Challenger Quilt: An Alternative 100 Days 100 Blocks Quilt Layout

How did you do with the 2021 version of 100 Days 100 Blocks?  This year, I didn't participate in all 100 days; instead I made one of the brand-new bonus layout versions, named The Challenger.

If you read my 100 Days recap post, you know that one of my favorite parts of the quilt-along is to pick a challenge for myself.  For this version, I was working with a limited set of fabric - a fat eighth bundle of selected fabrics from Wonderland fabric by Rifle Paper Co and some coordinating fat quarters pulled from my stash.  I then chose Spotted in Royal as a background fabric because the color reminded me of Alice's dress.  I'm not a huge fan of sashing, so I decided to make each block "float" by including the background fabric at least once.  I'm very pleased with the overall effect!

I knew I wasn't going to make all 100 blocks before I started, so I was able to chose which blocks worked best with my fabric.  I chose to alternate blocks that were made with squares and rectangles only with blocks made with half-square triangles or flying geese to give my quilt a balanced look.  If you'd like to make a quilt that looks exactly like mine, here are the blocks I used:

For the quilt back, I chose to use a much newer line of Alice in Wonderland fabric, Curiouser and Curiouser by Tula Pink.  I purposely chose fabrics that didn't feature Alice herself - I had one piece of leftover fabric from the front that featured her prominently and I didn't want two versions of Alice on the back.  But I just love the tea cups and top hats!

My finishing is simple.  I used a light blue thread that blends in with the pieced parts and quilted a meander over the entire thing.  You can see a nice texture in the background, but it doesn't steal the show from all the beautiful blocks, all of which feature at least one fussy-cut element!  My binding is a little busier, which is fun after that wide almost-solid border - it's another print from the Curious and Curiouser line called Baby Buds (you can see above that a tiny bit was borrowed to use in my quilt back).

A note about the fussy cutting: It might sound daunting, and yes, you do get Swiss cheese fabric at the end, but it makes such a lovely final product when you do it.  The price on my Marti Mitchell Fussy Cut Ruler seemed high at first, but honestly it's my secret weapon and makes fussy cutting a breeze - I can see the final square with and without the seam allowance in a quick glance.  I also use it to trim half-square triangles and flying geese quickly and easily - I need to do a post about that soon!

And that's my "100 Blocks 100 Days" for 2021 - Angie will be featuring the same pattern for the last time next year in 2022.  You can get both the Kinship pattern and the fussy cutting ruler (affiliate links) in Angie's shop and save 10% with the code BLUEPIP!  You can also get more information about the pattern, alternate layouts, quilt-along in general, and extra help like a block tracker and tutorials at Angie's website!  After all, as Alice memorably says:

I don't see how [one] can ever finish, if [they don't] begin!

- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland