Cracker Jax Prize

This is the ninth block in Marti Michell’s block-of-the-month quilt, Pinwheel Roundabout. The prints are lovely and I’ve enjoyed piecing the blocks, but they’ve given me this odd sense of déjà vu. I finally figured out why. I’ve actually made every one of these – twice – in the autumn of 2012 when I participated in that year’s Patchwork Party. The prints were very different then: paisleys and near-solids in green, purple, magenta and rust from the Arabella Rose collection by Marianne Elizabeth for RJR fabrics. This year’s prints are Roses on the Vine by Marti Michell for Maywood Studios: blues, green, pink and red. The blocks six years ago had square-in-a-square centers, while these have fussy-cut floral centers. Their names have been slightly altered, too. But aside from that they’re the same blocks. I don’t know whether to be pleased with myself that I recognized them, or to be embarrassed that it took me nearly nine months.