Something new?

I know, I know I need another project like I need a hole in the head. But I've had an epiphany of sorts of late. I've decided that there is nothing wrong with having a million projects on the go at once - if I'm feeling bogged down by a project and losing momentum, why should I feel like I have to keep at it? Why not work on something else for a while and go back to it later? Or not go back to it at all? So I decided to start something new :o)

 I like to move from one project to another (I'm very easily bored) and I've had a massive urge to do something a bit improv. I blame my Retro Flowers for this - I'm finding it incredibly draining to concentrate on getting my seams to match when sewing the petals together (seriously, the curves were the easy part. Sewing them together just sucks!) I finished my May blocks for my bees a few days ago (at last!) and I faffed around looking at my WIPs trying to decide which to work on but none of them were making me excited.

Then the other night when I was doing some blog reading, I became aware of this pattern for the first time through Jeanette's blog (go check her blog out, she is crazy talented!). I tried pulling various stacks of fabric for it, but nothing seemed just right. So that pattern has been added to my 'to do someday' list, once I work out which fabric to use. But that little pattern was stuck in my mind. I love polygons, I've worked with hexies a fair bit this year, why not try octagons? I'm not sure when the inspiration struck me, but I started thinking octagons are getting pretty close to circles (kind of, anyway). And then I got thinking bubbles. 

I have a confession here. Over the last few months I've been building up a collection of Mendocino via swaps and a few purchased bits on etsy and eBay. Oh and the dots in the top row? They've been sitting in my stash forever without me realising they are actually HR Lightning bugs. So the ridiculous amount of time I waste spend drooling over fabric online paid off there ;o) Most of these are large scraps, a few are FQs and one or two are half yards.

The solids you see dotted around are all Oakshotts. And oh my goodness I think they were made for each other - I've never found such perfect matches using other solids!

Do you get where I'm heading now? Bubbles? Mermaids? I looked at these (and yes, patted them a lot and grinned like a loony), took a deep breath and did a bit of cutting and piecing. And ta-da, my first Mendocino 'bubble' block was born. The outer ring will also be octagonal once I decide on background fabric (at this stage I'm thinking various aquas pieced kind of randomly so it kind of looks like water...) I started with an 8" square for the centre of this one, and then built the octagonal rings around it.

I loved making it so much! I wish I could show you better how superb the Oakshott aqua is. Even better though, they're a similar weight to the Mendocino and were dreamy to sew.

 Here's my second attempt - a bit smaller for this one, I started with a 6" square. 

I'll be taking a small break from these (though it breaks my heart slightly to do it) so I can actually get my June bee blocks done before time, and make my zippy pouches and drawstring bags for Danny :o)

xx Jess

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced (no full list of WIPs sorry - I have a page with pics of them if you're interested in how good I am at distracting myself with new projects ;o) )