WIP Wednesday:Where I show a completed project and then ask for advice on a new one

Happy New Year! 2013? What happened to 2012?!

Mark and I went to our local dinner theater where they were doing Beehive, all-female music from the '60s. It was something we had never done before on New Year's Eve and it was a lot of fun. After the show ended, there was a great band playing Glen Miller-type music until midnight.

I have been away from the computer for the last few weeks. I think it helps to step back sometimes. At least for me, it helps to come back more refreshed and invigorated, and ready to start new projects in the new year.

But first, something completed:

The plan to make a card table playhouse (lots of close-up pictures on the link) for our youngest grandchild had been in my head since last May when I met the pattern designer, Shea Henderson, and then actually won a copy of the pattern! So why, oh why, did I put off actually starting it until two weeks before Christmas? That is a question that will probably never have an answer. I knew it was going to be time consuming. But it was time consuming in a very fun way. Shea gives instructions on making it with quilting cotton, and also has an addendum available in case you would prefer using felt. I used Kona cotton. And yards of Heat 'n Bond. Let's just say that fusibles and I are no longer strangers!

Everything was fused and then edged stitched. Every.single.thing. I decided to customize it by duplicating the colors of our son and daughter-in-law's actual house, including the house number. Their door isn't red, but Christa has always wanted a red door. The mailbox opens and I made a little postcard for all three grandkids.

Here it is from all angles (our card table is really old--the newer ones are a few inches taller because this fits much better on Aaron and Christa's card table--whew!)

The label on the back:

 (and yes, I did buy a half yard of Architextures because the label absolutely needed blueprint fabric!)

And one happy little boy (which made the project worth every.single.minute!)

After Christmas I returned to my Farmer's Wife quilt. All the blocks were put up on the design wall, moved around a little bit, and I had all the rows nearly sewed together when...

...I became distracted by something happening on Instagram: the scrappy trip along. I could not resist the temptation. Seriously. Are you on Instagram? All of a sudden everyone is posting these amazing pictures of their scrappy blocks. I pondered. I looked at my scrap bin. I looked at my stash. And then instead of busting scraps, I actually created more scraps by busting apart a Kona jelly roll.  What??

And now I need some advice. I'm only making nine blocks this time around. Believe me. I will be making this block again, in a scrappy version. But for now, here is Trip Around the Kona Color Card. With three setting options.

Setting 1:

Setting 2:

Setting 3:

I can't decide. I hope you will help me! I can tell you this much--the one I personally was leaning toward has gotten the fewest votes on Instagram...

What are you working on in this new year?

I'm linking up with Lee. It's good to get back into the groove.