Checking In With a Few Finishes

Wow!  Where did the second half of May and the first week of June get to?  

I have been working on quilting projects, but feeling very haphazard in my use of time.  Sometimes it's hard to stay focused when your sewing time only comes in short spurts.   Summer distractions like gardening and family time seem to keep me away from my fabric therapy!

Since my last blog post, I managed to complete another block in the Gathered Harvest BOM I'm doing via my local quilt shop.  This one is called "Fresh Pineapple".  I'm prepping the appliqué shapes with freezer paper and starch, then using invisible thread to machine appliqué the shapes in place - using a narrow zig-zag stitch.  

Since this block had LOTS of leaves, I tried a new-to-me technique:  I made leaf templates using card stock, then used a running stitch in the seam allowance and gathered the allowance around the template.  Then used starch and a hot iron to press the seam allowance to the back of the leaf shape (i.e. the same idea as the "perfect circle" technique).  It worked like a charm! 

Another finish:  a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project made from pinwheel blocks.  I saw a quilt in this style in a decorating magazine, and since I love nine-patch blocks, I was smitten. 

I searched Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns and the Quilt Index - finally discovering the name of the pattern as Flutter Wheel.  I drafted my own pattern and made pinwheel blocks every month in 2017 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The original quilt doesn't have an outside border, but since the pinwheels tend to stretch, I decided a solid fabric border would help prevent wobbly edges to the quilt.

Close up of the pattern:  nine patch of pinwheel blocks with pinwheel sashing squares and plain sashing.

Non-quilting, but cooking related

Dear Husband and I are cookbook collectors.  Not only do we enjoy preparing new recipes, we both tend to read cookbooks like novels.  We've purchased many cookbooks for ourselves, and been gifted many more for holidays and anniversaries.  Needless to say, we have quite a cookbook collection.  Some are frequently used favorites and others are more for reference.

A few weeks ago, Dear Husband decided we needed to put the collection to a more frequent use.  He issued a family challenge:  Sunday night dinners must include a recipe from one of the cookbooks in our collection.  Since our oldest Dear Son is currently living at home, that meant 3 rotating Sundays of different cookbook recipes.

Today was my first Sunday dinner as part of the challenge.  I chose a cookbook from way back "in the day".  Long before the Food Network or HGTV, those of us who were interested in food watched PBS for cooking inspiration.  I remember watching The Frugal Gourmet on PBS - I was a SAHM with small children and always interested in new ways of preparing meals.  My inspiration for tonight was a Frugal Gourmet - Jeff Smith - book titled "Our Immigrant Ancestors".  My immigrant ancestors mostly come from the British Isles, but I chose a recipe from somewhere completely different - Thai Beef Salad.  Which, I'm happy to report, was a big success, and will probably enter the rotation as a frequent summertime meal!

Slow Wrap-Up

I'm still trying to wrap up some Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects before the end of the year.  Between work-related travel and other holiday-related activities this week, not much sewing took place.  Still, little bits of stitching here and there help get the projects completed and provide soothing fabric therapy when life gets stressful!

I did manage to stitch the binding to the front of the Carpenter's Wheel quilt.  Before attaching the binding, I decided to add a hanging sleeve (the lighter strip of white fabric in the middle of the picture).  I'd like to enter this quilt in a local quilt show this spring, so having a sleeve already attached will make life easier.  The quilt sleeve can be made of the same fabric as the quilt backing, or something that coordinates with the quilt - or whatever fabric you fancy.

My method for making a quilt-hanging sleeve is to cut a strip 10 inches wide and 4-5 inches shorter than the length of the top of the quilt.  On the short edges of the fabric strip, fold a quarter of an inch of fabric to the wrong side and stitch in place to create a hem.  Next, press the strip, right sides together, so the long raw edges are together.  Baste the long, raw edges of the strip to the top of the quilt with a scant quarter inch seam.  When you stitch the binding to the quilt, the regular seam will hold the sleeve in place - be careful not to catch any other part of the sleeve in the binding seam.  Now you only need to hand stitch the bottom edge of the sleeve to the quilt backing!

Another project waiting for end-of-year wrap up is the blue and white sawtooth star quilt.  I've been waiting for some fabric samples to audition for a final outer border.  The fabrics arrived this week, so I taped them up next to the quilt to try to make a decision.

Here's fabric choice #1.  Maybe a little too dark?

Choice #2.  I love the birds, but maybe they are a distraction?

Choice #3.  In person, I thought this fabric might be too light in color, but the photograph makes it look pretty good.  What do you think about the 3 choices?

I've been out running the roads all day, wrapping up various Christmas preparations.  I'm looking forward to a cup of hot tea and checking out more Rainbow Scrap project wrap-ups.  Maybe I'll even do some stitching on the Carpenter's Wheel binding...

Sneaux Day Quilting

You may have heard that parts of the Deep South experienced a little snowfall yesterday.  

At our house, all we had was cold rain and sleet, although a few places around town reported seeing fat, wet flakes falling from the sky.  Just north of the city there was enough snow to accumulate, which caused snowman building and snowball fights, not to mention vehicles slipping and sliding all over the roads.  Apparently Mike the Tiger, LSU's mascot, enjoyed his sneaux day, too!

You'd think the inclement weather would be a perfect excuse to stay home and quilt, but it didn't really work out that way.  Dear Hubby and I had planned on taking vacation days in honor of his birthday, so neither of us had to work.  Since the weather wasn't great for driving, our plans to go to the camp and/or do some antiquing got scrapped, and we wound up baking (bread and cookies) and doing Christmas decorating.   I tried to sneak in a little quilt-related activity, but didn't get far.

I started to trim the excess backing and batting from my Carpenter's Wheel quilt, but only finished one side.  I made the binding (all 300+ inches of it) last weekend, so once the quilt is trimmed and squared up, I will stitch the binding in place.  This quilt was a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project in 2014; it's been hanging around, waiting for binding for over a year, so I'd really like to put in the finishing stitches before the end of 2017!

I made this mini 9-patch several years ago, using up scraps from Bento Box quilts I had made for my nieces.  

Bento Box quilt under construction, circa 2009.  Pattern by Tracey Brookshier.

The mini 9-patch sat around for a long time, waiting to be quilted.  Last week I decided this quilt needed to be DONE and set to work layering and pinning.  I found the just the right shade of orange thread in my stash and started by quilting in the ditch, because that was the easiest thing to do.  Next I did some quilting a quarter inch from the seams in the setting triangles.  I decided I liked the quarter inch quilting much better than quilting in the ditch and vowed never to use ditch quilting again unless absolutely necessary!  I finished up with more quarter inch quilting around the center of each 9-patch.  

I've almost finished hand-stitching the binding to the back of the quilt.  I love this orange bandana print backing!  

One more Finish 'Er Up project has been on the front burner over the past few weeks.  This quilt was inspired by a month of blue scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I've been working on it in fits and starts since the end of 2013, so I think it's time for this one to be DONE, too!

The quilt measures about 80 inches square right now, but I want it to fit on a queen-sized bed, so it needs to be at least 10 inches larger all around.  I want a blue and white fabric for an outer border, but haven't found The Right Thing at my local quilt shops.  I think I found a couple of candidates online, so I'm waiting for samples to arrive before I order yardage.  

Those are the projects I hope to wrap up for the end of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year.  I still have plenty of RSC UFOs, but they will have to wait a bit longer to get finished.  In the meantime, I will be checking out how other RSC quilters are wrapping up their projects for the year!

Enjoying My Calorie-Free Chocolates

Today's entry for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge involves the monthly challenge color - brown - and the "finish it up" aspect of the challenge.

This quilt started life as a challenge/swap to create 9-patch blocks with brown and another color inspired by chocolate candy.  The swap took place between some chocoholics who were members of the Treadle On mail list - a group devoted to sewing with vintage and antique, non-electric sewing machines.  

The swap took place in 2007, but I didn't start playing with my blocks until 2012!  I made a few more chocolate 9-patch blocks and added snowball blocks made with chocolate candy fabrics.

Once the quilt top was finished, I handed it off to my local longarm quilter, Cindy Braiwick.  She had already done some fun, food-related quilting on my Ice Cream quilt, so I knew she'd come up with great ideas for this quilt, too.

She incorporated "I 💜 Chocolate" into the quilting around the borders.  

The 9-patch blocks are quilted with different types of candy, while the snowball blocks feature decorative hearts.

I didn't notice this quilting design until I was snapping pictures.  I guess those are supposed to be chocolate martinis!

This quilt has been languishing in the "needs binding" pile for a couple of years.  I finished the binding this week, washed and dried it and now have a the perfect guilt-free chocolate treat!

There will be more quilty treats at this week's RSC link-up - guaranteed to be good for you!

Rainbow Scraps Transformed

The happy result of playing along with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every month is having a pile of colorful blocks to assemble into a quilt at the end of the year.  Sometimes it takes a little more than a year to finish up the quilt(s), but it's still a fun process.

Inspired by all the colorful houses in New Orleans, I started making Bonnie Hunter's Happy Scrappy House blocks in 2013.  It took some time to get these assembled because I kept changing my mind on what the final quilt should look like.  I thought I wanted to applique some words in the outer borders, but after experimenting, it just wasn't working out.  Eventually, I decided it was time to stop dithering and finish this quilt top!

For 2015's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I used reproduction fabric scraps to make a Scrap Jar Stars quilt.  I finished hand-stitching the binding on this quilt recently and recruited my son to hold it up for photography.  Compared with an earlier Scrap Jar Stars quilt in bright colors, I love the softer, more subdued look of this quilt.

My local long-arm quilter, Cindy Braiwick, did a great job on the quilting design.   She used a multi-color thread that really added some pop to the background fabric.  I'd love to keep this for myself, but I planned it to be a gift it from the beginning, so off it goes!

There are still several more unfinished Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects in my UFO pile, but the year isn't over yet, so they may get transformed, too!

Check out more Rainbow Scrap transformations at the weekly scrappy link-up!

The Dark Side of Burgoyne

This week's Rainbow Scrap project was to make some Burgoyne Surrounded blocks using dark scraps.  I started with scraps, but added fabrics from the stash to make everything work.  

The monarch butterfly and black fabrics were scraps, but the other two fabrics came from the stash.  I'm always happy to cut up stash and make more scraps!

The starting point for this Burgoyne was the brown floral fabric.  The scraps have been in my stash for years.  I love the print, but it's kind of a strange shade of brown and not easy to pair with other fabrics.  I was tickled to find other fabrics in my stash that pulled the block together.

After I assembled the block, I wasn't super happy with the red and cream print.  I thought it kind of overwhelmed the block.  I wondered if tea dyeing might help calm the red and cream fabric down a little.

I brewed up a small amount of strong black tea and did some experimenting.  Once I was happy with the process, I used a small paintbrush to apply the tea just were I wanted it.  I wasn't worried if the result looked a little streaky, I thought that just added to the effect I was looking for.  When the fabric was dry, I set the color using a hot iron.  I think the block looks much happier!

After stitching up a few 4-patches for the Parts Department, I'm done with my brown and black scraps.  Now I can turn my attention to finishing a few things here and there - if I can avoid starting any new projects along the way!

Wrapping Up the Scrappy Blocks

November signals a new month of scraps to use for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The scrappy assignment this month is to use dark scraps: think black and brown.  I don't plan to add black or brown scrappy blocks to all of my RSC projects, so I won't be making a lot of blocks this month.  Maybe that will give me some time to start assembling some of this year's blocks into flimsies!

After using up lots of pink scraps last month, I still had a few bits left over to make 4 patch blocks.  These will be added to the Parts Department, for use in a future quilt (to be determined).

I've been making pinwheel blocks all year, following the RSC color challenges.  I had some brown and black scraps in the 2 inch strip bin, so it was easy to make more pinwheels for the collection.

I found some brown and black scraps and chunks that might work well in Burgoyne Surrounded blocks, so I'll give those a try before I wrap up my scrappy piecing this month.  After that, I've got plenty of unfinished Rainbow Scrap business to keep me busy through the end of the year!

Disappearing Pink Scraps

The color for this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge is pink.  I didn't find a lot of pink scraps in my stash, but I managed to use them in creative ways (I think).  I'm not finished working on my round of RSC projects, but the scraps have decreased to the point where I may have to make some new ones!

I completed two Windblown Wishes blocks this afternoon.  Pink wraps up all the blocks I plan to make for this quilt, so the next step is getting a flimsy assembled.  Maybe that will happen by the end of the year?

All kinds of random scraps got turned into pinwheel blocks.  I've accumulated quite a stack of pinwheel blocks, but I'm going to keep making them through the end of this year's RSC.  I do have a plan for them, but I'm not ready to start assembling them yet.

The scant amount of pink scraps led me to try strip piecing a pink 49-patch block.  I used Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Trip Around the World piecing technique, but modified it for my needs.  I think this might be my favorite 49-patch block so far!  Since these are only 7" blocks, I'll be making more of them for next year's RSC.

For more pink scrappy fun, check out today's link-up at Angela's Soscrappy blog.

This Week in Fabric Therapy

My sewing room has been in need of some serious re-organizing for several months.  All the flat surfaces were so piled with fabric and projects and storage containers there was barely room to do any work.  I started to tackle the mess last weekend, and have at least made some progress in tidying up a few areas.

One of the main things I wanted to do was get this Spring Clean* string quilt project set up in an organized fashion, so I could whip out a string-pieced block whenever I had a small window of stitching time.  Now I've got baskets and bags of light and dark strings, plus a stack of ready-cut foundation squares.  This quilt requires 144 string-pieced blocks (I'm almost halfway there), so I need to stay focused if I'm ever going to finish it!

I started this Pumpkin Table Mat (Primitive Gatherings) several years ago in a class at The Quilted Owl.  I finished everything but the embroidered embellishments.  I found the storage container when I was re-organizing the sewing room.  I realized this might be my only taste of Fall this year, so I decided to get the embroidery finished and enjoy it.  I've been using a white chalk pencil to help with the stitching lines - I just haven't brushed all the chalk marks off yet.  The light-colored thread is actually gold - not sure why it looks white in the picture.

Another storage container re-discovery:  my hexagon creations from Barb Vedder's Hex Vex pattern.

I'll be traveling for work in the near future, so I decided to cut as many hexie parts as possible to give me something to work on while away from home.  I need to find a small Ott lite so I can see my stitches in the hotel room at night.  True confession:  I've been working on cutting these parts and pieces longer than just the past week!

Last but not least, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for October is pink.  The re-organizing project kept me from digging out any pink scraps until yesterday.  I pulled some 2 inch strips to make squares and HSTs for some Windblown Wishes blocks, but I haven't had time to finish them.  I'm not finding a lot of pink scraps in my bins, so I may have to make some new scraps!

As you can imagine, all this Fabric Therapy was an antidote for stress this week.  Whenever a hurricane threatens the Gulf Coast, we all use our favorite coping mechanisms.  I'm glad Fabric Therapy works so well for me!  Hurricane Nate was pretty much a no-show for New Orleans, and although there was weather-related damage to other parts of the coast, it wasn't as bad as predicted.  I will be glad when hurricane season is over!

*The Spring Clean Quilt is a pattern by Brioni Greenburg in Issue 8 of Fat Quarterly Ezine.  

Done With Orange Fun

How quickly we've arrived at the end of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge month of orange scrappy stitching!  I've definitely made a dent in my orange scraps, especially the scraps in the bin of 2 inch strips and squares.

I had a big stack of 2 inch squares in the bin, so I trimmed them down to 1.5 inches and made a 49-patch block.  I'll only have 8 of these blocks at the end of the year, so I think this project will carry over for at least another year.  The next round of blocks will use the same design, but I'm going to resort to using scrappy strips instead of individual squares.

I also had enough orange scrappy pieces to make some 4-patch blocks.  For now, these are for the "parts department", as Cathy calls it.  On the other hand, I was intrigued by a quilt in the latest issue of Quiltmania (121) called Four Patch Trip Around the World.  Unfortunately, there isn't a picture of the quilt on their website, so you'll have to get your hands on a copy of the magazine to see what I'm talking about.  No affiliation with Quiltmania, other than it being my favorite quilting magazine!

I enjoyed reading everyone's responses last week about their favorite pumpkin spice-flavored treats.  Since I had pumpkin spice on the brain, I did a search to look for treats that were new and different to me.  I had a huge fit of the giggles when I discovered this unexpected pumpkin spice product.  Go ahead & click on it - it's part of a Pinterest board I set up just to catalog pumpkin spice products!

Orange You Glad It's Pumpkin Spice Season?

When the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color is orange, it's hard to resist making puns based on that hue!

I like pumpkin spice flavoring, but its use does seem to have gotten a bit out of hand in the last couple of years.  I try to have at least one Pumpkin Spice Latte' before they disappear for the season, but other pumpkin spice treats seem to elude me.  What's your favorite specialty pumpkin spice treat?

I whipped up this little pumpkin spice Burgoyne Surrounded this week.  

The happy, scrappy house blocks continued to call my name this week, too.  

I made four new house blocks to bring my total to 49.  Last night I started sewing all the blocks together, so it won't be long until I'm on to the next step on this quilt journey: a border full of words.

We're hanging out at our camp this weekend.  The weather is not at all autumnal, so the dogs are still enjoying their doggie pool.

Here's Bailey, cooling off after a hard morning of Chase the Tennis Ball.

I'm linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge today - looking forward to seeing more pumpkin spice er, orange inspiration!

Slicing Into Orange

I managed to use up a few more orange scraps this week, slicing them up into components for different Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.

Orange Windblown Wishes blocks from Diane D. Knott's Scrap Quilt Secrets.

Windblown Wishes number two.  I only want to include rainbow colors in this quilt, so once the RSC gets to the color pink, I'll be finished making blocks.  

Ditto for orange Pinwheel blocks - just rainbow colors planned.  Almost time to start assembling these into a quilt top, too!

I meant to share this picture last week - the reunion of my son David and his dog Jozy.

Jozy stayed with us for a good chunk of the summer while David was out of town for work.  My husband and older son (Andrew) drove up to Dallas last weekend to take Jozy home.  Do you think they were happy to see each other again?!  BTW, Jozy is a boy dog, named for American soccer player Jozy Altidore.  There's a pun in there, of course:  Jozy Labrador.

Distracted by Scrappy Houses

My goal for the month is to use up lots of orange scraps, making blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I decided to start by making wonky borders for my New Orleans-inspired Happy, Scrappy House blocks.  That's when I got distracted.

After making orange wonky borders, there were only a few borderless blocks left.  I picked out border fabrics for those blocks and have completed most of those, as well.

After pinning the blocks to the design wall (not all of them are visible in the picture), I counted up and decided I liked the idea of a 7 x 7 arrangement.  I'll need to make a few more houses to get to the magic number of 49.  I also need to trim all of these blocks to get them to a uniform size.  I was hoping the wonky borders would allow me to cut the blocks to 10.5 inches, but no luck.  The trimmed size wound up being 10 inches, so they'll finish at 9.5 inches.  I'm trying to decide if I want to add sashing and cornerstones, but that much orderliness is out of character for New Orleans.

I thought it might be fun to incorporate some sunflowers into this quilt.  After the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina, volunteer sunflowers popped up all over the city and became kind of an unofficial harbinger of the city's rebirth.  I found a picture of this block on Pinterest, and last night I tried my hand at re-creating it.  This block won't go in the quilt, but I think I will make some more - maybe putting a block in each corner.

Speaking of hurricanes, I hope all my Florida quilting friends have finished their evacuations or preparations and are ready for Hurricane Irma.  My family and my husband's family all live in Florida, so we've been watching and worrying along with everyone else.  Here's hoping (and praying and maybe even using a little gris-gris) that Irma fizzles before inflicting too much damage on the Sunshine State and all her inhabitants!