I really do love to put puzzles together. I haven’t done so in a while since it doesn’t feel that productive. I end up with a complete puzzle, and after a few days, I take it apart and put the pieces back in a box.
I have found a way to combine my love of solving puzzles with quilting. Two other friends and I decided to each make charity quilts for Quilts of Valor. These are awarded to service men and women from all branches of the military.
We decided to use the pattern Storm at Sea. And now I have probably just lost you, since you are being amazed by all the ways this pattern can be interpreted. 
I have recently been introduced to Deb Tuckers rulers, she has amazing tutorials on YouTube. I was lucky to see her demonstrate them in person at Road to California. 
Here is a sample I made using her rulers. I think I need to purchase one more, I’m having some issues with the center… I’ve solved it with another ruler, but still, her method rocks. These aren’t the colors or the placement of darks and lights. The accuracy and the points matching are about as good as I could ever imagine I’d achieve. 
Patriotic red white and blue are the preferred colors. That gave me an opportunity to buy more of those colors as well as raid my stash. 
This is the design I came up with. Those pieces of fabric aren’t scraps, they are cut into the appropriate shapes for piecing. A normal person would just start cutting the appropriate shades and chain piece. I am not normal, not only am I working one block at a time, I am slowly building up the pattern.
Which is where my love of puzzles comes in. I want the placement of fabrics to conform to my design. Have I made mistakes? Yes, across the edge I’m letting them be, but as I work into the center of the quilt – it has to work. So it’s one small block at a time with a fair amount of ripping out mistakes.
Does this take a lot more time? Yes A LOT! I’m loving the process, there is no deadline. I’m not into speed when it comes to making things. This is what I do, I create beautiful things. I get as much enjoyment from the process as from the final product.
We have a term – quilt worthy. Most of my charity quilts are lovely, but I don’t put this much time and effort into them. Any Veteran of our military is quilt worthy, they deserve the best I have to offer.
Leah