An ongoing distraction

In July, I saw this post and thought this would be a great way for someone as anal retentive as I am to make an improve-like block. I so admire them, but can't loosen up enough to be very successful.

After making a few blocks with scrap strips, I thought about making a striped quilt with applique in between. Good plan if I didn't want to finish it. Maybe a medallion. Then I remembered a very, very old UFO using similar colors.

Thank goodness I left myself a fabric legend.

This particular UFO was from a guild challenge. We put the names of quilt blocks, colors and objects into a hat, and five were drawn that we had to incorporate into a wall hanging. Green, orange, frog, mariner's compass and something else was drawn. I had about half the compass, which I'd drafted myself, done.

Why did this become a UFO? Because I drafted the pieces way too small for success.
Years later, I have learned enough to understand this. 

I finished the rest of the compass, but it didn't really work with the other blocks. Colors were right, but not the tone or scale. The compass, despite it's poorly matched points, does not work with the improve ones.

Then I found a block I'd made of leftover half square triangles. I sashed it in dark blues, and then couldn't decide if I liked it or not. I left it on the design wall for a long time before taking it down and putting it away.

This weekend, I saw this post, and decided to make a few star blocks with scraps. The colors I pulled reminded me of this summer's medallion attempt. I've pulled it out and am staring at it again.  

I don't think I like the center. I could make another, but not sure of what I'd put in it. Suggestions welcome. For now, I'm leaving this up to ponder my next move while I sew more arcs. Those arcs take a long time. Three days of quality sewing time, and I am only three-quarters of the way to having enough for a second block.

Applique tip

Before, with lots of pins.

Barb shared a great tip in her post about the applique on her Jubilee quilt. She machine basted her vines to the background fabric. Genius!

After, with machine basting.

The other night I machine basted my arcs to the background, and last night I appliqued the inside and part of the outside of one arc. So much easier and faster and a lot less painful than with all those pins! For the next block, I might try my walking foot for the basting to make it easier going over all those seams.

Almost one block

I've got these arcs pieced, stay stitched, trimmed and freed of foundation paper. This is the progress as of Sunday night, which is unchanged as of tonight. I'm debating whether to forge ahead with more arcs or stitch what I have together and applique them to the background. There's time to decide as I won't get back to this until Saturday or Sunday. For the background I plan to use four different cream prints from the stash, one for each block, selected solely because there's sufficient yardage for a giant block.