April Digest

 Although I spent a large chunk of April focused on finishing the T-Shirt Quiltathon, I also managed to work on a few other projects.

During one of our recent phone calls, my mom mentioned buying paper napkins.  I realized I had never made her any cloth napkins, so I got busy and pulled some fun prints and started stitching.

Once I got started, I was on a roll and made some for my sister, too.

Dear Hubby and I (and McKenzie, our dog), took a road trip to Florida last weekend to visit family, so I was able to present each set of napkins in person.  Yay for vaccines!

While I was digging through the flamingo fabric stash to find fabric for my t-shirt quilt pillowcase, this 'mingo fabric spoke up and told me it was ready to be in the spotlight.

I used a tote bag pattern I had pinned to a Pinterest board ages ago.  The pattern is free from the All People Quilt website.  You'll have to register with APC if you want to download a printed version of the pattern.   It's a quick project - you may even be able to make it with supplies on hand.  If I were to make the bag again, I'd add some refinements like an interior pocket (or two) and a magnetic or zipper closure.  

A monthly project this year to to make Sugar Loaf blocks following the Rainbow Scrap Challenge monthly color selection.  April's challenge was to use light blue and bright blue scraps.  I went for the low volume look with this light blue block.

And switching over to bright blues, I put this block together based on the tropical fish (outer row) fabric.

Using scraps from various April projects, I put together some Easy Breezy blocks.

Last but not least, I finally got all the parts and pieces assembled for the 25-patch star quilt top.  

My original plan was to add a plain white border with a narrow strip of the turquoise fabric used for the cornerstones.  But last week, I started hearing whisperings that maybe an appliquéd vine, flower, and leaf border would look good.  I guess that will be a project for May!

Sunday with Flamingos

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of work-related travel.  I'm still trying to get back into my usual routine and get some sewing mojo going again.  There are quilting projects clamoring for attention, but I just haven't had the time or energy to devote to them.

I did manage to do some fussy cutting yesterday so I would have some flamingo hexies to sew up today.  These are easy to pick up and stitch when time is short or your energy level isn't up to using the sewing machine.

I did manage to stitch some hexies during my travels.  These were fun to cut, especially the mini flamingoes with the pink and green swirls!  

This project was inspired by a Hex Vex kit I bought from Barb Vedder of Fun with Barb.  She no longer sells the kit, but it wouldn't be hard to get started without it.  This link will take you to a page where she discusses her original Hex Vex quilt and shares some other examples.  It's a fun project and great opportunity to play with fussy cutting and combining fabrics.

Don't Blink - It's a Quick Fix of Pink!

 

It's a new month and a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge: pink (with a dash of lime for those so inclined).  I had all my pink and white scraps ready to go, so I had the white blocks with pink centers stitched up in no time.  I added them to last year's RSC pink 9 patches and did a happy dance!  This project is almost finished - only two more colors needed to round out all the white blocks I have in mind for the quilt.  I'm even thinking I might have enough blocks for two quilts!

When Angela announced the colors for this month's RSC, I was reminded of some fabrics that have been marinating in the stash.  I don't know if I will actually begin a project with any of these fabrics this month, but they are definitely fun to think about!

 

This batch of fat quarters is from a quilt shop hop several years ago.  I love the colors, but I'm not overwhelmed with ideas just yet.

 

I think I've mentioned before - I love flamingos and have a nice collection of flamingo fabrics.  This is a relatively new acquisition, and I've been admiring it for the past several weeks.  Lime and pink seem natural for a flamingo colorway, yet it's kind of unusual - most flamingo fabrics tend toward pink, blue and aqua.  

 

Check out the flamingos on the selvege.  I might have to get more yardage just for the selvege! 

There's more pink (and maybe some lime) scrappy inspiration at Angela's blog today.  Maybe I'll get some ideas for using my pink and lime fabrics!

 

 

 

RSC-15: Still Playing with 9 Patches and Flamingos

It's another blue Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

 

I didn't have much scrappy playtime this week, but I did make an additional batch of 9 patch blocks -  meeting my goal of 8 blocks per month.

 

The blocks will eventually be arranged in a pattern like this, only the colors will be random.  I can't wait to see what next month's RSC color will be so I have more blocks to play with!

 

I never did find a happy group of fabrics to make a "modern" quilt using the bottom flamingo fabric in this stack.  That's OK, I have lots of flamingo fabrics (this is a small sample!), so maybe a different RSC monthly color will bring about the right fabrics and inspiration.  Or, maybe I should make a Postcard Quilt featuring several different flamingo fabrics.   I think I need to keep bringing out these fabrics and keep the inspiration muse on her toes!

There's plenty more colorful inspiration over at Angela's Soscrappy blog, where all the Rainbow Scrappers are linking  up today!

RSC-15: Repro Blue Stars and Blue Flamingo Playtime

It's Saturday, which means scrappy playtime for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  This year I wanted to try using some reproduction fabric scraps for one of my RSC projects. 

 

It's my old friend, Scrap Jar Stars!  This is such a great block for using up scraps, I figured I'd use it again and enjoy the challenge of using reproduction fabrics.  I found a big chunk of off-white tone on tone in my stash, so I decided to use it for the 16 patch blocks as well as the remaining background pieces (the fabric is not quite as bright as it appears in the picture).

 

I think I will have to do some experimenting to get good photographs of these repro blocks.  The sun is shining here, but it's too cold and windy for outdoor photography today!

Another idea that's been kicking around in my head this week is to try to use up some of my big chunks of novelty fabric using the RSC color of the month.  As I was re-organizing my fabric closet this past fall, I decided it was time to start using some of the theme fabrics I've collected over the years:  flamingos, dolls, cats, dogs, etc.  There are so many great patterns and ideas for using large print fabrics now, it wouldn't be difficult to find the right inspiration and pull additional yardage from the stash.  That's the idea, anyway. 

 

Just for fun, I pulled this yard of flamingo fabric with a rich blue background.  I was thinking of using a pattern similar to the Modern Teal quilt I made last year -  largish pieces of fabric with white sashing.  Some of these fabrics work well with the flamingos, but I don't have big pieces of any of the pinks and the Kaffe Fassett is not quite the right shade of green (it's much greener than it appears in the picture, but it just doesn't work that well).  I hate to go shopping for more fabric when I'm supposed to be doing this as a scrap challenge, so maybe this idea will have to go on the back burner for now.  With all the theme fabrics I have stashed, there's bound to be at least one month in the RSC when I can put them to good use!

For more scrappy blue inspiration, do check out the other RSC participants over at Angela's SoScrappy blog.

Friday Flamingo Fun!

Growing up in Florida, I was exposed to souvenir kitsch at an early age.  Back in pre-Disney days, Florida tourist attractions were smaller and had more local flavor.  Being a kid, I was always drawn in by souvenirs offered in the ever-present gift shop - seashell figurines, carved coconuts, postcards and snow globes - so many unlikely items to catch the eye!  

Musical pink flamingo snow globe

Years later, my nursing school roommate and I took great delight in bringing each other "tacky tourist" gifts whenever we returned from visiting our respective Florida home towns.

My delight in Florida souvenirs eventually focused on pink flamingos.  Such a beautiful bird and such a wonderful souvenir subject!

Pink flamingo nodder clock

  Eventually, Dear Husband built me a cabinet to house the smaller flamingos.

 

And the stuffed flamingos are on top of my quilting bookshelf.

 

So far, I only have one flamingo quilt though.

 

This quilt was made as part of a guild challenge.  We were to complete a UFO without buying any new fabric.  I had already made the attic window blocks featuring flamingo fabric, so I used the leftovers for an inner and outer border and found a coordinating print in my stash for the binding.  

 

I hand quilted sunbursts in the attic windows.

 And pink flamingos in the outer borders!