Has it happened to you? You’re lying in bed, half asleep, when inspiration strikes. An idea for a new quilt drifts into your conscious with surprising clarity. The idea can seem to come out of nowhere, perhaps some time ago searched and sought out, but not found. Suddenly, at once, the answer is clear.

I hadn’t been actively thinking about these scraps. I had been thinking about my book, in terms of bringing a copy to the states with our trip. The other night, I suddenly knew just what to do with them.

But let me explain. In the back of The Quilter’s Field Guide to Color there is a section called the Color Catalog. There I’ve curated color palettes in little collections of cut fabrics. The idea is to offer a starting point for a project if you’re feeling stumped in terms of color combinations.

During book production, I cut fabrics from my stash and submitted them to the production team in little ziplock baggies with instructive paper inserts. Later everything was returned to me, still tidily organized. I couldn’t bring myself to undo all those happy color stories, and thus so they’ve remained.

I had wanted to make a quilt from the Color Catalog squares, but was unsure how to do it well. How could I preserve each color story, while avoiding a chaotic result?

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The solution that presented itself is simple. I’ll sew rectangular blocks in a 3 x 4 formation. In each block I’ll swap out one of the original squares for a unifying fabric. I’ve chosen this black/white Starry print for that job. He’s color neutral, with a light and playful air.

Here’s my collection of Color Catalog blocks so far! I can’t imagine a more relaxing project, actually. The fabrics are already cut and the sewing is as easy as it gets.

It’s a treat to open each new bag of scraps and discover my next block.