Scrappy Saturday

The 2021 punctuation themed sampler quilt called Full Stop has been really fun to sew. Each month Angela posted a block pattern to sew in the colour of the month. I made 4 blocks each month and this week I finished sewing the last block pattern, which was a period. 

It was fun to pick out the colours and to look at all the blocks on the design wall. I didn't sew the side pieces on as I'm waiting to see what the layout is to determine the block size.

This is the layout that I'm leaning towards. I think it needs one more red exclamation mark block on the top right.

Any ideas you'd like to share to improve this design?

I am hoping to sew the blocks together over the Christmas break and have a quilt top by the end of 2021.

Linking up to Rainbow Scrap Challenge

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.

Scrappy Saturday

On the design wall this week are my Easy Breezy blocks being turned into a quilt top. I have been sewing a few blocks in the colour of the month since July 2020 and it's time for me to stop block making, and make a quilt!  

I filled in some holes in the block columns, making 2 more orange blocks, and some dark reds, so those columns are done. Now I am making more purple blocks to fill in that column.  I have also started sewing the columns together so progress is being made this week!

Hop over to the weekly link up to see what the other Rainbow Scrappers are up to.

Scrappy Saturday

I am still working on light green from the RSC October challenge. I know it's already November, which is time for finishing up our projects, and I AM currently quilting an old RSC challenge (and hoping for a finish this month!) but still.... green isn't done for me yet!

I am using up strips and scraps to sew the green ladders of my Bitcoin quilt (pattern by Bonnie Hunter).

I also made a couple of fish blocks for my Fish School (leader-ender challenge). I love how the 2 fish on the right are made from the same fabric but look different! These are the things that entertain me :)

Linking up to the RSC weekly scrap party

Scrappy Saturday

My October placemat featuring light green QST blocks is done! This month's placemat creation was quite the interesting journey! It started with little HST blocks that wanted to be sweet little 1 3/8" QST blocks.  Many blog readers voted on a sashing fabric, and the green batik crackle fabric was the fan favourite by far.

The quilting was relaxing - straight lines with the walking foot between the columns, and sometimes (if I remembered) in the ditch also. And I stitching some free motion vines and leaves on the 2 side borders.

Ahhhh... the most relaxing part is hand stitching the binding. Here you can see the lovely green backing fabric, and you can also see the fact that two of the stitching lines are missing. That's okay... it lays flat and I am a recovering perfectionist, so I'm leaving it as it is! 

And here is October's finished project!

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

Scrappy Saturday

I have had very little time to sew or read blogs this week. Today I will need an infusion of quilting to get my energy level renewed. 

I am slowing working on my monthly placemat and hope to have a finish to post next week. 

I did sew a few leader-ender blocks that are on the design wall. These are blocks for the last 2 Quiltville leader-ender challenges. I can't seem to stop making those Easy Breezy blocks, even though I've started to sew Fish School blocks!

A highlight of my week was getting scraps in the mail from fellow blogger Chris. Who doesn't love squishy mail?!?! 

I wonder what this pile of loveliness will become?!?

Linking up to Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Scrappy Saturday

 

A little progress has been made on my RSC Full Stop punctuation sampler. These are the orange dash blocks for September. I made mine slightly different since I'm not sure of my layout yet.

This year I have been making 4 blocks each month and they are all different sizes. I put them on the design wall to see what it's looking like and I got very excited about this project again!  Of course this is not my layout because it's too long and narrow, but it has started up my creative process to think about various layout possibilities.

 I think I will have a lot of fun putting it together at the end of the year. 

Linking up to the weekly RSC party and hope to see other scrappy sampler blocks being made

Scrappy Saturday

Orange was the RSC colour last month and I made another sewing machine block for my collection. This is a free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop and I tried it in the 6" size this time. Each block has 16 pieces to fit together like a puzzle. So FUN!

You can see my aqua block that turned into a mug mat here. And my blue sewing machine block jumped into a round robin project. So although I have made several sewing machine blocks, they keep disappearing from the RSC project box!

I also made a light green machine in anticipation of October's colour and here is my machine collection on the design wall. Purple is a 3" block, and orange and green are 6" blocks. There is also a 12" pattern but I think that's too big for me! I love these blocks and will continue this project into 2022.

I also added a few orange blocks last month to other RSC projects... a few more waffle blocks and one Easy Breezy block. I can't seem to stop sewing these Easy Breezies even though I have more than enough for a quilt. It's not logical or explainable but they continue!

And I felt like making a few more mini arrowhead blocks for that collection. 

I'll be happily digging into the light green scraps this month since it's one of my favourite colours!

Linking up to the weekly RSC party

Scrappy Saturday

This is the last Orange week at the RSC. This month went by really fast and I don't think I made enough blocks for my RSC projects, so today I will do an inventory and keep working on orange to fill in the gaps.

This week I reevaluated the Waffle Project. There is one more  column of red blocks that I didn't have enough room for on the design wall. I made some decisions about a possible layout, size and blocks needed to finish this quilt by the end of the year. It's such a great scrap buster using up 1.5" squares. And it definitely has a shortage of juicy orange, so I'll work on that today.

Linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Scrappy Saturday

This week flew by and the only sewing I did was focused on the orange bitcoin ladders. I had a lot of fun digging through the scraps, cutting and sewing strips and rectangles, and creating ladders. I have enough for the columns needed for orange, but I'm not going to assemble them until I have the green and yellow ladders done. They will join the blue, purple, aqua ladders that are already assembled for the left part of the quilt. Getting the seams lined up in the right direction is crucial to this pattern, so I'll wait for green and yellow ladders to be completed, and then join the orange.

Today I'll be sewing some orange mini arrowhead blocks and joining a Saturday guild sewin via zoom. Linking up to the RSC party at Angela's

Scrappy Saturday

September is orange month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and I have dumped some of the orange scraps on the cutting table. I tossed my snack in the middle because it made me smile... an orange in the orange! I  determined which of my projects need more orange. 

And then I started cutting and sorting and planning... and using up another cone of Aurifil thread!

Here are some blocks coming together on the design wall... 4 orange fish for this year's leader-ender challenge, and 2 easy breezy blocks for last year's leader-ender challenge project.

Linking up to the weekly scrappy party at Angela's

Today I hope to watch some TV coverage of the 20th anniversary of 911 if I can summon the courage, and will distract myself with some soothing sewing.

Scrappy Saturday

August was the month for sewing teal/aqua scraps at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and this week I have been sewing ladders for my Bitcoin project. Some of these scraps are 10 and 15 years old and they are so happy to be part of a quilt in the making. It is sometimes a challenge to keep the ladders even and straight. 

This project is a great scrap/strip eater!

And here are all the coloured ladders made so far - navy, purple and aqua.

I think I'm starting to understand the direction this quilt is taking and the next step is to decide on the size parameters of the project. Then I can start organizing these partial ladders and start sewing them together into columns. 

And also... only because it was aqua month, I enjoyed a couple of these pretty margaritas! 

Linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

A Quick Finish

I have really enjoyed sewing aqua scraps this month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I am finishing my monthly placemat which I'll post tomorrow but today... drum roll please... here is the sweet little mug mat I finished.

On the right side is a 3" sewing machine block. You can access the free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop. I love love, super love this little block, but look at the 16 tiny pieces that must fit together perfectly to make the block!

On the left side is a heart block, with a hand quilted heart inside. This block was much easier to make and I was thinking... wouldn't this block make a fun Rainbow Scrap Challenge project?

What is cuter than a mini mug mat? A mini mug mat being modelled by the sweetest granddog on the planet! Max loves to eat quilts, so he likely thought I was giving him a quilted snack. Of course he was rewarded with a real doggie treat for being such a cute model for the photo.

The finished size of the mug mat is 9" x 5.5". 

Linking up to the  Saturday RSC party 

Scrappy Saturday

One of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects it to make the Quiltville pattern called Bitcoin. These are the aqua ladders I have made so far this month. Some of these scraps are leftover from a quilt I finished in 2009! It's time they had a chance to shine in a scrappy quilt.

I've also started a baby quilt for my daughter's best friend's baby. Yes, the baby is already here and I need to get it done before the baby goes to school! LOL

But at least I've started, and I am enjoying making these 8" star blocks and I'm loving this soft flannel. The request was for a gender neutral quilt, but now that the baby girl is here, I'm just adding some aqua and a touch of pink because it makes me happy!

And if squirrels would stop running around in the quilting room, the baby quilt  would already been finished. 

Linking up to the RSC party

Full Stop Sampler

Angela who blogs at So Scrappy has been hosting a 2021 monthly sampler pattern called Full Stop sewing various punctuation marks such as exclamation blocks, asterisks, and semi-colons.

Here are all my August aqua pieces cut out and ready to sew. I have been making 4 sampler blocks each month. I enjoy these monthly quilty brain snacks!

This month's block is a question mark and here are my 4 blocks. Very cool!

Linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Scrappy Saturday

It's aqua month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This is a colour that I used to dislike, and now I can't even remember why! It's such a pretty colour and I appreciate what aqua can bring to a scrappy project. 

I have been cutting scraps and making a few fish blocks as a leader-ender project. Here are the aqua fish. Looks like one fish needs to go to surgery for adjustments!

This is the Fish School so far! The watery blue  background fabric is leftover from Scraps swimming in the ocean. 

Linking up to the  RSC scrap party

July Table Scraps

Blue is the July colour of for the RSC sewers, and lucky me, I received a bag of scrap triangles in the mail this month. These were from Cozy Quilter Gail and they just happened to have lots of blue (and also white and green) which was perfect to make my July placemat!

I started sewing the triangles together not knowing what I was going to make. The HSTs became flying geese and you can see the layout that was starting to emerge. You can also see the Easy Breezy leader-ender block on the sewing table waiting to be finished.

I trimmed the HSTs down to 1.75". 

Yes... every single one. When you are sewing projects with smaller pieces, it really helps to trim off even these tiny slivers to make uniform blocks that will fit together perfectly.

As I was sewing and trimming these triangles I saw a zigzag quilt that Gail posted on her blog and decided it would be fun to sew her scraps into a design that she had just made - that's double the  inspiration from Gail for this project!

I tried to use as many triangles from the bag as possible, and this placemat ended up using 234 triangles. I picked out these 4 thread colours for the machine quilting.

The quilting design is a vertical zigzag using the free motion foot. I have practised many hours to be able to quilt a straight line with this foot. It is easier to get a straight line using a walking foot, but that means you have to twist and turn the entire project at every seam. The free motion foot is quick and efficient for this design as long as you can stitch a straight line.

Here is my July placemat made of 117 HST blocks that measure 1.25".

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

Scrappy Saturday

Saturday is my weekly Rainbow Scrap Challenge update and the colour for July has been dark blue. Many of my scrappy projects already have enough dark blue so I have added a few blocks to some newer projects.

I added some ladders to my version of Bonnie Hunter's Bitcoin pattern. This is a new project and the pattern was just released in June. It's an awesome way to use up scraps and strips in the RSC colour each month.

And of course I jumped into (or should I say dove head first into) the Fish School leader - ender challenge that was just announced in July. Here are a  half dozen bluefins on the design wall. One fish does appear to be swimming upstream!

Linking up to the RSC party at Angela's