Quiltville Mystery

As most quilters know, the annual Quiltville mystery has started and the second step was posted today. 

Quiltville mystery step #1

The first step was easy and quick...  a few HST blocks in pink and neutral.

I am making my mystery using all batik fabrics, and I had forgotten how much I enjoy the unique waxy smell of pressing batiks, and the crispness of the blocks... YUM!

Step #2 is flying geese, which I really enjoy to sew!

Design Wall Tuesday

making cornerstones

I am still working on my "Scraphappiness" quilt this week. I have figured out the math for the remaining yellow sashing yardage, cut all the sashing strips, and decided on the scrappy cornerstones. Here is a photo of the scrap sorting and cutting table. 

The two sections on the right are sewn together and I am sewing more cornerstones today.

I want to get this off the design wall asap so I can focus on the new Quiltville mystery quilt for the rest of the year.

Linking up to Design Wall Monday at Judy's

Slow Sunday Stitching

Thanks for dropping by the weekly hand stitching party where we're all about needles, threads, fabric, inspiration and self care! There is no advertising here, no black friday sales, no machines to give us grief, and no stress whatsoever! It's just pure relaxation, taking deep breaths, and taking one slow stitch at a time. 

I did a lot of hand stitching on two quilt bindings this week. I finished an 8 year old Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt, and my November placemat. Every single stitch taken was enjoyable.

I have no idea what I will work on today. I need to trace out a new embroidery project to start and maybe I will also do some hand quilting. We are hoping for a dusting of snow tomorrow, and that is perfect weather for hand stitching ❄ ❄ 

What are you working on today? Link up your blog post and share your hand stitching project with us.

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

A Rainbow Scrap Challenge is FINISHED!

It's always so exciting to finish a quilt... but even more so when it's a long term scrappy project that was 8 years in the making! November's UFO began in April 2014 and was inspired by Bonnie Hunter's Maverick Stars pattern. Each month I made a couple of blocks with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

The quilt top was put together at a retreat in September 2019. And then it needed to age sufficiently in the magical UFO closet.  (You have one of those don't you!?!?)

diagonal wavy line quilting

The quilting was inspired by Preeti's serpentine quilting and I quilted horizontal, vertical, and diagonal wavy lines.

I used up some leftover grey scraps for the binding, most of which were trimmings from backings. I love that fabric with the glasses that was in a scrap bag - it looks like the block is supervising the binding process!

And when the quilt was finished, we went on an adventurous outdoor photo shoot. 

Here is the "stars on the wood pile" shot.

Finished size: 48" x 66"

The fall leaves were a carpet, crunching under foot as we searched for good locations for photos.

Here is the "quilt over the rail" shot.

And my favourite photo is "stars on the oak leaf path"!

Proudly linking up to One Monthly Goal and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Happy Mystery Friday!

You know what today is don't you?!?!

It's the day that mystery quilters patiently wait for every year... today the first step is revealed for the new 2021 Quiltville mystery! You can find the fabric requirements here.

 

I am using all batik fabrics for my Rhododendron mystery and here is the lusciousness I will be cutting into today.

 Let's go!

November Table Scraps

A scrappy treat bag arrived in the mail earlier in the month and I immediately started sewing the scraps together. I didn't sort them, just started sewing the pieces that were right sides together. Why is it that other people's scraps are WAY more fun than my own?? Once I had the pairs sewn, they just seemed to sew themselves together into 3.5" broken dishes blocks.

I made 12 blocks which were the perfect size for a placemat for November's Table Scraps Challenge. Because of the bias edges on all the blocks, the placemat did not lay completely flat. Some very wonky "stitch in the ditch" (horizontal, vertical, and diagonal) soon fixed that problem, but don't look too closely!

Total # of scrap triangles rescued from the trash = 192! 

In December this placemat will join it's friends (that you can see here) in going to Meals on Wheels.

PS - I love the pumpkin fabric backing that I found, and the binding is one of my favourite Henry Glass fabrics called "Harvest Blessings" - perfect for a November placemat finish!

 

Linking up to the Table Scraps Challenge, and Wendy will link me up to the mini quilts challenge at Constant Quilters.

Scrappy Design Wall

Last week I took an online/zoom class with Adriana Fagan called "Wild about strings". It was inspiring to see how many creative variations she has come up with for using up strings.

Instead of starting a new project, I focused on making more blocks for my scrappy string quilt that began in January. I strip pieced any width of strings and then cut them into 3.5" slices. Then I join 3 slices together to make a 9" square block.

I decided to start sashing the blocks with a solid yellow that was in the stash. Here are some sashed blocks on the design wall today.

You can see some easy breezy blocks peeking out on the left side. I'm already know that I am calling this quilt "Scraphappiness"! I love it! I'm not sure how many more blocks I will make or how big this quilt will be yet. For now, it's all just about having fun with the scraps!

Linking up to Design Wall Monday