Auf Wiedersehen, Dear Teal!

It's been a good month of teal scraps!  I haven't completed all the teal Rainbow Sampler blocks, but I think I can take care of that before the end of today.  

I did make one additional 16 patch block this week.

And some architectural pieces to add to the 16 patches a little later down the road.

The modern teal quilt is almost finished as well; I just need to add the top and bottom borders.  The picture does not really do it justice - I think it needs quilting and some outdoor daylight shots.

I'm looking forward to seeing the end of the month Rainbow Scrap Challenge teal round-up!  And completing my own teal challenges!

Modern Teal

I've stepped into a new role at work.  I'm very excited about the new responsibilities, but apprehensive about how it may affect my quilting time!  I often try to relax during the workweek by quilting for an hour or so in the evening; I hope I still have time and energy to do that going forward!

Inspired by this month's color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I pulled this fabric collection (Natural Effects by Michele D'Amore for Marcus Fabrics) from my stash last weekend.  I originally thought I could use it for a miniaturized version of one of several Kaffe Fassett quilts on my wish list.  After further consideration, I changed my mind and decided on a different approach.

After consulting Pinterest for inspiration, I decided this quilt block would be a great way to show off the fabrics.  It was a great quick and easy project for this stressful first week of my new job!  Now I've got twelve blocks completed and ready for sashing.  

I'm off to the Gulf States Quilting Association Show today.  Looking forward to lots of quilt inspiration and shopping!  

Later this afternoon, I look forward to perusing the Rainbow Scrap Challenge link-ups with a nice cup of tea -- bliss!

Luck o' the Teal

More scrappy teal adventures occurred this week!

Many of my "teal" scraps are more of a turquoise green.  I decided it would be fun to add a scrappy Rainbow Sampler block in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  Just a wee bit ' Googlin' found me the Lucky Clover block.  Best of all, instructions were provided for a 6" size!  I didn't make the block exactly as directed, but I'm pretty happy with the outcome!

Angela provided instructions for a Rainbow Sampler block she called "Searching".  I hmmm'd over mixing the green and blue teal scraps together and finally decided to just do it.  It was a fun exercise!  I might try making another one of these using different fabric combos, although I hear from other bloggers it can be an addicting process!

Another Rainbow Sampler block - Bowtie.  This block seemed HUGE after making hundreds of 3" bowties for Bonnie Hunter's leader-ender challenge!

Angela also had us create another Anvil block for the Rainbow Sampler (I have a blue Anvil from January's sampler blocks).  I loved this one because it gave me another opportunity to use those green turquoise scraps.

These teal-themed fat quarters have been marinating in the stash for several years.  I've been hesitant to break up the group and use the fabrics piecemeal, but the right project for the entire group has not presented itself, either.  I was inspired to pull the fabrics out this month and contemplate them anew.  At first I thought I'd use some of them to make notebook covers.  But last night I pulled out Kaffe Fassett's Glorious Patchwork and was reminded I've always wanted to make a Leafy Rosy or Salad Days quilt.  I think this group might work great for a small version of either of those.  

The weather forecast is not promising for most of the weekend, so I guess that means quilting time!  But before I start cutting and stitching, I'm heading over to Angela's blog for some more Rainbow Scrap inspiration.

Civil War Tribute Blocks 5 & 6

I diligently pushed myself to complete blocks 5 & 6 of the Civil War Tribute quilt.  Since this was a 12 month BOM, it would sound like I'm halfway finished.  That's only partly true - I've finished 6 months' worth of blocks, but since each month call for multiple blocks, I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet!

Next up - Month 7.  See that little note in the bottom right corner of the picture?  Make EIGHT 12" blocks!  I'm going to contemplate that instruction for awhile.  

As I've mentioned before, this quilt finishes at 110" x 112".  That would easily fit on our bed, but since our pets think the bed is their territory too, I won't be putting this quilt on the bed!  The finished size is too big for a hanging, even if partially folded.

So, I've decided to jump ahead to Month 11:  the 36" square center block.  Once I have the center block made, I can decide how many additional blocks I want to make for a more reasonable sized quilt.  Or maybe two reasonable sized quilts!

Turning to Teal

This week afforded several opportunities to play with teal (aqua, turquoise, not-blue-not-green) scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Before I started participating in the RSC, I really didn't have much in the way of teal fabric or scraps.  Thankfully, all that has changed!  I discovered I really enjoy working with this color range, and my stash has increased accordingly.  One thing I have noticed about the teals is that they don't all play well with each other.  That's OK, it adds to the fun of the challenge!

First up, a teal (turquoise?) Friendship Star block for the RSC Sampler.  This one turned out a little more "low volume" than I anticipated, but it used up some never-ending scraps, so I'm happy.

A nice assortment of lights and darks made it into a 16-patch block.  I didn't have enough light and dark scraps for a second block, so I'm hopeful I'll have that taken care of by the end of the month!

A 9-patch variation made from the 2 1/2 inch strips and squares bin.

Half-square triangles ready to be pieced for a Carpenter's Wheel block.  Now that I have the cutting order down, it was easy to cut the HSTs from 2 1/2 inch strips using the Easy Angle Ruler.

The Maverick/Wonky stars were great fabric therapy one night after work.  These are such fun to make, I can see them as an ongoing scrap therapy project indefinitely!

Today is link-up day with the other Rainbow Scrappers.  I'm going to go over there and get inspired, then tear through some more teal scraps!

Pre-Carnival Fun

You may have heard New Orleans is in the midst of a Carnival celebration.  The week preceding Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, is filled with merriment of all kinds.  It can be a whirlwind of fun or a pain in the behind, depending on your perspective!  Dear Husband and I tend to avoid most Carnival-related activities and escape to our camp until the craziness is over.

The day before Mardi Gras has become an integral part of the celebration.  Lundi Gras (Fat Monday) marks the arrival of the King of Carnival - Rex - who proclaims a day of frivolity and masking for Fat Tuesday.  Me - I just take another day of vacation and hope for Spring-like weather at the camp!

The Spring-like weather was in short supply today, but that didn't decrease my enjoyment of Lundi Gras.  I dug out a long-term project that resides at the camp and had some merriment playing with purple and gold strings.  It was perfect for Carnival, as purple and gold (along with green) are the official colors of Mardi Gras.

It turned out most of my purple fabric stash was also at the camp.  I think my purple string stash was getting low, so I took the stash to add new strings.  Somehow my plans were waylaid by other projects.

Many of the pieces were less than fat eighth size, so I did some strip and string cutting.  Now the purple strings are replenished AND I have some new strips for my scrap collection.

Here's the ongoing string project - spiderweb blocks in purple and gold.  I'm a long way from being anywhere near close to completing this project, so I think I will try to focus on it for the next few months whenever I am at the camp.

Pink Epilogue

It's a new month and a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but I wasn't quite finished playing with pink, the February RSC color.

I began this small quilt back in June and since it's pink, I thought now would be a good time to finish.  The fabrics are from a well-aged Robyn Pandolph collection.  I had to piece imaginatively to complete the outer border, but I'm happy with the finish.  Now to get ready for some hand quilting!

Angela added one last pink Rainbow Sampler block to round out the month.  I really wanted to make this basket block, so I kept the pink scraps out for one more day.  The basket was easy to construct and I hand appliqued the handle. 

It makes a nice addition to the other sampler blocks for the month!

The RSC color for March is teal, and I'm sure there will be lots of inspiration from all the Rainbow Scrappers over at Angela's blog.