Picking up where I left off...

About one year ago Kim and I started our Village Sampler Quilts by local quilter and designer Cheryl Wall.  I kept doing posts about my progress on each block.  And then....well, what can I say?  I got sidetracked.  First the Olympics came to town, then it was Spring and the yardwork started, then I started other sewing projects, then...well, you get the idea. Anyway, I've been crossing UFO's (unfinished objects) off my quilting list like crazy these days and this one is next on my list.  So, here's the latest installment of my quilt!  I'm so excited to finish this one!  It's been an unbelievable amount of work, especially for someone like me who doesn't have ANY patience!  If you look closely you'll notice that not only did I finish the last block on the bottom right, but I swapped out a few fabrics here and there.  It's so hard to judge what will look good in a big quilt when you're doing one block at a time.

The original quilt where I left off last February:

My new and improved, and much closer to completion quilt:

Things I switched:  I swapped out the dark sky under the courthouse for a more subtle patterned fabric, but still in the same tones.  I swapped out one of the houses that just looked to pinkish to me for a chocolatey brown house instead.  Then, I swapped out the middle friendship star in the row of 3 blocks.  That one was screaming out 'look, I'm the same colour as puke' too loudly! 

So, those swaps in themselves took a lot of time and patience, but I'm back on track baby!  Now, with the last block all pieced (top picture) I need to start the detail work. 
I need to add a few more pieces of applique, such as the leaves on the trees, and stars here and there, handstitch around all the applique, and then sew it all together, and add the borders and binding!  Stay tuned for the final installments of this project!