Here it is - my Block #8 in the Sewcial Bee Sampler Quilt sew-along.  I'm really enjoying this process.  I rather like the incremental nature of it, the growing stack of finished blocks, and the anticipation I feel on Tuesday nights!  Thanks Sharon Holland and Maureen Cracknell for all the fun and the helpful tutorials. You can see all the squares on Instagram at #sewcialbeesamplerquilt. This week I pulled all my fabric out to see which two might be the strongest choices for this design.

First, I auditioned the Med Green I wanted to use with a pale green background.  But...uhmm...

Next, I tried the peach as a background, but again, I wasn't feeling the inspiration.  So...

Then I got out the Yellow and presto! change-o!  It looked just right.  Later in the afternoon...

when completed, it got two paws of approval!  Can't do much better than that.

Now to Look at the Mystery Project from last week.

I'll just say from the outset, this was not a well-thought idea.  It seemed like a good plan but really lacked some serious engineering know-how.  So, in the photo it looks okay except for those wobbly sides.  But what is it?  I mentioned earlier the small, ever-growing stack of quilt blocks for the Sewcial Bee, But I really had no place to keep them together and flat.  I had them placed over my Mom's sewing box, but after so many weeks hanging down sides looked a little warped. I needed a box in which to keep them safe and flat. Here's a quick run through of the process.

First Jasmine approves the fabric.  I pulled leftover 10 squares from a Cotton & Steel collection. You can see why she likes it.

I cut the squares down to 8 " pieces so the box could be a little bigger than 14" square. This is the box bottom but it needs a lining. I used 4 other squares to be the inside of the box bottom.

Jazz thinks this is okay but she isn't actually touching it. I should have started worrying right then.  Instead, I got out a double-sided, medium weight, foam interfacing material and ironed it between the two 16" pieces.

Jazz thought it smelled funny and tried to move it off the table.  I saved it and proceeded to make side walls about 4" tall with 3" pieces of the foam ironed in between the long piece that would go all the way around the square and become the sides.  I had not considered how to connect the sides. 

To make a long story short, I decided to fold the excess fabric on the bottom piece to wrap up and over the excess on the sides, like a binding. I proceeded to use Wonder Clips to secure it for sewing. 

I picked it up to take it to the sewing machine by grabbing the closest corner and then discovered why it wouldn't work.  The bottom was too heavy and too floppy to lift even its own weight. I'm sorry there are no pictures of this. I couldn't hold still enough for focusing.  Anyway, now it sits on the far side of the table while I try to imagine a solution. Sometime next week, I'll try something else.  It might look nice sitting on the work bench across the room and could still hold the squares but it is too floppy to be moving around securely.

What to do when faced with a project that isn't working out well?  I know, I'll make a bigger tote bag with another Snap!  A few leftover charm squares of Moda French General Favorites and I'm a happy camper again.  Let me know if you have suggestions for the Mystery Floppy Box and we'll chat again next week.  Bye Bye.