "look at me! look at me!"  What in the world was I going to do with it? Throw it away? I think not.  Save it in the bin with all the other random blocks I have.  Ah, No. I guess I could make a pillow out of it? or a journal cover?  Then I was struck upon an idea so simple I was amazed I hadn't thought of it sooner.  My Wreath.

If you are scratching your head right now, let me let you in on a little project I worked on 2 or 3 years ago.  If you look at the page titles at the top of the blog UP THERE.

You will see a heading labeled Wreath.  Basically I made a simple wreath design from grapevine and artificial greenery.  On the wreath I attached 2 clothes pins with which to hang quilt blocks.  I made a different block each month representing a holiday, season or special event.  I liken it to those 12' X 18" garden flags people have in their yards, only much more specific to quilters.

I sandwiched my block with batting and backing.  Simply echo quilted the block around the South Carolina State Image and then bound the mini-quilt. Well, it's been 3 years and that wreath was getting pretty tired looking. I swapped out the greenery for something fresh and new.  Added safety pins to the back of the block.  Threaded floral wire through the safety pins and tied the wire to the wreath to hold up the quilt block. (instead of clothes pins)  And TA-DA.  My new and improved wreath.

Be sure to check out todays stops on the AMB Tour.  Up today is Pat Sloan (Virginia) and Park Hill Farm (New Hampshire) It could be your state!  Soon you could have your very own state inspired Wreath.