Buck-a-block: January pattern

January's buck-a-block finally came around.  (It felt like so long since last month's block was completed--I was getting restless.)  As usual, I am less-than-thrilled with the fabrics provided (why did I sign up for Americana again?), but my creative juices are flowing with possibilities from my stash.

The pattern is "Four Winds" taken from The Farmer's Wife.

The red fabric is for the tulip shape; the navy stars for the pinwheel shape in the center; but the accent fabric of navy stars and colored pails (buckets?) will totally overwhelm the pinwheel--there isn't enough contrast to differentiate them.

This lack of contrast was evident in the shop sample as well, even though the colorway shown there was Civil War reproductions.  If I'm going to all the trouble of cutting and sewing tiny bits, I want the overall pattern to show up.  (This rule can be relaxed in scrappy quilts, but that's not what we're doing here.)

I was hoping to construct another red/pink/black block, but that would mean only using the red tulips.  So I auditioned blue fabrics for this block.

Navy stars will still form the pinwheel in the center; the turquoise star print will be the tulips; the cloud print will be either the background or accent fabric (those are the soft yellow and light blue in the pattern); I am currently undecided between the cream stars or the light blue french script for the final color.  I will have to play a bit to decide between them.

This is but one of my Quilt Camp planned projects.  Only four days to go!  It's like Christmas...