These quiltathons are a good idea, I can certainly get a lot of sewing accomplished, but it wrecks my sleep patterns. I was up till 4am last night (or this morning, depending on how you look at it). I've had 5 hours sleep, and don't feel all that bad, but I think I will have to have a nap this afternoon, thus wasting valuable sewing time. Drats.

My 2.5" strips situation was getting dire; I sewed 5 quilts from them and the drawer still wouldn't close. On Friday night I resolved that I would get rid of every existing strip. It was an admirable goal, but I don't think I'll be able to do it in one weekend.

This top used up all of the blue and brown strips, including most of a collection of hectic light blues that overwhelm any fabric they're teamed with. I was on the point of binning them, but they found a reprieve here. The navys and dark browns subdue their brightness to a point where I can live with them. This was super quick to make; I just sewed a light and dark strip together and cut equal numbers of 6.5" and 2.5" slices. Then I arranged them in rows to get the pattern, and played around till I liked the balance of colour. I sewed it in a day, but I have to admit it was a looooonng day. It was so simple that it was fun all the time, and there were no nasty seams to match up. Loved it.

Then I pulled out all the medium browns and the pinks, and cut them up into squares, for nine patches. I am well over my aversion to 9 patches, obviously! These will be leader-ender squares.But there were still a heap of reds, and greens, and lots of wishy washy strips left. So I decided all the reds and nuetrals would become these blocks, because they are super simple, and no nasty seam intersections either.And then whatever is left is going into a Roman Stripe. I am committed to using up every last bit. We'll see how that goes, once my rational, reasoning mind kicks in. I just know I'm going to try and make it look 'nice', and before you know it I'll have cut a pile of strips and I'll be back where I started.