Scrappy Catch-Up and Finish

 I've done a little work on Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks this month.

Our challenge color was red, and I made four red, scrappy 25-patch stars earlier in the month.

Since I didn't start the 25-patch stars (yes, I'm using a throw-back name) until mid-year, I've been working backwards through previous RSC colors.  My green scraps were a little limited, but I still have lots of time to balance out colors if needed.

I also dug up some additional red scraps to make some Easy Breezy Leader-Ender blocks.  These are fun scrap-buster blocks; I need to cut some more parts to replenish my leader-ender stash.

I was finally able to photograph a finished quilt that started as an RSC project.

According to my notes, I started this quilt in 2014, but I apparently didn't blog about it until 2017.  This represents just about every blue fabric (excluding reproduction fabrics) that has made its way through my stash in the past six years!

The quilt is destined for the bed in my guest room; it measures 88 inches by 93 inches.  I didn't follow a specific pattern, just made Variable/Sawtooth Star blocks and Uneven Nine-patch blocks until the quilt was the size I wanted.  The Flying Geese border added a few extra inches and a finishing touch.

Long-arm quilting by Diane D. Knott of Butterfly Threads Quilting.  I love how the double clamshell pattern worked out!

Some of you know I love the combination of blue and white.  Whether it's quilts, transferware china, or KLM houses (thanks, Barb!), I seem to gravitate to all things blue and white.  I figured this quilt was as much a collection of blue and white as anything else I collect, hence the quilt name.

Finishing this quilt was a great sunshine-y spot during the past crazy months!

Au Revoir April!

Greetings from New Orleans/South Louisiana, where new cases of Covid-19 have slowed and hospitals are less overwhelmed.  Still, our governor has continued shelter at home orders for an additional two weeks.  I'm thankful for that, however painful for our economy, because I don't want to see a spike in new Covid-19 cases and subsequent deaths.  Our local hospital (where my husband works) was hit hard by the virus and is still struggling to keep up with the patient demand.

This time of year New Orleans would be in the middle of festival season, specifically our beloved Jazz and Heritage Festival - fifty years young this year.  Of course this year's Fest was cancelled, but in the spirit of resilience, local community radio station WWOZ has been broadcasting previously recorded Jazz Fest performances, so we can have a bit of escape from day-to-day reality.  Jazz Festing in Place follows the timetable of the real fest, broadcasting from 11 am to 7 pm from now through Sunday.  Tune in via WWOZ.org if you need a little musical escape!

As for quilting therapy, I seem to be taking comfort in wrapping up UFOs.

This Sawtooth Star and Uneven 9-Patch quilt has been kicking around the studio for several years.  At this point, the quilt was just shy of being queen-sized, and I kept looking for fabric to add as a final, un-pieced border.  Earlier this month it occurred to me I just needed to add some additional Sawtooth Star and Uneven 9-Patch blocks, and the quilt would be the size I wanted.

I cut twenty-four additional blocks and stitched them up.  Then I removed two of the borders and added an additional row and column to the body of the quilt.  I made a few additional Flying Geese blocks for the outer border, stitched everything back up and soon had a finished flimsy.  

I also finished hand-stitching all 350-something inches of binding on my Full Circle quilt...and made a label.  Full pictures of the quilt coming soon!

I need to stop digging around in the UFO bins.  I pulled out this stalled project and decided it would be a quick finish, if I would just focus on it!  Lots of the small four patches were already stitched, so it was a matter of cutting more of the larger squares to make double four-patch blocks.  These are all leftover fabrics from my Grandmother's Choice quilt - so should I call this Grandmother's Choice Leftovers?

I've also been trying to do some hand-quilting on this Schoolhouse quilt every day.  I enjoy hand quilting, but I really struggle with trying to improve my stitches.   Practice makes perfect!

Gardening and yard work have taken up lots of my shelter at home time, too.  These shots are from the containers at our camp (note: we shelter in place at our camp, just like at home and the camp is only an hour from New Orleans).  We already have lots of tomatoes that are close to being ripe.  I picked quite a few of the jalapeños in the picture above, and made pickled jalapeños with them last week.  Mint seems to almost grow wild at the camp, and we use it for Mint Juleps as well as Thai and Vietnamese dishes.

At home, we demolished our 30-something year-old in-ground swimming pool earlier this year.  Now we have an amazing patch of lovely green grass (lower left pic).  Dear Husband built the rolling planters in the top picture, and I filled them with Knock-Out Roses, Agapanthus, and Bird of Paradise.  The round terracotta pot is full of basil - we've already made our first batch of pesto! The hibiscus bloom is from plants along the back fence, and the remaining pictures are the newly re-done front yard landscaping - lots of daylilies!

And now to wrap up the month with good wishes for everyone.  I hope you all continue to stay safe and healthy and take comfort in your stitching!

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!

July: 17ufosin2017

The end of July means it's time for another 17ufosin2017 report.

I missed reporting on my UFO projects at the end of June, but my July report will be identical to what I would've reported in June!

One of my most ambitious projects for 17ufosin2017 was to assemble all these Sawtooth Star and Uneven 9-Patch blocks.  I got that accomplished, only to realize the quilt was not going to be the size I expected.  What can I say, sometimes long-term projects play tricks on your memory!

I did not have the willpower to make another big batch of stars and 9-patches, so I decided to add a border of Flying Geese to help reach my desired size.  I made about 90 of these FG blocks, so now they need to be pieced together and attached.  I'll finish this quilt eventually!

Another 17ufosin2017 project is to get the binding on this Scrap Jar Star quilt.  I did get the binding made and machine-stitched to the front, but I still need to do the hand-stitching part.  I confess I have a mental block against stitching bindings down in the summertime.  My house is air conditioned, so I really can't say it's too hot to have a quilt on my lap.  Maybe it's the lack of appropriate television programming in the summer?  (i.e. I get lots of quilt binding done during American football season!)

I've also made some progress on the Nae Shawl over the past two months.  This one is kind of tedious, because it's mostly stockinette stitch and only gets decreased one stitch per round (front and back).  I'm down to about 40 stitches, so the rounds go quickly.  Once it's bound off I'll have to find a place to block it where the cat and dogs won't pester it.

I'm looking forward to seeing what progress others have made on their 17ufosin2017.  Check out the link-up at Meredithe's blog to see what's being worked on!

The Blues Go On Forever, and the Cutting Never Ends

Most of my  blue Rainbow Scrap Challenge sewing this week involved the assembly of a lot of Sawtooth Stars and Uneven 9-Patch blocks.

This project has been floating around for a couple of years, and I decided 2017 was the year to finish it.  This is only about a quarter of the blocks.  The rest were assembled into similar-size sections, which will get sewn together before the weekend is over.

Another element of the Sawtooth Star quilt will be a border of Flying Geese blocks.  I've got about 50 FG blocks made (upper left), but I need about 40 more.  Hence the pile of 3 1/2 inch strips on the cutting mat.

While I had the blue fabric chunks and yardage out, I also cut a big batch of 2 1/2 inch strips to add to the collection in my bin (top right).  I'm succumbing to temptation and joining Diane Knott's 2017 Summer Sew Along.  I've been thinking about projects that would use up more blue scraps, and this seemed like a great idea.  I'll be using blue and white and cream as my color combination.

Dear Hubby and I were out and about for a bit this morning and dropped into a couple of our favorite treasure-hunting places.  A fun time was had by all!

May: 17ufosin2017

Time for another 17ufosin2017 report.  I missed last month's link-up, mostly because I posted my only progress for the month as a link to Audrey's Quilty 365 wrap-up post.  

I'm so glad I pushed myself to assemble all those Quilty 365 blocks into a top - otherwise I'd probably still have a basket full of blocks 5 years from now!  My son came up with the name "Full Circle".   I don't have a timetable for the quilting, but it will happen eventually.

Another of my 17 projects for 2017 was to simply add borders to a scrappy RWB quilt that has been in the making for a year or two.  

The photograph makes the border look very dark, but in person it's a great frame for all those red, white and blue fabrics.  At some point later this year, the top will get quilted and gifted.

Once the red, white and blue quilt was off the design wall, I started pinning up these Sawtooth Star and Uneven 9-Patch blocks.  I've had the blocks made for several years, so it was a priority for me to get them assembled into a top this year.  I still have a lot of stitching to do on this project, but 17ufosin 2017 will help keep me motivated!

Last, but not least, I finished hand-stitching the binding and label for one of my Austen Family Album quilts.  It was gifted to my sister just this past weekend.  I think she liked it!

That's all my progress to date.  It's been very satisfying to check off projects on my 17ufosin2017 list, although there are still some very large projects left to complete!  Meredithe has a linky party over at her blog, pomegranate and chintz, so do check out all the other ufo progress.

The Big Blue Monster

One of the projects I am aiming to finish this year is a blue and white scrap quilt I planned with my guest room bed in mind.  The guest room never seems to have a decorating scheme or quilts of its own - maybe because my kids keep moving home and setting up camp in there!

Back in 2014, the guest room was vacant, so I decided to make a quilt for that room.  The room is painted blue, so I knew a blue and white quilt would be perfect.  I decided to make Sawtooth Star and Uneven 9-patch blocks, inspired by a quilt on Barbara Brackman's website.  I cut parts and pieces from my very large collection of blue fabrics and used a white on white fabric for the background.

My original plan was for 100 eight inch blocks.  When I reached that goal, I decided the quilt wasn't big enough and added more blocks until I had enough for 11 rows by 11 rows.

Last weekend I started pinning the blocks to the design wall.  I chose an uneven number of rows so there would be a Sawtooth Star block in each corner.  

Once I had all the blocks pinned up, I did the math and decided the quilt STILL wasn't big enough for a queen-sized bed.

Fortunately, I still had my cutting instructions, so I quickly cut and pieced another row of blocks, making the quilt 12 x 11, or 96 inches by 88 inches.

I've dubbed the quilt the Big Blue Monster because it fills the design wall and I'm feeling overwhelmed about stitching all those 8 inch blocks together!  I didn't even add the new row to the design wall because I'd have to climb up and down the step-stool or crawl on my knees to get it pinned up.

If I were staying home this weekend (Memorial Day observance in the United States), I could probably get lots of stitching done.  I'm off to Florida to visit family, though, so all those blocks will just have to chill until I get back.  This project has been underway since 2014, so I guess it can wait a little longer!