Rainbow Scrap Update

I rifled through my drawer of Kaffe Fassett and tropical bright fabrics last weekend.  I was looking for bright prints to add to my 25-Patch Star quilt.  

Those fabrics and a few others added to the star collection, so I'm getting pretty close to having enough blocks to start assembling a quilt top.

I just need to finish hand-piecing the flamingo hexies together so I can clear off the design wall. 

 I've been hand-stitching the hexies together and binge-watching Netflix shows, although at times there's been more watching than stitching!  

Since I had to create new scraps to make more 25-Patch Star blocks, I went ahead and cut more Easy Breezy leader-ender parts.  I've assembled a few blocks, but there's also a nice big stack of parts sitting next to the sewing machine.

On the Public Health front:  we've had an ironic turn of events at our house.

Last weekend, our youngest son came home to officiate at/attend the wedding of a very good friend.  We were all very nervous about the situation, but he tested negative for Covid-19, guidelines were followed, masks were worn, distances were kept, etc.  

The wedding itself was very small, outdoors, and again, precautions were observed.  

It was wonderful to see our son for the weekend, but we breathed a sigh of relief when he left for home (where his job will require him to quarantine and have negative testing before he can interact in-person with the work environment again).

Imagine our surprise on Tuesday, when my husband's employer informed him a co-worker had just tested positive for Covid-19.  Dear Husband and co-worker had just spent the previous day working in very close proximity.  Fortunately, everyone was protected by masks and face shields at the time, and the employee with Covid was only reporting mild symptoms.

So, we are quarantining through Christmas.  I've moved into the guest bedroom.  Dear Hubby has tested negative and has very mild symptoms.  He'll be retested early next week.  Knock on wood - I'm feeling fine.  What a year!  

A Little RSC Progress

 I have not had many active Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects this year.  I finished a few RSC projects from previous years, and made lots of leader-ender blocks.  I also started making 25-patch star blocks part-way through the year, and added to that collection as the year went on.

I've been trying to use print fabrics for the 25-patch star blocks.  Here are the results from October's RSC color, yellow.  

And since I'm trying to knock out as many blocks as possible before the end of the year, I went back and made some aqua/teal blocks as well.

I now have all the rainbow colors completed for this project, so next I'll go digging through the black and brown scraps for some useful prints.  I currently have 32 blocks made and would like at least 48 blocks before I start assembling.

I've also been making Bonnie Hunter's latest leader-ender block, Easy Breezy.  I try to keep a stack of leader-ender parts stacked up near the sewing machine, but I've run out and need to replenish my supply.  I'll keep making these through next year, as I don't have nearly enough for a quilt yet.

I leave you with this amazing map from the National Hurricane Center.

It seems like I've talked about hurricane warnings in every post this summer.  Turns out I wasn't far from wrong!  The map illustrates the number of days spent in the dreaded "Cone of Uncertainty" for tropical weather predictions.  This year is definitely one for the record books!

Red Scraps and Schoolhouses

 Although the calendar says "September", the heat and humidity still feel like August!  We're under heat advisories for the long Labor Day weekend, so quilting is a good excuse to stay indoors - in the air conditioning!

The new month also means a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Red scraps are the focus this month, and I've already been busy cutting and piecing them.

I'm making 25-patch star blocks as an RSC project - trying to use prints instead of tonal or blender type fabrics.  I had to dig around a little to find just the right scraps.

Coincidentally, I finished up a red and white quilting project that started during last year's red RSC month.

The Schoolhouse quilt was finished in June, but I procrastinated on making a label for it.  I finally added the label last week and I'll be sending the quilt off to its new home when the holiday weekend is over.

I've made several quilts for my sister, and she always laments not having any large blank walls in her home where she can hang the quilts.  I keep telling her to just use the quilts, not hang them, but she insists they are "too pretty" to use.  (sound familiar?)

I figured if I made a wall-hanging size quilt for her, she could find a spot to hang it on the wall.  I even added a hanging sleeve! 

I had fun figuring out how to hand quilt the blocks, sashing, and borders.

 She'll be retiring next year after a career in education, so I thought the Schoolhouse pattern was appropriate!

I hope everyone has a safe relaxing weekend!

Scraps and Hurricanes

 

OK, I've weathered a lifetime of hurricanes, but I've never seen TWO storms in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time!  

As my friend Karen (@kareylou on IG) said: "Who had double hurricanes on their 2020 bingo card?!"

We are making the usual preparations, but the storm situation is very fluid.  I don't think we will have an accurate forecast for the storm tracks until Sunday evening or Monday morning.  The waiting is the hardest part!

In the meantime, fabric therapy helps.

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for August is purple, so I found some purple prints and stitched up some 25 Patch Stars.

From a distance, this print looks more like pea soup, but it's definitely got some purple!

Since I didn't start the 25 Patch Stars until the middle of the year, I decided to work backwards and pick up some of the previous RSC colors.  

I also pulled out an RSC project from 2019 - Ring of Stars.  When I finished all the rainbow scrappy blocks, I wasn't sure if I should add the border as given in the pattern, so I put the flimsy away to marinate.  

I brought out the quilt top this week and after laying it out on my bed, decided the border was definitely needed.

The border is made of partial block sections.  I finished up the sections yesterday morning; now I just need cornerstones for the four corners of the quilt.  Solid fabric squares would work, but maybe mini stars would look good, too.  More fabric therapy!

Scrap-Busting Block Bonanza, Round Two

I managed to stay focused on using up blue scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge again this week - and there now seems to be a little wiggle room in the storage drawer for blue fabric chunks and yardage.  

Most of my stitching time was spent on putting together blocks for the Irish Chain quilt I started last week.  I started stitching the blocks into rows, but only made it through three rows before I was distracted by something else.  The rows stitch up easily, so it shouldn't take much longer to turn this into a flimsy.

As I was working on the chain blocks, I used some other bits to put together a few of Bonnie Hunter's latest leader-ender challenge blocks.

I'm still in block experimentation mode.  I wanted to try this variation on our old friend the Variable Star block.  I found a nice-sized chunk of this dark blue fabric with silver metallic sparkles, which made a good practice fabric.  This version finishes at 12 inches, but it would be easy to increase the size to 16 or 20 inches - which would be perfect for a pillow!

Another version of the Variable Star block involves flipping the fabrics for a negative image.  I think this would be much more interesting with some variety in the background (in this case, white) fabric, but I was being lazy and just grabbing fabric that was already out.  These blocks measure 6 inches, and again, could go together in different multiples to make pillow covers.  Yup, I'm still thinking about Christmas gifts!

So much for working with blue scraps this month.  Next week will be a new RSC color and new inspiration will surely follow.  More Rainbow Scrap inspiration can be found at the weekly link-up!

Scrap-Busting Block Bonanza

I've been digging through the blue chunks, strips and scraps this month to fulfill the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for July: dark blue.  

I have an abundance of blue fabrics of all types and sizes; revisiting them this month was enough to create a desire to do some serious scrap-busting.  I've played with several block patterns, looking for good candidates to use up lots of scrappy chunks and bits.  I haven't completely decided on a plan of action (I find it hard to stay focused on anything for long these days), but I've had fun playing!

One block I played with is called Wishing Ring in my resource book (501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks by Judy Hopkins).  I started with the large size, trying to use up bigger scraps of fabric; it finishes at 10 inches.  Maybe it was the fabric choice, but I didn't love the 10 inch block, so I tried the smaller size (finishes at 7.5 inches).  I'm putting this idea on the back burner for now, but will probably return to it at some point.

I started making these blocks as a prototype for a much larger version of the block I was mentally visualizing.  I pulled some 2 inch strips to cut for the HSTs and 1.5 inch strips for the center parts.  After making a couple of these, it occurred to me they looked like a Bonnie Hunter pattern.  Turns out I was making Little Monkey blocks.  

I may keep making these as an RSC project, but I really want to try making a larger version, maybe something in the 10 - 12 inch finished size.

Speaking of Bonnie Hunter, I also made a few Carolina Chain blocks with dark blue scraps.  This block has been a leader-ender project for me for the past year or so.  I have more than enough blocks to make a quilt, but I don't have a complete set of rainbow colors yet, so I'll keep making these a little longer.

Now here I may have found something that will keep me occupied for a little while!  I found a big chunk of scrap fabric with blue and white seaside scenes.  They're the perfect size for the center of an Irish Chain alternate block.  There's enough fabric to fussy-cut 20 or more of the vignettes, and I have some other fabrics I can use to fake it if I need to.  The Irish Chain blocks go together quickly using strip piecing, and I have lots of light and dark fabric combinations to use up.  This could be the Project of the Week!

For more scrappy quilt inspiration, check out the Rainbow Scrap Challenge weekly link-up.

An RSC Finish and Quilt Nostalgia Comfort

Yay for quilt finishes and sunny days and doggos!

This was a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project I started in January, 2018.  My goal was to use reproduction fabrics to make these quarter log cabin blocks, although they were inspired by a quilt from Modern Log Cabin Quilting.  My final version measures 84 inches x 84 inches.

It was fun picking out repro fabrics to meet the monthly RSC color challenge.

Diane Knott did the long-arm quilting for me.  I hand-stitched the binding in air-conditioned comfort while binge-watching an old, favorite TV show.  Thank goodness we have modern conveniences to make our quilting easier! 😃

I'm sending the quilt off to my former neighbor and all-round good friend, who has moved to Texas to be nearer her family.  We had a lot of adventures together, and I miss having a "partner in crime"!

And speaking of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge....

I haven't been doing much to bust my scraps lately.  I decided I wanted to tackle some of the print fabric scraps that don't seem to make it into my RSC quilts.

For some reason, I was inspired to look back at some of my early quilts, and consult several of my early quilt resource books.  After much consideration, I decided to go for this block (again). 

The block has many names, but the first time I used it in a quilt, I was following a design called 25 Patch Star from Lap Quilting with Georgia Bonesteel.  Her books have always been a great resource for traditional quilt blocks, and even included full size templates for the block components - you know, back in the day before we cut our fabrics with rulers and rotary cutters and stitched them with sewing machines!

I decided I liked the comforting idea of revisiting this quilt block and promptly used my rulers (especially the Easy Angle ruler for the HST blocks) and rotary cutter to prep some scrappy strips.

The RSC color for July is dark blue.  No problem finding plenty of scraps to fill the bill.  I still have a couple more blocks cut, but not sewn.  I'm having so much fun, I may have to work backwards and fill in the previous month's RSC colors.  

Are you feeling the need to make nostalgic or comforting quilts during this crazy time?

Linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge weekly scrap party.

 

A Few Orange Scraps and a Ring of Stars

It's a new month and a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  

This month's challenge is to use up orange scraps.  

So far this year, I'm only piecing one RSC project - Bonnie Hunter's Carolina Chain quilt.  Here are a few blocks I've assembled from orange scraps.

I'm making the blocks leader-ender style, so it's handy to have a stack of pre-cut block parts at the ready.

And I've been putting those leader-enders to good use as I've assembled the Ring of Stars blocks started during the 2019 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I still have one more row to stitch together, but the quilt top is essentially finished.

I really enjoyed making these blocks in rainbow colors, but I'm not sure the visual impact of the quilt is the same as when the blocks are all made from the same color family.  I think the secondary circular design gets a little lost with all the color changes.  Maybe I'll make another version using all one color!

Find more rainbow scrappiness at the weekly RSC link-up.

Scrap Life

Angela of Soscrappy has been hosting the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for quite a few years now.  The challenge behind the project is to use up fabric scraps from prior quilt-making efforts.  Despite several years of RSC participation, my collection of scraps has not diminished.  Honestly, that's OK with me, as I don't participate to use UP scraps, but because scrappy quilts are my favorite type of quilt!  

In fact, this month, I decided some new "scraps" were needed, so I pulled lots of fabric bits (which were clogging up the fabric storage drawers) in the RSC theme for January:  light and bright greens.  I sliced everything into standard scrappy sizes:  3.5 inches, 2.5 inches, 2 inches, and 1.5 inches.  I keep all my scrappy strips in plastic bins, ready to be pulled for future scrappy projects.

While I was digging through the bins, I noticed my 1.5 inch strip bin was getting really full.  

That inspired me to start making new blocks for my Lego quilt.  I put this project aside two years ago because I thought my scraps weren't providing enough variety.  

Maybe the scraps of 2020 will be the boost needed to finish this quilt!  I'll keep slicing up new 1.5 inch strips in each monthly RSC color and working them into the Lego quilt blocks.

I started making Carolina Chain blocks last year as a leader-ender project. 

As I was cutting green strips, I sub-cut pieces for some green blocks.  I'll continue working on these blocks in 2020, too.

These Sugar Bowl blocks have been an ongoing RSC project.  My plan was to set the blocks in groups of four, with narrow sashing and a cornerstone in the center of each block.  I assembled a couple blocks in this manner, only to realize the cornerstone drew the eye and the blocks got completely lost.  Out came the seam ripper!

Instead, I opted for a traditional, on-point setting with alternate plain blocks.  I found the perfect fabric for the plain blocks in my stash - and I had enough of it for the entire quilt!

It's a fun fabric, and I'm so happy I found a great use for it!  Now comes the fun of stitching all those pieces together.  

If you love the Scrap Life, be sure to check out the RSC weekly link-up!