January Minis

I've had my "Calorie-Free Chocolates" quilt on the dining room display hanger since the holidays.   Looking at those chocolate Nine Patch and Snowball blocks every day inspired me to try some mini snowballs and nine patches this month.

I had just enough chocolate fabric scraps and some chocolate-y brown fabric to make two six-inch mug rugs.  I used Barb Vedder's Nine Patch tutorial to make two sets of Nine Patch blocks.  

I even had some chocolate-dipped strawberry fabric scraps to use for the backs.  

I had designs on making at least one additional Snowball-themed project, but got distracted by other ideas!

 

For example, as I was digging through the drawers looking for French General fabrics, I came across a group of scraps I had saved in a plastic bag.  

The leftovers were from a fabric collection called "Alice's Washday Blues" by Blue Hill Fabrics.  I had used the collection to make blocks for Barbara Brackman's Grandmother's Choice BOW.  

I kept all the scraps together in hopes of using them up in another project, but forgot about them until discovering them earlier this month.  Thinking about Janet's "baggie challenge", I decided it was time to put those scraps to work!

I had a new-to-me 3.5 inch tumbler die for the Accuquilt cutter, and I decided tumbler blocks would be a great scrap-buster.  I thought the Alice scraps might be a little bland on their own, so I found a hunk of red to spice things up a little.  Since my goal was to use up as many scraps as possible, I just kept adding blocks until I ran out of tumblers.

 

A different red fabric for the binding...and I used a single binding this time.  I don't know why I never tried single binding before, but it works great, especially if you follow another of Barb's tutorials. 

A final row of tumblers on the back, two slices of backing left from a previous project, and outline quilting finish the project.

 

 I wasn't going to add a label, but inspiration struck today and I had a name: Alice's Last Washday.  I also found this sliced piece of selvedge, so I'm trying to come up with a way to incorporate it into the label.

And so goes my monthly mini tale!  Many thanks to Wendy (The Constant Quilter) for encouraging mini madness for another 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!

By the Way, Which One's Pink?

Happy scrappy pink Saturday, y'all!  It's time for the lastest episode in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge v.2013.  I hope you'll tune in over at Soscrappy's blog to see what all the other RSC quilters have been up to this week.

Continuing to look for rainbow-hued houses as part of my New Orleans House Project.  We've finally had some sunny weather, so I was able to snap a picture or two while out and about this morning!  

Both of these lovely pink homes are located in an area of New Orleans known as "Uptown".  It's a posh neighborhood located not far from the famous St. Charles Avenue streetcar line.

And here's this week's scrappy pink house.  I was going for a softer, more old-fashioned look.

Strictly speaking, this does not conform to this month's color, although it does contain a fair amount of pink.  However, the completion of this quilt WAS inspired by last year's RSC month of brown scrappiness.  The nine patch blocks are from a block swap I participated in several years ago.  I added the snowball blocks during last year's RSC and I finally got around to putting on the finishing border this week.  The theme of the block swap was to depict your favorite chocolate candy!

Wrapping things up today with some of this week's spool leader-enders.  Making these is kind of like eating potato chips - hard to stop at just one!

Hope everyone has had a great pink week.  I'll be sorry to leave pink behind after next week, but's it's always fun to see what the next color challenge brings!

Chocolate Therapy

Working with brown fabrics for this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge reminded me of yet another unfinished UFO.  These 9-patch blocks were part of a swap amongst members of the Treadle On mail list.  The idea was to be inspired by chocolate and create 9 inch blocks that reminded us of candy.

There weren't enough blocks from the swap to make a decent-sized quilt, so I put them in the UFO pile to marinate.  I pulled the blocks out earlier this month and started sketching block arrangements.

I decided to alternate the 9-patch blocks with literal chocolate candy snowball blocks.  Today's chocolate therapy involved cutting the fabric for the snowball blocks and making a few additional 9-patches to have the quilt work out to a reasonable size.  I guess the best thing about this kind of chocolate therapy is it is calorie free!  

I'm getting frustrated by my current inability to stay focused on any one project until it is completely finished.  I have hope for this quilt, as most of the work is already done.  My goal is to keep this one on the front burner until it is finished.

If you're having a craving for chocolate, be sure to stop by Angela's Rainbow Scrap link-up.  I'm sure you'll find plenty of calorie-free fabric goodness!