Saturday, August 31, 2013

Scrappy Saturday

I am still playing with my red scraps. I should have been working on my August UFO and/or the wedding quilts I need to finish. But nope!
I treated myself to some paper piecing on a red scrappy Palm Branch block (pattern is from Kristy at Quiet Play and that used up another 14 red scraps. This block will go in the box with the other 9 pieced blocks.


And I have been putzing away here with this ruler and practicing my applique for no reason.  Well, maybe the reason is that I just need some relaxing sewing to do...and this fits the bill. Also, I'm not home much, so I need something small and portable to hand stitch.
I bought this "Leaves Galore" ruler (by Sue Pellon Designs) in Vermont 2 years ago, and saw Sue give a wonderful demo on how to use the ruler to make quick orange peel quilts using multilayer cutting and fusible backing on the leaves. But I am using it the slow stitching way, cutting one 5" leaf/oval shape at a time from scraps. 
I trace the shape on the right side of the fabric with my Bohin chalk pencil (love it!) and cut out the shape with scissors, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. This size fits perfectly across a 4" square on the diagonalThen I pin the shapes to a background square, and put them in my handy dandy ziplock bag. In the bag I include a cardboard insert from a 5" charm pack which keeps the squares flat, some extra pins in a tiny pincushion, a bobbin of matching thread, and some small scissors.


I am ready to slow stitch anywhere, anytime! 
It's such a cute 8" block...just love it!




I also stitched up 3 more 3" aqua spools...don't know why they are so late in showing up, way past their alloted month!
And there is one little lonely red Alamo Star
See what other quilters are stitching with their red scraps today over at SoScrappy.

12 comments:

Valerie the Pumpkin Patch Quilter said...

Your practice looks great - the block is FANTASTIC. I'll have to check out the leaves galore template, that looks very handy!

Deb@asimplelifequilts said...

Looks like fun to me... I gave myself a "vacation" from my goals in August and did some fun sewing. Now I'm about ready to get back on task in another week or so. Can't wait to see your spools and Palm Branches come together!

Josie said...

How guilty do I feel now for sleeping all afternoon! :o) Love how you prep your orange peel blocks.. that ruler looks like a 'must have'. Great little spools and star too. Thanks for inspiring me to get off my backside and find something to sew!

Janet O. said...

Nice Palm Leaf block. I love these--and especially love when you post all the colors together. They are stunning!
You are doing really well with the applique, Kathy.
How did those sneaky aqua bow ties find their way into the red month? : )

Julie in GA said...

Your palm branch block is beautiful, and I love the orange peels! It may be time for me to do some applique again.

Deb A said...

Your peels and branch look great. Isn't it so relaxing to turn those little peels? I love them.

Katie Z. said...

Your blocks are always so inspiring!

margaret said...

the leaves template looks like a good investment, have not seen applique templates before, off top a quilt show so will look out for them. Blocks look goo too.

Sheila said...

I love your blocks!

Kate said...

Love the red palm block, it's so bright and colorful!

Teresa in Music City said...

I love the Leaves Galore ruler!! I've had the small one for a while, and I picked up the Grande size last week along with a book containing designs specifically for the LG ruler. I can't wait to get a few things done so I can play with these! Your applique is looking really great - you're getting good at that :*)

Anonymous said...

I really do like your orange peel plan, especially in the reds. I think it would be so cute in some lime green scraps I have, and I'm resisting the tug to start this! I have about 5 hand projects already going. =)