I've had a jolly productive week! Five new Jumping Jacks blocks!

I'm having a great time with the Jumping Jacks quilt along. I can now make the whole block without looking at the pattern. I've been listening to British 80's new wave radio on iTunes while sewing. I've imagined the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) rolling her eyes at my quilt and tossing off one of her icy barbs. How long do we need to wait for the next season of Downton Abbey?!

The most creatively challenging part is coming up with each fabric combination. I am so loving using these Tanya Whelan prints. I think that they bring the perfect, almost-but-not-quite-shabby look to the blocks. And here's where I get weird. You know me and my over-analysis! I love the dots, but I can't let the dots take over the quilt. I really wanted to incorporate striped stripes and plaid stripes, but I needed to figure out how to cut them. Does anybody else overthink their fabric combos?! And then that little voice in my head tells me to just DO IT.

And the blocks that I thought wouldn't work ended up becoming my favorites. How did that happen? I'm really surprised by how much I like the huge cabbage rose blocks.

I've got just three more blocks to make! My fabric combos are sitting on my cutting mat. There might even be a red, white and blue flag in the works!

It's been fun sewing along with the group on Instagram. You can check out what everyone has been creating by searching for #jumpingjacksqal. And I'm @greydogwoodstudio.

Breaking news! Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts has just released a MINI version of this quilt pattern! It's available here, along with the original, full-size pattern that I'm using.

Happy weekend, everybody! Hope you have something fun planned!