Purple Patchwork

We're already half-way through the month of September, and I'm just getting around to playing with this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge color:  purple!

Two purple Sugar Bowls wrapped up the design plan for using these blocks in a quilt.  I won't be able to start assembling the blocks any time soon, but but I have a plan.  

I've really enjoyed this block style - I think I'll try a different basket-style block for a future RSC project!

Ring of Stars has been another fun block project.  I'm making this quilt for a friend, but I like the pattern so much, I might have to make another one for myself!

I'm always amazed by the varieties of the color purple.  Both of these fabrics are purple, but they look completely different!  

And...purples are hard to photograph!  This fabric is dark purple, but not as dark as the photo.

I'll save all my purple Tiny Tuesday blocks for a post later this month.  In the meantime, there's more purple inspiration at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge link-up for today.

Making More Pink Scraps

Pink is the color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month.  As I looked through my fabric bins, I realized my scrappy pink choices were getting a little thin.  That meant I needed to make some more scraps, i.e. indulge in a little stash enhancement.  Fortunately, I found some great pink fat quarters and have sliced most of them up into usable strips and chunks to feed the RSC fun!

Before I started on the pink scraps though, I was inspired by the Fourth of July to make a red, white, and blue Burgoyne Surrounded block.

I wanted to use that red, white, and blue print that looks like fireworks as the central fabric for the block.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

I had already cut out this pink and green block last year, but never got around to stitching it.  It went together quickly, although I just now spotted two errors.  Just when I think I can finally make these blocks without mistakes, I mess up!

I used some of my new pink scraps and chunks for two Sugar Bowl blocks.

They will join previous Sugar Bowl blocks.  I think I only need two more colors to finish out all the blocks for this quilt.

There are still some more pink projects to work on this month, but first I need to go fix that &*@! Burgoyne block.  Go enjoy some pink scrappy projects at the RSC link-up while I practice my seam ripping!

Quilt Block Fun on the Tiny, Scrappy Side

I'm still playing along with the Tiny Tuesday weekly quilt blocks - also known as the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler 2019.  

I kinda wandered off on my own again this month, making some blocks that weren't part of the "official" challenge.  I've been inspired by Judy Hopkins' 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks.

I have found this to be a great resource for quilt blocks, with clear instructions for cutting and piecing the blocks.  Best of all, each block has multiple size options, so you don't have to do a bunch of math to get the block size you need!

The book has inspired me to attempt several of the 4.5 inch size blocks to see if I can:  1. accurately piece the block, and 2. successfully make the block using scraps.  My fingers still struggle with some of the fiddly bits, but I'm getting better at working at these TT blocks.

The first Tiny Tuesday block this month was the Block with No Name from Cynthia Brunz.  I was inspired by Cynthia's use of stripes for the center strips - I knew I had the perfect blue striped fabric in my scrap bins.

The following week, I decided to try the Great Blue Heron block from Judy Hopkins' book.  There is a great blue heron who is a regular visitor at our camp, so this is in honor of him.

The third week of June happened to include the Summer Solstice, which is marked by another Judy Hopkins block:  Summer Wind.

Since this is the last week for blue scraps, I wanted to try something red, white, and blue in honor of the approaching Independence Day holiday.  I love this fabric - it reminds me of fireworks - and I had enough scraps to put together this block called Gentleman's Fancy.  

That's my scrappy story for the week, but there's more scrappy fun to be had at the weekly RSC link-up!

Let the Summer Fun Begin!

Hi blog!  I've missed you!  Life has been keeping me away from you, but I'm back and ready to share some stitching fun.

Summer started out with a family trip to Wisconsin.  Even though I grew up in Florida, I was born in Wisconsin, and both my parents have extensive family history there.  Somehow, I wrangled both boys and my dear hubby into making this trip to visit family and family history sites.  We had a great trip and made lots of great new memories!

Once we got back from our trip, it was back to work and back to stitching.  I needed to make a fourth orange Tiny Tuesday block.  I struck off on my own for this block, as this Hayes Corner block (upper left) tickled my fancy.  

Once the orange Tiny Tuesday blocks were wrapped up, it was time to dig into a new batch of scraps.  Dark blue is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for June, and I jumped in and made a blue Burgoyne Surrounded block.  

Next up - Ring of Stars blocks.  They look pretty good in dark blues!

Sugar Bowl blocks are still on the menu, too.  After finishing these RSC blocks, there was a noticeable decrease in the pile of dark blue scraps and chunks!

And so my RSC blocks for the month are done.  There are still Tiny Tuesday blocks to make each week, but now I can direct my stitching time to catching up on my Hospital Sketches blocks.  Of course, there's always temptation inspiration to be found in the weekly Rainbow Scrap link-up!

Orange Scraps Are Very Appealing!

Fabric therapy time has been in short supply the past few weeks.  Happily, I was able to rummage through the orange scraps and put together some blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

Two orange Sugar Bowl blocks were added to the collection.

I set them together with Sugar Bowl blocks from last year.  The plan is to set the blocks in groups of four like this.

I used some scrappy chunks to make more Ring of Stars blocks.  I'm definitely planning to gift this quilt to a friend when it's finished, but I might have to make one of these for myself!

Bits of this and that got turned into 4-patch blocks.  These go in the Parts Department for now.

One all orange Burgoyne Surrounded block used up a good hunk of scraps.  

I wanted to see how all my Burgoyne colors were balancing out, so they all went for a spin on the design wall.  I still need some pink blocks, more blue blocks, and maybe another purple.  I only need seven more blocks before I can start the assembly process.  The final quilt will have sashing and 9-patch cornerstones (already complete).  

Now that the Rainbow Scrap projects are wrapped up, I'm ready to focus on my Hospital Sketches BOM.  This month's block is a challenge, for sure!

If scrappy quilts are appealing to you, check out the Rainbow Scrap Challenge weekly link-up.

Tiny Aqua Tuesdays

And here we are at the beginning of May.  Time for a new Rainbow Scrap Challenge color!

Before things start cooking with orange scraps around here, I need to share my Tiny Tuesday blocks featuring April's lovely shades of aqua.

We started the month with a scrappy Shoo Fly block.  

Some aqua strings got put to good use in a Courthouse Square block.

I've always been intimidated by these Spinner blocks, but Mari's directions made it a snap!

Another spinning block - this time a Spinning Star.  

And a little reverse appliqué to wrap up the month.  Yes, I used machine appliqué!

I still haven't decided on a setting fabric for my Tiny Tuesday blocks.  I made a trip to my local quilt shop, Mes Amis, to look for some fabrics to audition.  Rather than set the blocks with a solid neutral, I was hoping to find something with some color...maybe some dots.

This is a multi-color floral.  I love the fabric, but I think it's a little too busy for all the scrappy blocks.

Multi-color text print.  Less busy, still not in love with the look.

When all else fails, you can usually count on aqua to work well with almost every other color.  This aqua fabric has tiny, random white dots.  It may be a contender, but I've used aqua before with multi-colored blocks, so I feel like it's the easy way out!

Now that the aqua Tiny Tuesday blocks are complete, I will start digging through all the orange scraps and planning my RSC blocks for May.  

More scrappy inspiration can be found at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge weekly link-up.

Antidote for Age-Shock: April Aqua!

I think most of us would agree that quilt-making equals Fabric Therapy and Fabric Therapy helps us deal with the stresses of life. 💖 Since the beginning of April, I have been using Fabric Therapy as an antidote (or celebration?!) to the observation of another trip around the sun.  

I managed to finish up my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects using this month's soothing color of aqua.

I made two Sugar Bowl blocks to add to the collection.

It was easy to pull together six Ring of Stars blocks using chunks of fabric left over from previous projects.  

An aqua fleur de lis Burgoyne Surrounded block

And an aqua and pink Burgoyne Surrounded

Only seven blocks still needed to complete the requirements for the Burgoyne quilt!

I also pulled out a long-term UFO and decided it needed finishing - now!

The pattern is Merry-Go-Round by Sandy Klop (American Jane Patterns - be careful if you go here - it's a rabbit hole of great pattens!).  It's a fun take on hexagons using fabric strips and an equilateral triangle ruler.  The triangles are assembled in half-hexagons, then sewn into strips, matching hexagon tops and bottoms.  

 I was inspired to try the pattern using a fat quarter collection of tropical brights I purchased at a quilt show many moons ago.  I started the blocks at least ten years ago, but put them away when I needed the design wall for another project.  I "found" the bag of blocks and and scrappy strips a few weeks ago and decided it was time to finish things up.  Since I made my blocks using fat quarters instead of jelly rolls, I had a more limited amount of fabric to make hexagons.  There were enough hexies for a wall-hanging, and that was good enough!  I've gotten all the hexie parts sewn into strips and now need to sew the strips together.  Another UFO will be crossed off the list!

And now that it's Saturday, it's time for the Rainbow Scrap link-up AND more Fabric Therapy!

Green Wrap-Up: Tiny Tuesday

I'm not a huge fan of small quilt blocks with tiny pieces, but in the spirit of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I've been playing along with the Tiny Tuesday blocks published each week.  My scrappy green results this month were mixed.

Multiply is the clever Tiny Tuesday block from Jo at ButterZ.  The smallest pieces start at 1 1/4 inches before sewing, and the resulting 4-patch gets trimmed to 1 5/8 inches.  My fingers struggled with that a little!

We also did a wonky Log Cabin block.  My light greens didn't all have the same level of lightness, but, I got 'er done.  I did get to fussy-cut the cute ladybug in the center!

Sally Trude offered one of her great flip triangle owls for another Tuesday block.  I have to confess, I punted on Sally's block.  I suck at doing flip triangles.  So I did an appliqué owl instead.  I did find some large dot fabric so my owl could have googly eyes, though.

The last Tiny Tuesday project didn't get posted on Tuesday, so I went looking for something on my own.  When I saw this block at Generations Quilt Patterns, it reminded me of a Burgoyne Surrounded block so I knew I had to make it!  The 9-patch sections get made by strip-piecing, so the block is not too fiddly.  I also switched the color/fabric orientation so it seemed a little more Burgoyne-like.  What name would you give this version of the block?  Un petit Burgoyne?  Faux-goyne?  

Scrappy Ring of Stars

I've been wanting to make a quilt for a friend of mine.  I almost gave her my Windblown Wishes quilt when it was finished (pictures coming as soon as we have some decent weather for photography), but decided I couldn't part with that particular quilt.  I find it easier to give away a quilt if I have a certain person in mind from the get-go.

I thought about quilt blocks/patterns on my bucket list and finally focused on star blocks made with the Tri-Recs ruler.   Back in the early 1990s, my quilt guild made an opportunity quilt based on the Fifty-Four Forty or Fight quilt block.  At the time, there were no specialty rulers to help in the construction of the blocks, so we all learned to paper-piece the blocks required for the quilt.  I loved those spiky star blocks and always wanted to make a quilt of my own featuring them.  I'm so happy I can now use a specialty ruler to make the blocks rather than paper piecing!

Ring of Stars by Nancy Rink

This quilt caught my attention several years ago when I did a Google search for starry quilt patterns.  It's kind of a deconstructed Fifty-Four Forty or Fight block - with the 4-patches used in another block to make a secondary pattern.  I decided it might lend itself to a Rainbow Scrap Challenge treatment and downloaded the pattern from Connecting Threads.

I did some sketching and planning and figured I would need at least 3 sets of blocks in each rainbow color.  I also decided to make 9 inch blocks, so I could use scraps from my 3.5 inch strip bin.  I think this project may turn out to be a great scrap buster!

As always, there's more scrappy inspiration at the weekly RSC link-up!

Inspired by Rainbow Scraps

There's a new Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for March - green!  As always, I could jump in and make an all-green quilt just from scraps, but for now I'm going to stick to my 2019 RSC plans.

First up - some Sugar Bowl blocks and random scrappy 4-patches.

I'm adding to my collection of Sugar Bowl blocks this year - making two additional blocks in each of the rainbow colors.  I have a final layout planned once I finish all the needed blocks.

The RSC Tiny Tuesday blocks have been a fun diversion during the week!  These wrap up the yellow scraps from last month, along with more random 4-patches.  I still haven't decided on a setting fabric for the TT blocks.  I'd love to find the perfect multi-color fabric, 'cuz I'm kinda bored with using white.

Believe it or not, this Postcard Quilt was inspired by the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  I started it in April of 2017 and put the final stitches in it last week.  The inspiration was multi-colored scraps, which got me looking through my collection of flamingo fabrics.  The top went together quickly, but languished for lack of quilting.

I decided it was time to try some of the built-in quilting stitches on my sewing machine, so I layered things up and went to work.  I used this wavy quilting pattern to mimic postal cancelation marks on the postcard "backs".

For the postcards themselves, I improvised with free-motion quilting around the motifs on the fabrics.  This isn't a great picture of the quilting, but I guess it gives you the idea!

I even made a flamingo postcard label!  

As always, there is more scrappy inspiration at the weekly Rainbow Scrap linky party!