Bali Pop Math

Kara pointed out last night that I've made two quilts for the cancer patients in my life and planned three for christmas presents, in addition to the two bags made as gifts; but nowhere is to be found any plans for a quilt for myself. With our trip tomorrow up north to Ikea, we are of course going to stop along the way, thanks to recommendations from our DQF (dear quilting friend) Lisa, at Robert's Sewing Center in Crest Hill, Illinois (essentially Joliet) and The Fabric Center in Morris, Illinois.  Okay, so perfect opportunity to a little shopping for myself.  As a further aside, I wonder if I'll do the same thing with quilting that has happened with my knitting; with my knitting, I collect yarn for myself (but rarely have time to knit for myself) but knit for others.  I can easily see myself developing an extensive fat quarter stash for myself but spending the majority of my quilting time on projects for others.  Perhaps it's time to realign my time management.  A little.

Okay, so back to math and Bali pops.  I don't need no stinkin' Bali pop packs of 40 strips.  First, I have no problems creating fab color/fabric combinations together and don't need someone else's color sense intruding on my own sensibilities.  I like breaking color theory "rules" as much as following them, and often times the "wrong" combinations work for subtle reasons.  Also, I don't need someone to cut 2.5" strips for me.  I have that skill down pat.  Finally, The Bali Pops aren't pre-washed, and I really don't need a shrinkage or color bleeding disaster to spoil my efforts.

Okay, no really back to the math now:  1/4 yard yields three 2.5" strips and one narrow strip up to 1.5" (depending on whether the merchant scissor cuts, rotary cuts, or tears the fabric and on the degree of skew after washing).  There are at least three quilts I want to make based on strips:

1. Fuzzy Logic in Brenda Henning's Strip Therapy: Bali Pop ~ Dynamic Duos, (2008), page 8.
2. Insomnia in Brenda Henning's Strip Therapy: Bali Pop ~ Dynamic Duos (2008), page 17.
3. Half Log Cabin in Brenda Henning's Strip Therapy 5:  Bali Pop Mania (2010), page 9.

Oh, and one final note:  the Zen quilt pieces have all been cut (a fairly tedious cutting job, but the pieces come together quickly, at least they did with my test block).  I'm excited to see this one all pieced, but then Kara needs to walk me through an applique frog!