Last Scrappy Saturday Post for 2013

I have been participating in Angela's scrap challenge since January 2011 and it has been such a great experience!  I am so delighted that she is continuing the challenge into next year!! I have made so many fun blocks, sewn up a ton of scraps and enjoyed the comradery of fellow scrap lovers every Saturday on the scrappy link up party.
For the last few weeks I have been thinking about the Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects that I have worked on over the past year, and have been trying to decide which ones will continue and which ones might need to be finished. 
Here is the list of my scrap challenge projects:

1) Palm Branches 
This block pattern ("Red Herring")is from Kristy at the Quiet Play blog. By the way, Kristy has a fun free BOM starting in January - Sew Kitschy. 
It has been a while since I sewed some palm branch blocks, but I still really like them. They are great for using up really small scraps since the blocks finish at 6" x 7".  I enjoy paper piecing, and am happy to have a regular chance to make one of these blocks.  I would like to add more blocks to this collection, so this project will continue next year. 



2) Carrie Nation 
This project is just "OK" for me. I wouldn't mind finishing this one up in early 2014 since I don't really enjoy piecing them. I don't seem to have 2.5" squares readily available and have sometimes ended up looking for yardage to cut into and that is not really the purpose of this challenge. Also these blocks lack challenge for me and I'd like to do something else, although they do make a great scrappy quilt. So the plan for this one is to make a few more blocks and make it into a finished quilt asap. 


3) Alamo Stars 
OH yah... I love these tiny little star blocks. They are 2.25" and are like little sparkly diamonds. I like how some blocks have the star fabric centers and some have background centers. That was a good decision!  
I sure have used up a lot of tiny batik scraps... and these blocks are a perfect leader/ender project. It is hard to describe why these blocks make me so happy, when I am sewing them and when I am admiring them!!  There are many more finished blocks which I have to find somewhere in my sewing room, and then will take a more recent photo of the whole collection. The Alamo Stars will definitely continue into next year.




4) Pumpkin Seeds 

I started this project to try to improve my applique stitch, and I think  have accomplished that goal. My curves are smoother and my points are pointier, and I think I'm ready to move on to other applique challenges now. But I do want to round out the balance, so this year I will focus on adding more colours that are needed in this quilt. The challenge with this project right now is the goal that I set of making this a true charm quilt and finding different neutral background squares. I think this would be a fun quilt to hand quilt next year... or the year after that!


5) Omigosh 
This is a multi year, long term scrap project. The blocks are tiny and are perfect for using up my 1" scraps. It will continue into 2014 and likely in the years to follow! I am just really getting started on this one.






6) Spools 
What can I say? I love these little scrappy blocks. They will continue next year for sure! Sometimes they are leader/ender blocks and sometimes I just cut and sew them for relaxing fun! I need to get a more recent photo of this block collection too and start to figure out how many more blocks are needed for a bed sized quilt (this one is for ME!) and in which colours.



7) Crumbs
I don't know why, but I seem to have lost interest in this project over the year. There are enough blocks to make a nice size lap quilt for the comfort quilt collection at my guild so maybe it's time to finish this one up.





As I write this blog post I am thinking about how amazing it is that little bits of fabric and time add up to such beauty! 

Each of these projects uses up specific kinds of scraps and participating in this challenge has helped me be more organized and thoughtful about my scrap problem collection (although you wouldn't believe that if you saw my quilting studio!)
Also I am thinking about how much I love each one of these projects. But I also know that it is important to clear out old energy to make room for the new... and we all know how much I love to start new quilting projects! So for 2014, my plan will be to finish up two of these projects (Carrie Nation and Crumbs) and continue with the other five. To see what other scrap challenge quilters are working on at the end of 2013, hop over to the SoScrappy link up.

Scrappy Saturday

I am enjoying the "no colour" month for the Scrappy Rainbow Challenge. I am taking this opportunity to clear off my cutting table and the surrounding area (which would be way too embarrassing to show you a picture of!)

I have been enjoying sewing spool blocks as leader/enders for the mystery sewing, and here are 4 finished spool block sets using some of my mystery fabrics. I just love this spool project, so will be continuing to work on it well into next year.



When cleaning off my cutting table, I am cutting every piece that is not specifically for a project into usable scrap sizes... 2" squares, 1.5" x 3.5" (for spool blocks), 1.5" squares and 1" strips. These sizes all will be sewn into blocks next year, and I am enjoying the rainbow of scraps this month, as well as a cleaner surface on my table!

I also finished sewing the 2.25" Alamo Star blocks I had cut in November (and that are the pieces cut in my photo header). These blocks are fairly low contrast in comparison to the other star blocks I've sewn this year,    but they will find a happy place to live in the finished quilt.
Hop over to SoScrappy to see what other scrappers are working on today.

Scrappy Saturday

I was quite busy this week sewing the step #1 mystery blocks, but did do a bit of work to finish up 9 brown and black double nine patch blocks for my Omigosh quilt. There is no focus colour for the December Rainbow Scrap Challenge, so we are working on finishing up blocks and projects from this past year. 
These 5" blocks each have 49 little pieces... they are harder to sew than they look! I am putting this project back into it's tin until next year so I can work on some Christmas projects and step #2 of the mystery.
Hop over to SoScrappy to see more Rainbow Scrap projects.

Scrappy Saturday - Brown

The colour this month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is brown. I sewed up some scraps into brown blocks but didn't make as much progress as I had hoped. Here are my brown spool blocks so far. 
I did do a lot of machine quilting on two quilts with lots of brown... does that count?! One was for a friend (see her brown quilt here) and one was my UFO of the month, which is completely done, done, and DONE! 
Hop over to SoScrappy to see what other folks are sewing with their brown scraps.

Scrappy Saturday

I cannot believe how fast November has flown by. I seem to be having trouble leaving the black scraps behind and moving on to brown. Some organizing of brown scraps was accomplished this week and progress was made on a few of my scrappy projects.
*I made a few more tiny black 9 patch blocks for Omigosh. I put the double 9 patch beside one of my 3" spool blocks so you could get some size perspective... they are teeny tiny!

*I have  cut a few brown pumpkin seed blocks and hope to have time to finish the applique during TV watching time this weekend. 



*And I scored some brown batik scraps from my friend Marg, from the quilt I machine quilted for her last week. 
She donated some of the scraps for my Alamo Stars. I sewed two more blocks and am looking forward to cutting more to use as leader-enders this week.
To see more scrappy brown projects, hop over to SoScrappy.

Scrappy Saturday - brown

November is brown month - we are turning our brown scraps into quilt blocks. A big part of conquering the scrap pile is being organized, and I am really happy with how the Rainbow Challenge has helped me to actually set manageable goals and create quilts with leftover bits and pieces. This week I cut and sewed 4 more Carrie Nation blocks. 

I just love these blocks and have to admit that I feel proud turning scraps/garbage into something so beautiful!
Working with a specific 
colour every month has also helped me to appreciate each colour in a way I haven't before.  Yummy, chocolatey, rich browns!

Another wonderful thing about these brown blocks is that they are the very first pieces sewn on my new/old White sewing machine. I treated myself to watching the lastest QuiltCam episode while I got to know my newest machine. I will write more about this machine next week, but for now I will just say...it is awesome!

And speaking of awesome...have you been touring the 100 blocks magazine sites? It has given me lots of ideas for new RSC projects. How about this nameless block or Splash to practice my applique skills with circles? Not that I need another RSC project as I could easily continue into next year with the ones I have on the go already. 
To see more brown blocks, hop over to SoScrappy.

Scrappy Saturday - brown started

It is brown month over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 
I just finished machine quilting a brown quilt for a friend, and she is going to share some of her awesome brown scraps with me, so I'm looking forward to that.

I had a cutting frenzy this week and organized a lot of little batik bits for more Alamo Star blocks.

I had a wee bit of time with my brown scraps and so far have sewn 1 brown spool block and 4 Alamo Stars.
And I also finished up all the black blocks I cut last month...7 more spool blocks, and 3 pumpkin seed blocks.

To see what other quilters are sewing with their scraps, hop over to SoScrappy.

Scrappy Saturday

I have made a bit of progress on sewing my 1" black scraps this week for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I am sewing the blocks on my little white Singer Featherweight, which does a great job of making these tiny blocks for my Omigosh quilt. (You can see my great Canadian Fall quilt hanging on the wall in the background of this photo. It was a row-along project with a group of quilting friends from about 15 years ago. I enjoy hanging it up every fall!)

I decided to make the tiny 9 patch block backgrounds all scrappy neutrals, and thing it's working well so far. Black is an easy colour to work with in these blocks because of the contrast. 
To see what other scrappy quilters are stitching with their black scraps, hop over to SoScrappy.

Scrappy Saturday - Black

I have been sorting through my black scraps this week for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. The biggest challenge for me in using up scraps is getting them into useable sizes for specific projects.


You have no idea how long it took me to organize this!

There are piles of cut pieces ready for several different projects - a finished pumpkin seed block plus 2 more prepared for hand applique, a pile of leader/ender 3" spool blocks, some 1" strips for Omigosh, and some pieces for Carrie Nation blocks. That's a lot of black and white fun just waiting for me to sew my way through this month!

This week I sewed three Carrie Nation blocks and finished a red one from August, and liked them so much I am going to get them all out and put them on the design wall for Monday's post.
Check out more blog postings at SoScrappy to see what other quilters are making with their black scraps this month .

Scrappy Saturday - Loving the Leaves

I am still obsessed with enjoying this pumpkin seed/orange peel/ leaf shape.  I even found a beautiful FREE online pattern by Susan Brubaker Knapp for using these leaf shapes - Leaves of Green.

I am appliqueing them by hand and find it very relaxing. The worst part is the prep work, getting the shapes traced and cut, and ready to sew for when I have a few moments to stitch.




The colour of the month for the Rainbow Scrappers is black, which is not a colour I tend to gravitate to in terms of purchasing fabric, but I do seem to use it for dramatic contrast in quilts (see Carolina Crossroads and Pointsettia Stars - which is still a UFO!) So I do have a lot of black scraps to use up this month, and I am getting to work!

This is my first black block which is almost finished.

To see more rainbow challenge projects, hop over to SoScrappy.

Scrappy Saturday

Not being sure of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour for October, plus my need to clean up the studio, has given me a chance to get my scraps more organized and to start a new project. (Bet you didn't see that coming!! LOL)
For a long time I have wanted to make an OMIGOSH quilt.

Every time I see one in real life, I think "that is so me". I save such tiny scraps and I could really make a whole quilt out of these little bits. 
I recently finally found the pattern by Sue Garman and apparently I am getting myself organized for yet another multi year project. I am anticipating that one of my crazy friends will have to eventually take over this perpetual UFO, since the amount of work involved is astronomical and will not likely be finished in my lifetime!  But hey, I love a challenge. Especially one involving 1" strips to make a 1.5" finished 9 patch block...CUTE CUTE CUTE! 
So, that is going to be my one of my projects for the rainbow scrap challenge - the make tiny 9 patches in the colour of the month for my OMIGOSH quilt. These are my first 2 light blue blocks. Now I only need a trillion billion more! 


And while I'm doing that, I will keep on adding to my regular leader/ender projects. Here are a few more light blue spools and a couple Alamo Stars.
Hop over to SoScrappy and see what other blocks are being sewn.

Scrappy Saturday - pastel blue

I cannot believe this is the last Saturday in September. This month just flew by in a blur, and I'm glad the colour of the month for the rainbow challenge scrappers was pastel blue. Yuck :( I don't like pastels much, so it worked out well for me that a quick/short month was a colour I don't enjoy as much.

I have been forcing myself to work with some light blue because I have scraps laying around to use up, and because I know that the light blocks will provide nice contrast to the  darker, richer colours in the finished quilt. I made a few more peel blocks to improve my applique stitches. 


And I have finished up a few more Alamo Star blocks left from the red month.
I am cutting some light blues to make a few more of these this week. This is my favorite way to make a quilt...
a few blocks at a time with no colour plan, using up scraps, and wondering how it's all going to work out in the end. Oh yah, and hoping it won't end up in the UFO closet!
To see what other scrap quilters are sewing today, hop over to SoScrappy and check out the links.

Scrappy Saturday - Moving on to baby blues

It's a slow start to the day following Friday Night Sew-In!
What can I say??
FNSI is exhausting (in a good way)!

Some progress was actually made on the scrappy spools. Here is my collection after three months (yellow, aqua, and red) of spool construction....about 120 blocks.  It's looking good if I do say so myself!




I have made a few baby blue blocks, but there won't be many of those in my spool collection. I'm not a big fan of pastels except for baby quilts, and I haven't made many of those recently.






I also tried to work on my cocoa cup blocks for my Deckade the Halls quilt. Progress on these blocks was impeded by trying a new recipe for rhubarb slush (click here for recipe). Let's just say I love it and we'll leave it at that! 
If I work really hard over the weekend, and stay away from the rhubarb slushies, I might be able to post all my completed blocks for my design wall post on Monday. 
To see more rainbow challenge blocks, hop over to SoScrappy and check out the links.

Scrappy Saturday

The colour of the month for September for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is pastel blue. I decided that I should first finish up some of my aqua blocks from July, and sprinkle in what I can in the lighter blues. Here are some Carrie Nation blocks that I finished sewing this week. 





I am continuing to practice my applique skills with my scrappy peels block and think I am improving my technique. This is my favorite one so far, with an aquatic theme.




I finished stitching 5 peel blocks, 3 red and 2 aqua. I am working on a third light blue block and might try to make a few in the colours I missed earlier in the year for this project (maybe yellow and green?)
To see what other scrappy quilters are sewing this week, hop over to SoScrappy.

Slow Stitching Sunday

After a long summer of bearing witness to my brother's excruciating pain and his struggle to live, followed by watching him die and delivering the news of his death to his parents, followed by a week of hosting visitors in his home and sharing memories with friends and loved ones, followed by his memorial service on Thursday, I am exhausted.

My hand and my brother's hand

I am now trying to re-enter my own life, picking up with things where I left off, organizing the chaos, cleaning away the clutter and the dust, and thinking about what I need to do to carry on. I know I need to re-connect to myself, to tune into my own heartbeat and my intuition, and do things to keep myself stitched together. Healing takes lots of time, and love, and rest, and I intend to give that gift to myself in conscious and deliberate steps. 
Healing requires bandages for each of the emotional wounds that have occurred (both intentionally from other people, and unintentionally from life experiences) and I intend to cover my wounds with the healing power of 100% cotton fabric... and lots of it!! LOL
Quilting is my sanity, my way to meditate and self soothe, and it will help me become stronger and healthier.

So...
I'm getting out my fabric and thread, and plan to stitch until my hands are unable to hold the needle (wait, that sounds a little self abusive) I will stitch until I am tired, and then I will rest!

I am really enjoying these peel blocks, and am finishing up the red peels I started last month for the  Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I am hoping to make this project a true charm quilt, which means each background and each peel fabric will only be used once. These blocks seem to be plotting to become a full sized quilt, but I don't know if I am enjoying the applique quite that much yet!

Thank you to all my friends for your encouraging and uplifting comments left on my blog, and thank you to those of you who linked up last week. I haven't visited your posts yet, but plan to do that today and look forward to seeing what you having been working on. Link up your blog post below and share what you are hand stitching today.

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 diagonal. Then 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.

Scrappy Saturday - Rainbow Scrap Challenge Report

I am enjoying the energy of the red scraps scattered all over neatly piled on my sewing table. However, I haven't been inspired to do many Alamo Stars  this month, because I don't have many red batik scraps. Luckily this is a 5 week month, and I do plan to sew up a couple stars, so look for that next Saturday.

Mostly I have been obsessed with spool blocks because they are easy and mindless, and the perfect size for using up piles of small scraps.
These are my latest red spools. I am sewing 4 spools together to make a 6" block. I am trying to group together 4 similar kinds of reds in each block. I think I only will need about a billion trillion to make a decent sized quilt!
And did you notice that lovely orange peel block in the top left corner of the photo? That's my new applique project, and by the end of that quilt, (circa 2025) I hope to become an expert appliquer! I am using the needle turn technique, and am enjoying it so far. I think I am getting a little better at sewing the points and the curves. These orange peels are being appliqued onto 4" squares.
Hop over to SoScrappy to see what other quilt bloggers are sewing with their red scraps this week.

Boring Design Wall Monday

There was not much going on in my sewing room this weekend.I putzed around a bit with my red scraps but couldn't really focus on accomplishing anything. A few more spool blocks and some 4 patch blocks were sewn to make into Carrie Nation blocks but I still have a lot more cutting to do.
To see more red scrap projects, hop over to SoScrappy and to see more design wall postings, hop over to Patchwork Times.

Red Scrappy Saturday

It's scrappy Saturday and we are painting the town red this month. Yippee...all of my scrappy projects need some red blocks added.

My first step is to get out the scrap bin and start cutting and organizing. FUN! I am starting with some spool blocks, and will make little piles to sew into all my ongoing projects - Carrie Nation blocks, Alamo star blocks, Palm Branch blocks, and the tiny bits will go into crumb blocks. Can you see the spool block pieces being cut and assembled into piles in front of my sewing machine?

I had to sew up a spool block right away, and then I will sew the rest throughout the month as leader/enders between other projects.
Aren't they fun?!? It's like a memory scrapbook of my previous quilts. I know where each of these red scraps came from!
Hop over to SoScrappy and see what is being sewn with red scraps today!