Greek Key Log Cabin Quilt - Design Phase

The quilting bug is biting really hard this week, so I'm back in business! Two challenges caught my eye and, as usual, I will be entering both challenges using one quilt.  Don't ask me why, but the Greek Key design has been floating around as my inspiration.

  

Desi Quilters' October challenge stipulates:

1. Make a STRIP QUILTED item of any size
2. Creativity counts
3. Post your entry in this doc as well as the challenge album.
(The first person to finish the challenge, creates the challenge album)
4. Post it BEFORE 6 PM IST, 31st October 2012

Quilting Gallery's weekly challenge stipulates:

The theme for next week's quilt contest is Dots, Checks, Stripes. You are free to interpret the theme as you see fit. Your quilt may represent the theme in the design and/or in the fabrics chosen. Any quilting style is acceptable. You can submit quilts of any size that are completely finished, i.e. quilted and bound.

Additional challenges I imposed upon myself (why, oh why do I do this to myself?):

1.  Must use fabrics from my stash.
2.  Use fat quarters only.  I refuse to cut into yardages if there is any possible way around it.

I should have checked the Internet at the start, but when have I ever taken the tried and true path?  So I started by picking out the fabrics.

Dots, checks and stripes, right?

My original plan was to use a nifty little technique (I WILL try this again and provide a tutorial sometime in the future) to make a Chevron quilt using the Fence Rail Pattern set on the diagonal, so I cut my strips to the recommended width.

Cut strips to what I thought the instructions said

And went ahead and sewed the strips together in the rail fence design.  And that's when the huge mistake was revealed.  I had mistaken the finished size for the cutting size and realized I didn't have enough blocks to make that quilt.  

Okay, no big deal!  I began laying out the design for the Greek Key design.

But something's wrong!

Yes, something's definitely wrong.  The beige strips are not cooperating!  The link gets broken because I've sewn three strips together.  Too much trouble to reverse sew!

This reminded me so much of my IT experience.  No matter what people say, when the requirements change, go right back to square one - the design phase - and start from scratch!  

And this is when I should have searched the Internet.  Instead I went to my drawing board and got out gridded paper and colored pencils and drew the design.

Looks kinda messy with all the writing on it.

After coloring in the design, I began trying to figure out how to use those blasted strips from the fence rail quilt, couldn't do it and ended up making a mess of my drawing.

Then I decided to scrap the old and begin with a brand new set of fabrics and made a pencil drawing of the Greek Key design.

Yes!

Because I would now be working with fresh fabrics and strips, what emerged when I started entering the sewing sequence, was a Log Cabin quilt!  I never cease to amaze myself!  

I picked out my fat quarters of dots, checks and stripes.

Fresh trio of fabrics

After carefully calculating exactly how long the finished block would be, AND how long the last strip would be, I cut out the strips.

Strips are ready to go!

I'm going to give you a sneak peek of my work in progress because I got some  of the sewing done.

Picture needs rotating - checked fabric is the focus

This is when I checked the Internet and found quite a few links for the Greek Key Log Cabin design, but guess what!  I couldn't find any that used 3 fabrics.  Using 2 fabrics is easy- three's the challenge!

Internet design

At my age, I've GOT to keep those neurons firing in the brain and this entire day has been a workout...mentally, I mean!

Take a look at the completed quilt and a tutorial here.

Cheers!