All Cut Out for the Retreat

I'm going to a quilt retreat today.  I wasn't sure if the title of this post was going to be All Cut Out ... or Not Cut Out ..., but I did manage to get my fabric cut last night. 

I never cut all the fabric for a project before I start sewing, and I was surprised by how long it took.  I have 10" blocks, 6" blocks (not shown here), and then 1.5" strips in lengths of 6", 8", and 10".

Since it's a retreat and there'll be more talking than concentrating going on, I wanted s simple pattern.  I was going to do the cover quilt from Easy Weekend Quilts.  But this quilt works better with fabrics that read as solid and my fabric was busy.  If you take that book link and look at image number 7, you'll see the pattern I picked.

I've been waiting for a good time to use Carrie Bloomston's Paint Collection, and the pattern I picked was made to order for large-scale prints.

I'm using some of my sewing-themed fabrics as well, so the quilt will have a creative theme going on.  Then I threw in some florals just because the colors went well, so now the quilt is painting/sewing/gardening.

Here's a little mockup of what to expect.  On the left, I'll have the same Simplicity fabric 6" block inside all the courthouse steps.  There are two rows of steps around the center.  Then this pieced block will alternate with 10" squares.  

I double-checked all my cutting and it seems like I didn't goof anything up, but I'm taking my extra fabric along just in case.