Just lately there seem to be a lot of quilts using rectangles cropping up in Blogland, so I thought I'd try some. We were using 2 1/2" by 4 1/2" bricks for some of our bushfire quilts, so I played around and came up with this design. I like it because it also needs a 1 1/2" strip top and bottom, and I was able to use some skinny scraps leftover from cutting the bricks. It's nice to find a use for everything.
It was very simple to sew, three bricks sewn together in the middle, and then a 1 1/2" by 6 1/2" strip added top and bottom. (I cut them slightly longer and then trimmed the block to size) This made the final measurement a 6 1/2" block, and they went together very quickly. I made positive and negative blocks, half with a light centre brick, half with dark, then rotated them in each row. Super simple, and no seams to match in the block, it was very forgiving.
You could piece three long 2 1/2" strips and crosscut at 4 1/2" to give the centre section, but I was working with scraps, so I cut individual bricks. It used up nearly all my brown bits, and that was quite a pile. I'll put borders around it when I have time, and probably piece a back for it, I do love weeding out the smaller bits from my stash.

I thought it looked like frames or openings, so I've decided to call it Doors and Windows.

We've been having some nice rain here, lots of cloudy skies and even a few storms. I adore a grey rainy day, and rather than depressing me it actually makes me feel happy and cosy. The countryside has responded and the fields are a beautiful green, the wildflowers have come out and the crops are getting lush. We haven't had a winter like this for years and years, and I'm really enjoying it.

A while ago I saw this rainbow after a soaking rain, and I don't think I've ever seen such vivid colours. It was positively throbbing, and the arc was unbroken. I was on the road, and the other end came down ahead of me, so it was like I was driving into it, an amazing sight. And the double arc to the right was nearly as bright as the first, and unbroken too.

I never did get to the end of it, so no gold, but it cheered me up immensely.