Inspired by
this quilt, I decided to try it with my 12 Deer Valley fat quarters:

Apologies for the sunset picture...
You can see there are 12 HSTs across, one of each fat quarter. They are trimmed down to 5.5" square. I decided to lay them out in diagonal rows, and am pleased with my original placement. Here's a close up:

This is for my good friend Rachel in Wisconsin, who just bought a house. Her style is a little more traditional than what I choose, and she said she's decorating in red and tan-- next to purple, those are the least popular colours in my collection.

I had a hard time deciding what solid to use. My original thought was white, but I wanted to make it a little more exciting. My second thought was dark brown, but I still wasn't happy. Then, I wanted a blue, but this blue is very tricky to match, and it made some of the prints look muddy. Luckily, with my fat quarters in hand (still fresh from the Fat Quarter Shop, in their great plastic bag), the woman at my local quilt shop was able to steer me towards this color, which I'm calling pumpkin.
Does it work? I've been staring at it for a few days now, unsure of what I'm going to do for the back. These Deer Valley colours are so specific, and while I absolutely adore them, they're nearly impossible to coordinate with other lines (or, ahem, cheaper JoAnn fabric for the back). I might actually have to spring for the good stuff. But which print?