Breaking from Binding . . . For Spools

Folks, the bind-a-thon continues, but I took a break today to play with some spool blocks.  After seeing Kathy's wonderful top, I was inspired to dig out my spool blocks.

 

I used Bonnie Hunter's Spoolin' Around block in 2013 as a leader-ender project.   I didn't plan or color-coordinate anything, just tried to use up small scraps.  I finished up 270 blocks.  Not sure why I stopped, but I could use more yellow, aqua and brown blocks to make an even 300.

 

Since the blocks are so random, I think I'll use a random layout for them.   And I'll definitely set them on point, even though the assembly is a little more time consuming.  These are only 3 inch blocks, so the quilt top won't be huge - once I get it assembled I can decide if more blocks or some borders are needed.

The bind-a-thon has not made much progress in the past two weeks.  I needed to finish the Scrap Jar Star binding so I could give the quilt to my mom in person last week.  I didn't finish the binding before leaving for Florida and I didn't have many opportunities to work on it while visiting family.  It came back home with me and I'll have to ship it to her when it's finished.

 

I did finish binding the memory quilts I made for my nieces.

 

My local long-arm quilter, Cindy Braiwick, did a fantastic job with the quilting.

 

I especially love how she quilted the gold borders.   The girls loved their quilts and immediately wrapped up in them, even if it was a balmy 75 degrees outside!

I'm linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge one more time this year, as the spool blocks were inspired by the RSC.  And now I'm done spoolin' around - it's time to get back to binding!

 

Scrappy Saturday: Playing with Gray, Ignoring the Weather

This month's color instructions for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge are to use gray to black scraps.  Since I only have a few gray fabrics in my stash (Oh No!  I had to make scraps for this week's block!), I decided to start there and challenge myself to make an interesting gray happy scrappy house block.

I expected my world would be full of gray today.  The weather pundits have been telling us to prepare for TS Karen for the past 48 hours, but my gut feeling was always that she would turn out to be a lot of nothing.  So, at noon on Saturday, the sun is shining and Karen is falling apart.  Still, I plan on staying home and sewing for as much of the day as possible!

After playing with the gray scraps for a bit, I realized a little pop of color was needed to perk things up.  Moda Grunge fabric to the rescue - a little bit of pink was just the ticket!  I also noticed photographing the gray blocks at an angle helped show off the color and fabrics better.  

I used up a few more scraps making leader-ender spool blocks.

I love the gray background in this Halloween wallhanging.  This goes back to my early days of quilting; the pattern may be from Better Homes and Gardens, but the memory is dim.  The instructions never called for any quilting, and the quilt is finished by sewing the backing and batting to the quilt top with wrong sides together, then turning right side out.  The pieced top has  always sagged a bit, and I keep telling myself to add some quilting to stabilize things.  I think that project will be another gray challenge for this month.

This week's New Orleans House Project subject is known as the Brown-Villere Mansion, a Romanesque Revival standout on St. Charles Avenue.  Even though the house is sort of a taupe-y gray, I wanted to share it because it's such a New Orleans landmark.  Plus, unlike all the houses I've shared so far, you can actually see some of the interior of this house!

Please stop by Angela's soscrappy blog to see how the color gray has inspired other Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilters!

Better Late Than Never: Wrapping Up Red

Well!!  That will teach me to try to blog while traveling - using a new iPad blogging program!

I wrote TWO versions of the same blog entry on Saturday and both were lost to the ether when I attempted to publish them with my new-to-me iPad blogging program.  Talk about frustrating!  I'll skip all the boring details and just say I'll be sure to test out any future iPad blogging programs before I attempt to use them from the road.

This past Saturday was the last day of August and the last day of scrappy red stitching for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  

I wrapped up my use of red scraps by making a few more red leader-ender spools.  I dug deep in the red scraps, including scraps from my Grandmother's Choice blocks, for these spools.

I was also inspired to make one more happy, scrappy house block, although it's really a red, white and blue house!  These scraps are well-aged:  they're from a fat quarter "souvenir" bundle I picked up in an Atlanta-area quilt shop one summer after dropping my boys at summer camp in north Georgia.

The last red New Orleans house for August is actually a hotel - the Le Richelieu Hotel in the French Quarter.  The hotel is actually two different buildings stitched together (how quilt-like!) to make a new whole.  The building on the right is an example of a double gallery house and was built in 1845.  The building on the left was once used as a macaroni factory!

A Month of Red

As it turns out, despite being a city full of rainbow-hued houses, it is not easy to find houses painted true red in New Orleans.  There are lots of variations on a color that's somewhere between cooked shrimp and terra cotta.  There are also variations on the color burgundy.  There's just not much in the way of red.  I will have be be creative to continue with the New Orleans House Project!

My first red "house" is a little different.  This is the home of the David Crockett Fire Company, the oldest continuously operated volunteer fire company in the country (since 1841).  The firehouse is now a museum, although it does house some antique fire equipment.  It's located in a small community across the Mississippi River from New Orleans proper.   

It was no problem to design a very red happy, scrappy house this week.  I recently used the red batik as a quilt border, and the scraps just sang out to me to put them in a house!  The cow jumping over the moon fabric goes back about 20 years; I've just about used every scrap of it.

I had to clean up last month's teal/aqua/turquoise fabrics before I could cut loose with the color red.  I had these spool blocks already cut, so they were easy to finish.

I forgot to play along with Bonnie Hunter's link-up for showing off one's leader-ender spools.  Here's my current stash, about 200 spool blocks.  I plan to keep making them through the end of this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

And speaking of Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I'll be linking up with other challenge participants over at Angela's blog.  Please join us for some scrappy red quilt inspiration!

Aqua Under the Sea

I used up some turquoise scraps left over from a baby quilt to make this week's Rainbow Scrap house.  The remaining scraps went into the wonky log cabin pile; I hope I have a chance to work on those this coming week.

Five leader-ender spools also got completed this week.

I was sorry to hear Bonnie Hunter's Spoolin' Around Challenge has come to an end.  As for me, I'll keep making rainbow spools at least until the end of the year!

I found this fun turquoise house near Bayou St. John.  I love the two "eyes" on the second story!

That wraps up my turquoise inspiration for today.  I'll be linking up with Angela's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, so do check out more turquoise/aqua/teal inspiration over there!

Orange You Sad To Say Good-bye?

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge has given us 5 weeks of playing with orange!  It's been productive and lots of fun.  Today is the last day to see what orange surprises the challenge participants are sharing over at Soscrappy's blog.

I've been busy trying to wrap up my orange projects.

I finished piecing the Orange Confection quilt blocks together.  As soon as I find a backing, I'll be taking it to my local longarm quilter.  I'm looking forward to keeping this quilt for myself!

A few orange leader-ender spools were added to the collection.

And some wonky orange log cabin blocks.

I've enjoyed all this orange playtime, but I'm looking forward to a new challenge color for April.

Oh, and no new house blocks this week, but I put together a collage of this month's orange New Orleans houses for you to enjoy!

Orange Memories

It's another scrappy orange Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilters.  I haven't done much orange sewing this week, but I have had orange on the brain!

I grew up in the middle of Florida citrus country.  In fact, my neighborhood was a former orange grove.  We had orange trees in the yard and an abundance of fresh-squeezed orange juice all winter.  My mom was always trying out new recipes featuring oranges and orange juice.

One childhood favorite was Hot Orange Coffee Cake (original name, eh?).  I happened to have all the ingredients on hand, so I made one this morning.  Here it is, ready to go in the oven.  Doncha like the juxtaposition of coffee mugs on my kitchen counter?

I did do just a tiny bit of orange stash enhancement this week.  Hancock Fabrics had this orange bandana print - and I'm a sucker for bandana prints.  I limited myself to a half yard, but I may have to go back.  They had other colors as well!

Some orange spools were created using Bonnie Hunter's Spoolin' Around pattern.

A scrappy orange house, also a Bonnie Hunter pattern.

And of course, another orange New Orleans house!  The upstairs front only looks yellow because of the sunlight - it's just as orange as the rest of the house.

Now I think I'll try out my coffee cake and enjoy a cup of coffee while I check out what the other Rainbow Challenge scrappers have been up to this week!

Amethyst

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for February is purple.  That brings me all the way back to the initial inspiration for the New Orleans House Project.  It was during last year's RSC that I made my first purple house blocks, which in turn inspired me to open my eyes to rainbow-hued houses all around the city.  I'm looking forward to sharing a month's worth of purple scrappy house blocks as well as purple New Orleans houses!

Is it just an interesting coincidence that the RSC color for February is purple and the birthstone for the month of February is amethyst?  Even more coincidental is the fact there is an Amethyst Street in New Orleans.  I looked, but the neighborhood is a little too posh to support a bright amethyst house!

How's this for a purple house?  Complete with a pink flamingo in the front yard!  I snapped this pic shortly after Christmas; I like to think the owners have subsequently changed the Christmas decorations for Mardi Gras decorations.

I've worked up a few leader-ender spools in purple, too.  Most of my purple fabric was stashed at our camp, where I'm working on a long-term string quilt from left-over purple and gold fabrics.  We managed to escape to the camp this weekend (New Orleans is a little crazy right now with Mardi Gras and that Super Football Game happening simultaneously!), so I'll bring back a big assortment of purples to play with over the next several weeks.

There will be lots of purple to see over at Soscrappy's blog, where all of the Rainbow Scrappers will be sharing their amethyst quiltings for February.

Little Pink Houses

I'm kinda sorry to see the end of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge month o' pink!  It's been fun looking for pink houses and sewing through the pink scraps.  Unfortunately, I was unable to go hunting for this week's pink house - we're off on a wee trip and there was just no time before leaving.


I do have a house to share with you, although you'll have to use your imagination and maybe visualize "Barbie Pink".

This house is located on a quiet New Orleans street and reflects the dreams of its owner, who poured lots of sweat equity into creating her own Barbie Dream House.

This week's house block is inspired by my own "vintage" fabrics - some Marsha McCloskey Staples and Robin Pandolph fat quarters that have been marinating in my stash for waaaay too long!

All the pink house blocks together.  I can't wait to see what color houses I'll be scouting next month!

Last, but not least, the final batch of spool blocks a la Bonnie Hunter.

That wraps up my pink Rainbow Scrap Challenge entries. I'll be sharing my stuff over at Angela's blog along with all the other pink scrappers - do take a look and get a dose of happy from all that pink!

Lookin' for Pink

Happy first Saturday in January!  It's been a cold, dismal day here in New Orleans, but I didn't mind as I've been sewing the day away.  As always, it's "So many projects, so little time!"

Today is the first link-up day for the 2013 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I enjoyed this challenge a great deal last year so it was easy to plan on participating again.  Although I've been admiring and thinking about making a number of different blocks/quilts for the challenge, for now I'm keeping things simple.  I still have to make quilts from last year's RSC blocks, and that's a priority for the next several weeks (months?!).

Last fall I started making leader-ender spool blocks using Bonnie Hunter's Spoolin' Around block pattern.  This is a great pattern for using up small scraps.  I keep a stash of pre-cut blocks near the sewing machine to use as leader-enders when I am strip-piecing.  I knocked out six blocks in this month's color - pink - today while working on other projects.  I plan to continue make spool blocks for the rest of the year, using up scraps for each month's color.

My second Rainbow Scrap Challenge is what I call The New Orleans House Project.  During last year's RSC, Sheila inspired me to make some purple house blocks using another Bonnie Hunter pattern.  Making the purple house blocks reminded me that I had actually seen several purple houses in the city, and I was determined to find and photograph at least one purple house.  As these things go, pretty soon I was noticing houses of different hues all over town.  DH has learned to drive slowly through certain neighborhoods so I can attempt to photograph houses in any rainbow shade!

The house above is a classic New Orleans shotgun double.  It's called a shotgun house because if one fired a gun through the front door, the bullet would pass unimpeded down the side hallway and exit through the back door.  All the rooms of the house open off the side hallway.  This house is a double because there are two residences side-by-side.  I've always been fascinated with New Orleans architecture; if you are curious, check out the Preservation Resource Center's website (the link takes you to an interactive map; click on the Architectural Styles tab at the bottom).

I plan to make scrappy houses in each month's color AND find some New Orleans houses in the same color.  I look forward to sharing the results!

Sew Sixty

Thanks to my Dear Husband and Dear Sons we watch a lot of American football at our house.  In self-defense, I became a football fan too.  To be honest, it's hard not to be at least a casual football fan in New Orleans, because it's almost a sin to not be a New Orleans Saints fan!

As a result of watching all this football, I've developed my new personal motivational strategy for quilting.  I call it Sew Sixty.  I stole the name from the National Football League's fitness campaign aimed at kids (and adults).  Called Play 60, the program aims to get kids playing for at least 60 minutes a day, promoting an active and healthy lifestyle.

My program is aimed at getting me to sew at least 60 minutes a day.  We all know how difficult it can be at times to get motivated to sew: we're tired, we're stressed, we're distracted, we feel guilty for taking time for ourselves.  You name the excuse - we've all been there!  But it's so simple to just go sit down and start sewing.  Whether sewing by hand or stitching at the machine, it just takes that simple step of getting started.  Before you know it, you've accomplished one step in a project and are ready for another.  And the satisfaction of making that effort and having something concrete to show for it makes it all worthwhile.

So now in the evening (sometimes even in the morning before work) I head for my sewing room mentally chanting my new mantra: "Sew Sixty!  Sew Sixty!"

I finished my multi-colored Granny Square blocks this week.  These round out my Rainbow Scrap Challenge Granny Square quilt.

All the squares waiting for sashing.

Sashing and cornerstones for the Granny Square quilt.

A few more leader-ender spools in black.  I love that reproduction fabric with the mauve flowers.  Wish I had more - those were the last scraps!

And some seasonal green and red leader-enders.

A few other projects also got attention this week, but I'll hold off on sharing until there's a little more pizzaz to show.  I'm looking forward to another week of challenging myself to Sew Sixty - won't you join me?!

Blocks a la Orange

Today is the last Saturday brought to you by the color orange via the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I've made orange versions of all the scrappy orange blocks I've been working on since the beginning of the year, but I'm not finished playing with orange just yet.

Orange 16-patch blocks.  I need to get all the 16-patch blocks and alternate hourglass blocks up on the design wall so I can play with arranging the colors.  

Spool blocks in orange, a la Bonnie Hunter's Spoolin' Around Challenge.  This is a leader-ender project and will continue across the color spectrum as I slice through my stash of 1 1/2 inch strips/scraps.

This project will keep me playing with the color orange for a few more weeks.  I had seen this quilt several months ago and knew it was something I wanted to try.  Using the instructions here, I've been cutting and prepping for this quilt all month.  I finally finished all the prep work and started making blocks last weekend.  I didn't have time to make any more blocks this week, so I'll be working in orange for just a little longer.  I can't wait to see my finished version.  There's just something so appealing about orange and white!

I'll be linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challengers today, so please stop over there for some scrap-happy inspiration!