Friends

I first saw Emma Jean Jansen's fabric line, Terra Australis, on Instagram -- it was love at first sight!
The dots! The stripes! The eucalyptus! The colo(u)rs! The KANGAROOS!

Then, my friend, QuiltingCyclist, had a 'log' (aka, bundle of 2.5 inch strips) at the HMQG retreat. I was eager to see the line in person. She started something fun with it at retreat & made some sly & oblique comments about how I might get some soon. That weekend, I got on Etsy, found a seller who had a Terra Australis log, put it in my cart, but did not Proceed To Checkout. The following week, a mysterious, squishy package arrived in the mail -- funny, I didn't remember ordering anything. I opened the package & found Terra Australis! *Very* funny -- had I accidentally ordered this? Then I found the note: "Enjoy! From your Friend!"

{Big Hug}, QuiltingCyclist! I *will* enjoy! Thank you so much!!!

So what to do with this fun fabric? In my Idea Book, I have lots of sketches of things to do with 2.5 inch strips. But I wanted to use this line to its fullest advantage, so maybe following a pattern -- something I don't often do, something I'm not very good at -- might be a smart way to go. This way I'll know how much fabric I will use & how big my finished quilt will be. A new book provided the path:  Strip Savvy by Kate Henderson has a simple, strippy block that can set together in a variety of ways.

I chose a pale gray as my background. My choice is, well, interesting -- it is nearly the same value of some of the prints, darker than some, lighter than others. Hmmmmm, I am eager to see how this develops.