Herringbone Quilt: Case of the Never Ending 2" Strips

Every marriage has their quirks and mine is no different.  For the first year of marriage we tried sharing a single blanket for our bed.  Results: we would each steal the covers!  So to help keep each other happy, we determined that we each would have our own blanket. For the most part, it's a great system.  My husband tends to have a lighter blanket while mine is a bit bulkier. 

However, we still like the idea of being able to share a blanket.  Sharing is caring, right?   So, I jump over to my pinterest board and together we pick the herringbone quilt that I pinned by Bijou Lovely.

Laying out the blocks for a third, fourth or fifth time...

Quick timeline:
2013: Get great idea to cut down my scraps by cutting 2" x 11" strips from Bijou Lovely's Herringbone tutorial and subsequently Stitched in Color's block tutorial.  Plan to sew roughly 20 blocks and do some math.

2013-2014: Cut and gather 560 2" x 11" strips from my scraps. I also carefully curated scrap bundles from some of my fellow quilters.  You can keep your eye out on Instagram and blogland for when bloggers/quilters destash some of their scrap bundles.  I bought three bundles (each around $8) and got some quality fabrics and it added some variety to my quilt.  By the end of the year I managed to sew roughly 5 blocks!  Wahoo!

2015 - Present: I've sewn 20 blocks and laid them out on my design wall. Loving the process and how the fabrics are playing together.

Too skinny! (My math was off.  Ahem... did I mentioned that I was in advanced math classes in school?)

So then I had to cut 112 more 2" x 11" strips.... BUT it was worth it!!!

The final results coming soon!

Sailing Away - Sailboat Quilt Top

"Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me" - Styx

The past few summers I've had the privilege of volunteering for my church's annual camping trip where we take teenage girls out camping for five days.  It's a wonderful, rewarding and tiring experience.  Many people put their heart and sweat into this experience, including our two camp directors. Last year I made the red cross quilt for one of them and this year I decided to make a quilt for the other leader.

Our theme this year (because we have to have a fun theme!) was traveling and each group had their own mode of transportation.  The main leadership group was assigned boats and the color blue.

With inspiration from Cotton Way's Smooth Sailing pattern, I used a Mini Swoon to create a sailboat.  I kept the colors to red, aqua, and navy and am so pleased with the results.  Why don't I use this combination more often?

Now this happy little quilt just needs to be quilted... I'm leaning towards clamshell quilting.  What do you think?