Got Purple?

I've been pretty quiet for a week, but not through inactivity.  I've been working on something Top Secret and I'll be able to show that to you sometime soon.  But I have also been busy trying to clear my slate of February bee blocks.  It's terrible to be so dilatory.  But I am making progress.

First, here is Marianne's block for the Maple Leaf Quilting Bee.  She asked for a block that used a smaller, internal block modeled after Oh, Fransson's Map of the States block and edged in a dark grey.  Pretty, no?

Second, here is my practice block for Jennifer's New York Beauty.  Can words express how terrified I still am of this block? I seriously considered a slug of bourbon before I started this.   Jennifer sent us a link with many NYB patterns, and the one I made was the beginner block.  In fact, they numbered all their block patterns and this one is number 0.  They must figure that it's so simple that no one would want to make this one, beyond practicing your skills.  Ha.  Seriously, though, once I got started, it seemed to go fine.  I had my usual trouble of cutting my fabric way huge to make sure I cover the pieces properly, but I think I'm getting better with that.  And I sewed the curved bits together using NO PINS.  I read somewhere that when sewing curves, you only need to worry about lining up the half inch under the presser foot, and the rest of the seam can flop.  So I went slowly, made sure I set my machine to stop with the needle down, and used a stiletto to keep the edges together as they went under the presser foot.  Afterwards, I clipped the curve in a few places and it pressed flat nicely.  Not bad!  For a baby beginner block number 0!  On the strength of this block, which has haunted my dreams for the last month, I am posting in Amy's Sew-n-Tell Friday.  Tomorrow, I will replicate this - fingers crossed - with Jennifer's fabric.  If I revisit that decision about the bourbon, I may even move up to Block 1.  Stay tuned!
Now to the topic of today's post - I've signed up for a purple charm chain swap.  I need five people who want to accumulate 6" charm squares of purple fabric.  It is a chain-letter model, in which you receive a list of five names, to whom you send 2 six-inch squares of purple quilting fabric.  Then you add your name to the bottom of the list, lop off the top name on the list, and send it on to five others.  One ends up with 72 purple charms.  Sounds fun?  Come on, you know you love purple.  Say "yes!" in the comments and I'll contact you - or email me if your profile is set to no-reply.