WIP Wednesday Again =)

Like so many other quilters I've been sucked into the #ScrappyTripAlong. When I first heard about it I started digging through my fabric and thought "I have no good scraps and my stash sucks!" I actually started 2 attempts, one with a Riley Blake fabric roll, but after discovering how poorly the roll had been cut (the strips tapered from 2.5" down to 2") and that this mess up resulted in an odd rectangle block I stopped, revisited my stash, started cutting into an Art Gallery bundle, messed up cutting, set it aside. Finally I just went for the QuiltCon solids bundle I never ended up using when I realized I couldn't go to QuiltCon (*tear*). Then this happened.

{poor instagram pic before I joined the blocks}
It's all basted and ready for quilting, just can't decide how to do it.

Then I decided to order a scrap bag in hopes of getting some awesome fabric.

Fabric Shoppe 2 lbs scrap bundle and 1 lb solids bundle
(I was please with some of it, don't like some of it, and really annoyed that none of it was cut straight.) 

At the same time that I got this, somebody on the Flickr group suggested a strip swap and I decided to host one. I still have about 10 slots open if anyone would like to join in, details and sign up can be found here.

And then madness ensued. I spent 2 full days cutting fabric. 

I started cutting strips from the above bundle, plus a few pieces of fabric I had. I ended up with enough for 4 slots. 

Since I was on a roll cutting I decided to make progress with one of my January goals and cut out my daughter's Sparkle Punch quilt. And then I discovered where half my stash has been hiding for months waiting to be cut into, so while cutting out the Sparkle Punch squares, I started cutting more strips.

They're taking over!

Then I sorted them by color, only to stumble upon a pretty color palette I knew I had to use for my quilt.

Meet Fuzz, the teeny fuzzy elephant my 2 yo insisted I take a picture of.
{sorry for the poor lighting} 

Of course settling on this color palette means I cut A TON of extra strips, way more than I needed for the swap.  And by the time my husband got home from work yesterday I had finished cutting enough strips for a 36-block Scrappy Trip Along for myself, almost as much for swapping/another project and I finished cutting the 462 squares needed to form the stars in Sparkle Punch. Time to change the rotary cutter blade!

The closer strip stack is for my quilt, the further one is for swapping and such.
And I am so excited about Sparkle Punch! Watch for more progress on that, I have 2 months to get it done.

And as of last night I have 15 strip sets sewn together, I need at least 36.

I also had a lovely finish this week, more details to come tomorrow, but here is a peek

Linking up: