Started A Trip ...

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... that I hope I can finish.  Last week I succumbed to the pull of the Scrappy Trip Around The World quiltalong using the Quiltville tutorial.  Goodness, I tried to resist; I have quite enough work due to others and business to attend to, but can I tell you how satisfying this quilt block is?  Cut strips, sew strips, iron this way and that, make a tube, and then slice.  Rip, rip, rip the little seams in a row, and all of a sudden the pattern appears just perfect.  The way the seams that are ironed this way and that snap together under the sewing machine foot is dreamy and makes me feel like a professional quilter.  

The only downside is fighting my need to depart from the random scrappiness.    I tend to get wrapped up in the planning, and this isn't the purpose.  The purpose is to destash.  When I read Nanette's post about organizing the lights and darks, I started to hyperventilate worrying about the black and dark brown prints in the mix.  So, now the plan is to hand around my strips basket to anyone who comes by the house or lives here and tell them to "put six strips together without looking" and then make them watch me sew them together for keeps.    
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I'm into this about 20 finished blocks right now and going for a queen coverlet size, about 90" x 90" ... maybe 80" x 80".  I'll have to send it out to be quilted should I finish the thing.  My favorite quilting design is the one FITF used.  

We'll see ... a little distraction is a good thing, and the ever-needed DESTASH is a better thing, and the resulting "heirloom" will be the best thing ... if I finish.