Cobalt Blue

Last week I mentioned my affinity for blue and white transferware china.  This week I'm focused on cobalt blue glass.  I'm drawn to blue glass of any sort, from blue nazars that ward off the evil eye to blue glass bottle trees to gorgeous blue glass tableware.

I keep a cobalt blue glass ball on the window ledge above my sewing machine.

I scored a beautiful blue pitcher and a flock of glasses at an estate sale yesterday.  I have a small but growing collection of more blue glass at the camp - I'll have to remember to photograph it next time I'm there.

So this week's house is inspired by blue glass.  And dragonflies!

This house isn't nearly as dark as cobalt blue, but it's still an ethereal shade of blue - maybe almost a Haint Blue!

Lots of lovely blue fabric to be seen at this week's Rainbow Scrap Challenge link-up, too!

Go Granny, Go!

I had the opportunity to visit one of my local quilt shops, The Quilted Owl, recently.  I found some new fabrics to add to the Grandmother's Choice BOW stash.

I've fallen way behind on stitching up my weekly Grandmother's Choice blocks.  Last weekend DH had to work, so I promised myself I'd spend some time attempting to get caught up.  

I finished six blocks and have two additional ones prepped for hand stitching.  Each of these blocks were fun to make, although I'm kind of partial to Mr. Roosevelt's Necktie (center left), Contrary Husband (center right) and Coffee Cup (bottom right).  Besides the two that need hand-stitching, there's only one more block to finish and I'll be caught up.  On the other hand, Ms. Brackman will publish a new block tomorrow.  I wonder if I can sew into the wee hours tonight and completely catch up?

The design wall was empty, so I pinned up all my Grandmother's Choice blocks so far.  I'm liking the result; just wondering what fabrics I'll use for setting all the blocks together!

For the Love of Blue & White

Blue and white has to be my favorite color combination.  I mentioned it during last year's RSC month of blue scraps.  Blue and white transferware china is one of my favorites; I can waste hours drooling over transferware on Pinterest and eBay! 

This week's happy scrappy house is inspired by transferware china - the main fabric of the house is Ginger Jar by Timeless Treasures (an oldie but goodie!).

I thought this New Orleans house was a good display of blue and white together.  It's an example of a double gallery house.  Notice the floor to ceiling windows on the front of the house?  Those are meant to be opened from floor to ceiling to catch as much breeze as possible.  You'll notice the house is also raised slightly off the ground; this was also to help keep the house cool by allowing air to circulate during the heat of the summer.

A few more blue spools were added to the leader-ender collection this week.  Otherwise, I was occupied by another RSC quilt from last year.

Do check out more installments of blue scrappiness over at SoScrappy's blog today!

Auditions

I'm so happy to finally have this top pieced!  The 16-patch blocks are from last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I knew I wanted to use an hour-glass alternate block, so I cut some of them as the challenge went along.  But since the quilt had so many colors,  I couldn't assemble them until I had the blocks in the final layout.  It seemed to take forever to get everything sewn together.  

At this point, the top measures about 60" x 60".  I'd like it to be a little larger, so I'm auditioning border fabrics.

I found two great fabrics hiding in the stash.  They're both 1995 Alexander Henry Fabrics and I have plenty of yardage for borders.  Did I mention this quilt is for my sister-in-law, a former pre-school teacher and now child advocate?

I like the colors in this one, but since it's an obvious Easter fabric, I think it will stay in the stash a bit longer.

This is OK, but the border fabric doesn't have anything to do with the main quilt, so I think it looks a little awkward.

I also have some of this Project Linus fabric in the stash.  It might work as a narrow border.

This is working out better.  AND I have enough of the red fabric for borders.

A little investigating with my nieces and I found out their mom likes green and teal.  I found a neat piece of Stonehenge fabric in shades of teal.  I like it - I think it adds a calming influence to the quilt.  Unfortunately, it's only a half-yard piece, so I may be making a trip to the LQS tomorrow!

Scrappy Saturday Wrap-Up

It's a new month and a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Angela has challenged us to use our bright blues, or in her words - sapphire blues - this month.  On top of that, I spent the earlier part of the week playing with last month's color - green.

The scrappy Trip Around the World blocks (from Bonnie Hunter's pattern) will be an on-going project.  I've got a big stack of strips ready to sew together, so I'll keep making these throughout the year.

Digging through the strips and strings from the month gave me enough for some wonky log cabin blocks.  I'll be glad to see the end of some of this dark green fabric!

This morning I started playing with blue fabrics.  One bright blue house and some scrappy blue spools were soon added to the collection.

As for the New Orleans House Project, bright blue does not seem to be all that popular as a house color.  But doesn't that front porch look like a great place to relax and sip lemonade?

If you love blue, then be sure to stop by and see what other blue scrappy surprises are on display at SoScrappy's blog!

Palette of Greens

Palette of Greens . . .

or Plate of Greens?

Sorry, I couldn't resist a little wordplay as we round up a month of green scrappiness.  But in all honesty, I've enjoyed playing with my palette of green scraps just as much as I'd enjoy a big plate of greens - with some hot sauce, cornbread and sweet tea to wash it down!

This week's green scrappy house is a vine-covered cottage.  

My green neighborhood.

Green leader-ender spools.  There are more at home, but I forgot to photo them before leaving for the camp.  Ditto the Trip Around the World blocks I've been working on - they're sitting in a pile on the worktable at home.  Perhaps next Saturday I'll still be showing more green scraps before diving into the color inspiration for May!

I thought I'd share two very special green New Orleans houses this week.  Known locally as the Steamboat Houses, these two gems are located next to the Mississippi River slightly downriver from the French Quarter.

The first house (top) was built in 1905 by a former steamboat captain, Paul Doullut.  The house was meant to mimic the style of Mississippi River steamboats.  The style is sometimes called Steamboat Gothic, and there are examples to be found around the US.  Several years later, Captain Doullut had a second house built across the street  (bottom) for his son, Paul Jr.  

As always, today is the day for scrappy inspiration, so do visit SoScrappy's blog to see what other Rainbow Scrappers have been up to this week!

Rainbow Scrap Quilt 1.0

Last night I put the final stitches in the binding of one of my 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts.

I used the blog-popular Granny Square quilt block and made multiple squares throughout the year, following the Rainbow Scrap Challenge monthly color inspiration.

The blocks were assembled with sashing and cornerstones.  I added a freeform pieced scrap border for additional interest and size.

My local longarm quilter Cindy Braiwick helped me out by quilting a flowery-feathery all-over design

Early on in the challenge, I decided this quilt would be gifted to my niece.  It was fun thinking of her every week as I constructed the various blocks.  I included this fussy-cut one to honor her profession of teaching.

I tend to be lackadaisical about labeling my quilts.  Not so with this one - although I've digitally removed the inscription 'cuz I'm funny about sharing personal info and mushy stuff.

Many thanks to Angela at Soscrappy for the year's worth of inspiration and to all the Rainbow Scrappers for their words of encouragement!  It was wonderful fun to share with everyone!

Trade Card Tuesday: Life after White

Victorian advertisers like using "before" and "after" illustrations to demonstrate the amazing qualities of their products.  Sewing machine advertisers were no different.  

The White Sewing Machine Company issued  several before and after trade cards to promote their machines. 

The adverts were actually four page booklets.  The front featured an idealized vignette of a happy family with a White sewing machine.

The reverse illustrated the dangers and disadvantages of the competitor's machines:

Flimsy, difficult to use - "Out with you!!!!"

Grandmama is attacking the machine with a poker and Madame is stabbing it with her scissors!

Another reverse image:

Pa has attached a crank to the machine - "Does the crank help?"

Ma - "Yes, a little.  But the old thing will kill us both!"

Jr - "Why don't you get a White?"

Apparently using the wrong sewing machine also makes one incredibly homely!

When the bottom half of the booklet is opened, the miraculous after-effect of the White sewing machine is visible:

Peace and harmony are restored!

Interesting note - the "We have a White" script on the card mimics a design feature found on some White sewing machine cabinets.  The White name is spelled out in raised wooden letters that resemble twigs.

And of course, the White sewing machine makes everyone and everything more attractive!

Remembering Avocado Green

Do you remember the decorator color Avocado Green?  It was all the rage in the late 1960s and my mom loved it.  As luck would have it, we moved into a new home during that time, and our house was full of avocado green.  I liked the color as a child, but by the time I was old enough to have my own home, it had become a frumpy cliche' of that era.

I was charmed by this avocado green house when I saw it last fall, though.  The avocado looks great with all the crisp white trim.  It got me thinking a little more kindly about that particular shade of green and noticing that there seems to be renewed interest in the color.  

So, of course, my house is inspired by avocado this week.

Other Rainbow Scrappers have been inspired by the color green this week as well.  Do stop by Soscrappy's blog to see what everyone has been creating!

Abundantly Complete

This week I added the final quilting stitches and sewed down the binding on my version of Abundance.  I enjoyed Lori's mini quilt along project and I especially enjoyed using some delicately aged Robin Pandolph fabrics from my stash! 

There's still quite a bit of those lovely fabrics left, so I decided to make another small quilt.

I turned to one of my antique quilt resources, Childhood Treasures:  Doll Quilts By and For Children by Merikay Waldvogel.  This charming book contains page after page of small quilt inspiration!

LeMoyne stars have been on my quilting bucket list for a long time.  There's no pattern for this quilt in the book, but I look forward to drafting my own.  I'm looking forward to this project!