Rainbow Scrap 2018 Kick-Off

So it looks like much of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge activity this year will involve pushing ongoing projects toward the finish line.  I plan to continue working on some previously started RSC blocks, but I'll also add at least one new project.

From the Wrapping Things Up Department:  assembling last year's Windblown Wishes blocks into a flimsy.  I'll be adding sashing and rainbow-hued cornerstones, followed by at least one fabric-only (not pieced) border.  The pattern can be found in Diane Knott's Scrap Quilt Secrets book.

Another ongoing RSC project will be to make more of these 49-patch blocks.  I started making them last year with random, 1.5 inch squares.  When I had used up all the squares, I started using Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Trip Around the World technique for piecing the blocks - as evidenced by the pink block.  These finish at 7 inches, so I'll just keep making them until I decide I have enough for a wall hanging or small quilt.

Another carryover project from last year:  scrappy pinwheels.  The plan is to assemble the pinwheels into 9-patch blocks, with a neutral background.  I guess I'll try to assemble a few blocks each month as an RSC activity.  I haven't done any math on this project, so I may wind up needing more pinwheels...time will tell.

One more ongoing project:  scrappy selvage blocks.   I'm still not sure how I want to use these blocks, but I plan to continue working on them this year.

I plan to keep making Burgoyne Surrounded blocks in 2018, also.  I picked out these scrappy chunks for a light blue block, but haven't gotten the parts and pieces cut yet.

Last, but not least, I've added a quarter log cabin block to my Rainbow Scrap Challenge repertoire.  I only chose 2 light blue scrappy fabrics for this month; I figure I'll use lots more darker blue scraps when we get to that monthly color choice.

Wow.  Now that I've put all that in writing, it sounds like a lot of work, fabric therapy!  I think there's plenty here to keep me happily stitching for the coming year.

For more scrappy inspiration, be sure to check out the weekly Rainbow Scrap Challenge link-up page.

My (Scrappy) Dreams Come True on Blue Bayou

Whenever the Rainbow Scrap Challenge focuses on the color blue, I seem to spend the month humming songs with "blue" in the title.  This gives me a great excuse share Youtube videos like this one:

"Blue Bayou" was a big hit for Roy Orbison, but I love this version with Linda Ronstadt and the Muppets, circa 1980!

OK, now that we've had our musical interlude, I'll start the quilting part of our program. 😎

Here's a blue 49-patch block, made with all scrappy 1 1/2 inch pieces.  This did a pretty good job of cleaning out all the smallish blue scraps.

Since we've gone half-way through the year, I decided to contemplate all the previous blocks together.  Once I finish the RSC colors for the year, I'll have to decide if I want to keep making theses scrappy blocks piece by piece or resort to strip piecing.  Since the blocks only measure 7 inches when finished, I'll need quite a few more blocks to make a quilt. 

Blue selvage blocks were also completed.

And all the selvage blocks were duly contemplated.  The individual selvage blocks measure 4 inches finished, so this is another project that will need many more blocks to reach a respectable size.  I'm thinking this might become part of a large selvage sampler project (i.e. make more selvage blocks in different styles/patterns next year).

A few more house blocks got wonky borders.  

Here are all the Happy, Scrappy Houses so far (I jumped ahead and did some pink wonky borders, too).  Once all the wonky borders are added, I'll be making some appliquéd words to mix in with the houses.  Maybe this will get finished by the end of the year?

Last - but not least - a scrappy blue Burgoyne Surrounded block.  That blue fabric with dragonflies has been hanging around in the stash for over 10 years.  I keep trying to use it up, but the scraps never seem to diminish!  

All the Burgoyne blocks are trying to play nicely with each other.  I love the colorful funkiness going on here!  Check out Cathy's finished Burgoyne top or the original pattern from Becky - I think they'll bring a smile to your face!

Now that I've brought all my RSC documentation up to date, I'm off to do some more stitching.  There are still more RSC projects to work on, as well as Diane Knott's Summer Scrappy Sew Along.  In between, I'll be playing with all the dogs (aka the Swirling Dog Mass) and humming more songs with "blue" in the title!

Here Comes the Scrappy Sun

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for June is yellow.  Thank goodness for some sunshiny yellow scrappiness this week, as our weather has been rainy and dismal!

I started with my smallest scraps from the 1 1/2 inch scrap bin.  

These blocks are fun to play with, but at only 7 inches in size, it will take some time to accumulate enough of them for any type of project!

I also made some yellow selvage blocks.  

There are still lots of yellow scraps in the bins, so I'll keep working on scrappy projects.  And for more scrappy inspiration, check out the RSC weekly link-up at Angela's blog!

Green Scrap Therapy

A little more green scrap therapy happened this week.

These Rail Fence selvage blocks barely made a dent in the green selvages.  I may have to make more!

Some Happy Scrappy House blocks got green wonky borders.  This project is starting to speak very loudly about being finished, so I might have to move ahead and make more wonky borders without waiting for RSC inspiration.

I hand-pieced a few green scrappy pieces, too.  These are for my Hex Vex project.  One trick I learned for piecing hexies is to use tape to hold the hexie parts together for flat back-stitching - note the tape on the flamingo block.

This also happened:

I had admired and been inspired by Cathy's Burgoyne Surrounded blocks for several months.  Then Gayle acted on her inspiration, so I decided to challenge myself to try making a block.  I like the kind of low volume way my block turned out, but what I really like are Cathy's bright color schemes.  I don't think my stash will support that look, so I'm not sure I will keep making these blocks.  I left this one pinned to the design wall to see what inspiration will flow from it!

For more green, scrappy inspiration, check out the link-up at Soscrappy today!

Multi-color Moves

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month is to use up multi-colored scraps.  Multi-color scraps can be difficult to use in "rainbow" projects, because they don't always have one prominent color.  I've made multi-color blocks for some of my past RSC projects, but this year's blocks don't really lend themselves to the multi-color theme.  No worries, I've got several ideas for finishing multi-color projects that are already underway.

There was not much time for sewing this week, but I was able to get in some fabric therapy last night.  I pulled some multi-color brights from the selvage box and made Rail Fence blocks.  I had to add one not-bright block to make my design wall layout work...

Today we're hanging at our camp.  It's been a perfect spring day - probably one of the last days of wonderful weather before we start with the high temps and high humidity of summer.  All these great multi-color strips were also hanging out at the camp, so I assembled some more lego quilt blocks.  

Tonight my Dear Husband is making Jamie Oliver's Chicken in Milk for dinner.  It's a new recipe for us - I'll report back.  A little Radio Margaritaville and a bottle of bubbly - celebrating the first week of April is a long-standing tradition!

While dinner is cooking I'll be reviewing all the multi-color inspiration at Angela's Soscrappy link-up.

 

The Last of the Red Hot Scraps

I had fun digging through the last of the red scraps (and a few fabric chunks) to finish up my Rainbow Scrap projects for the month.

One of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects is making pinwheel blocks.  I have a specific plan for them, but I need to have all the colors completed before I start putting them together.  

Some red selvages got sliced and diced into Rail Fence blocks.

Just for fun, I added some purple and aqua blocks from earlier RSC months.

I had to go digging through the fabric bins to find large enough red chunks to make the wonky borders for my New Orleans houses.  As I was choosing the fabrics, I was really pleased with how the reds "worked" with the house blocks.  But after looking at the bordered blocks on my design wall all week, I was a little worried about the border fabrics being too dark.

Last night, I pulled out some of the already bordered blocks to see if everyone would play well together.  I decided my worries were pointless.  I'm looking forward to the finish on this project!

That's the end of my red scrappiness for March.  Red was fun, but I'm looking forward to a new color and new scrappy challenges.  There's more red scrappiness on view at Angela's SoScrappy blog.

A Plethora of Purple Piecing

Over the past two weeks I've spent a large amount of my sewing time playing with scraps and experimenting with ideas for projects I've had in mind.  Not everything I tried was successful, but that's OK - it was a learning experience!  On the other hand, I did make a serious dent in my collection of purple scraps (the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for January) and purple selvages.

I wanted to do another selvage project and used up most of my purple selvages on an experiment that didn't quite work out.  I salvaged the last of the selvages for these Rail Fence blocks.  I'll keep making these in the RSC colors through the year and see how many I have at the end.   

 

I really hadn't planned to start this project, but somehow I found myself making pinwheel blocks and I couldn't stop.  These finish at 3 inches.  I have a definite plan in mind for them, and will use the RSC as an opportunity to make more blocks as the year goes on.

After all that scrap cutting, I had quite a batch of purple 2 inch squares, so I threw them in a basket and began pairing them up as 4 patch block components.  Not sure where that will lead, but at least I have a good supply of leader-enders.

When I give quilts as gifts, I usually like to make a pillowcase for the recipient to store the quilt in.   For the recent t-shirt quilt I made, I wanted to try making a large drawstring bag for the quilt instead.  I found a pattern online for a lined drawstring bag, and decided to make a practice version using some purple scraps.  The bag went together easily and I loved the finished version!  I was able to adapt the bag "recipe" for a large version and gave it away with the quilt.

I spent a chunk of time this morning putting the finishing touches on an unfinished RSC project, but I'll save that for Tuesday's link-up.  Now it's time for tea and some time perusing other RSC projects at today's link-up.

Am I Ready for the End of Green?

We've had almost a month to play with our green scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I've faithfully worked on all my scrappy projects, adding green blocks to each mix.  I've enjoyed it so much I'm not really ready for the month to end.  I've had all kinds of inspiration for green quilts - especially green and white quilts - but not enough time to get anything started.  So many quilts - so little time!

 

The Sugar Bowl blocks came out to play this week.  I added two new blocks using Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

 

I'm still not sure how well the Kaffe-inspired Sugar Bowls will look with last year's plainer SB blocks, but we'll see how everything shakes out at the end of the year. 

 

I also managed to do some prep work for the selvage border for the Maverick Stars quilt.  The green selvages will be the centers for square-in-a-square blocks that will be the border.  I need to do the math and figure out just how many of these blocks I need (in multiple colors).

It's been an errand-filled day up til now, so I'm looking forward to some quality sewing time in just a few minutes.  If you are starting to think green and need some inspiration, check out the RSC link-up at Angela's.

 

 

The Greening of the Quilts

It's a new month and a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The official color challenge is Evergreen Forest - forest-y greens with a little brown for accent.  I will definitely be using some of that color idea later in the month, but for today it's more of a spring-y green.

 

I pulled out the white-centered green 9 patches from last year's RSC.  It was quick work to make some coordinating green-centered 9 patches from my 2 1/2" strips & squares scrap box.

 

That left me lots of time to continue working on last year's Maverick Stars quilt top.  I have one seam left to stitch up and the stars will be set.

 

I also did some more playing with ideas for a border.  Thanks to Sally, I now have a never-ending stash of selvages, so selvage playtime happened.  This is my current working plan, although I have yet to figure out all the math.  

We are enjoying one of the last wonderful days of Gu'f Coast spring weather at our camp this weekend.  It has been a marvelously long and cool spring here - the morning temp at the camp was 49º F.  Usually we blink and spring is over and searing summer weather is upon us.  The birds have been visiting the feeders and a great blue heron even stopped for a visit on our neighbor's dock.

 

My goal for this weekend is to mark my Eagle quilt top for hand-quilting.  I might have to set up a table outside for marking - I don't know if I can bear to be inside the house today!

A Little More Selvege Play

Even though I've been collecting fabric selveges for a few years, I wasn't truly inspired to play with them until I participated in a blog hop for Diane Knott's book Scrap Quilt Secrets.  Prior to making a mini basket quilt for the blog hop, I practiced stitching selveges together to experiment with the process.  My practice yielded a few pieces of selvege fabric, but I had no plan in mind for them.

After the blog hop, I decided to use some of the practice fabric to make a zipper pouch.  I was inspired by Kelly's pouch made from a vintage Florida dish towel.  At Kelly's recommendation, I purchased and downloaded the Lola Pouch and assembled all the supplies.  I had everything I needed already stashed in my studio, so I was able to jump in and sew.

 This is the large size pouch, about 11" x 7" finished.  I used a heavier fusible batting than the pattern called for; it was what I happened to have on hand.  The pouch turned out fairly stiff due to the batting and selveges, but I'm happy with the results.  Next time I'll use the recommended fusible batting.  I'll definitely be making more of these, using both selveges and vintage dish towels!

Scrap Quilt Secrets Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Welcome to Blog Hop day 11 for Scrap Quilt Secrets by Diane Knott!

 

I have been online friends with Diane for several years.  She is originally from south Louisiana, so we share an appreciation for Louisiana culture as well as all things quilt-related.  When Diane announced her plans to publish a book about scrappy quilts, I was immediately excited to see what insights she would share.

 

Not only is Diane’s book full of inspiring patterns, she shares her “secrets” for creating or adapting scrappy quilts to the quilter’s unique style and personality.

Using the word SCRAPS as an acronym for components of scrappy quilting, Diane focuses on 6 design factors that help make great scrap quilts.  Being a mostly self-taught quilter, I’ve used many of these factors intuitively.  Diane’s spotlight on these 6 factors has helped me become more mindful about design, in addition to being intuitive.  I think the result will be lots more fun fabric playtime and happy, scrappy quilts!

The last “S” in Diane’s acronym stands for Selvages.  I’ve been saving fabric selvages for years, but never thought of them as a basis for a scrappy quilt.  Duh!  When I saw Diane’s selvage inspiration – Gift Baskets, I knew I had to give it a try.

I was influenced by Easter and the Vernal Equinox to focus on purple for my Palette (there’s that acronym again) and begin constructing some selvage baskets.  I found additional purple fabrics in my stash to pull the theme together.  Once I finish the quilting, it will be the perfect size for a table topper or wall-hanging.

 

One lucky quilter will win a copy of Diane’s book from today’s blog hop – so leave a comment and tell me about something you’ve made or want to make using selvages.  If you’re a no-reply blogger, be sure to include an email address so I can contact you if you win.  I’ll choose a winner on April 5^th, so please leave your comment before then! 

There are multiple stops on the blog hop and therefore more opportunities to win a copy of Scrap Quilt Secrets.  If you haven’t already, do visit the other bloggers, enjoy their reviews of Diane's book and leave a comment for more chances to win a book.

3/21    C&T Blog http://www.ctpub.com/blog/

with Diane www.butterflythreadsquilting.com

3/22    Bonnie Hunter http://quiltville.blogspot.com/

3/23    Lori http://humblequilts.blogspot.com/

3/24    Karen http://nanagirlquilts.blogspot.com/  

3/25    Audrey http://quiltyfolk.blogspot.com/

3/26    Pat Sloan http://blog.patsloan.com/

3/27    Valerie http://myplvl.blogspot.com/

3/28    Kelly http://pinkadotquilts.blogspot.com/

3/29    Victoria Findlay Wolfe http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/

3/30    Rachaeldaisy http://bluemountaindaisy.blogspot.com/

3/31    Angie http://quiltingcrescent.blogspot.com/

4/1       Julie http://quiltjewelry.blogspot.com/

4/2       Barb Www.funwithbarb.com