RSC26 - Week #44

Happy Halloween!!

It's college basketball season, so that will be cutting into my sewing time considerably from now until March.  The Jackrabbit women opened the season with an exhibition game vs St Cloud State (Minnesota) on Wednesday evening.  We went a little earlier than usual because I had a Quilt of Valor to deliver in Madison on the way. So we had time to visit some old "haunts" from college days, and had a beer and food before the game - surrounded by lots of Jackrabbit fans dressed in blue and yellow.  

It took me all week to just get the borders onto this quilt top, but I can check it off my list of RSC tops finally.  This is Honey Bees, a Lori Holt block pattern.  I made 2 of each color block each month so there is another block set remaining that I think will just get simple sashing and borders.  This one is 64" square. The layout is from the book Circle of Nine.  And it's Flimsy #24 in the closet now.

I decided that the leftover dog print (recent doll quilt) shouldn't go back into the stash.  Lots of brown in this one worked with a cream scrap in the neutral bin.  Since I just finished binding a Churn Dash quilt using novelty prints, the dog print begged to become Churn Dash blocks.  There is just enough left for another of the 12" blocks, but it will probably get paired with blue instead of cream.   

The only other RSC sewing to report was a bunch of blocks I'm working on to fill out the collections where needed.  I added a grey Gameboard block (top left), which brings that collection up to 20.  A lot more will be needed.  More of the Windmill and Plus blocks were added in a variety of colors, all from the scrap bins.  All of these blocks were cut out and laying on a design board - which is now empty. 

I think over the weekend I should be cleaning up more of the scrappy chaos I've created lately.  Early in the month I stirred up the black scrap bin, and this week I've been digging in the other colors again.    

Let's go check out more Rainbow fun . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

I felt less than ambitious this week.  We had several grey, chilly, rainy days and I found it much easier to curl up UNDER a quilt and read a good book instead of sewing or anything else. Sometimes that's just what the brain wants.

I got the binding done on the Churn Dash baby quilt.  A couple of years ago our guild made 12" churn dash blocks using solids and novelty prints for a New Years Baby project.  I loved making the blocks so much that I made several to give to the guild project, and then just kept making them.  I also made some 6" blocks with scraps and included them in my quilts.  Yes - that is plural because there is another one of these hanging in the closet waiting to be quilted.  And I have a whole drawer full of novelty prints so I'm sure there will be more novelty churn dash blocks some day in the near future.  They are quick sewing, and bright happy sewing.

I worked on the borders for the Honey Bee quilt that was part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year.  There is another set of bee blocks and enough of the border fabrics to make another smaller version.

And I got the Christmas block made for this week's Blockheads.  Jessica Rose is this week's designer and she calls this Kindred Rose.  I made it in the 12" size.  The one change I made was to replace the pieced center heart with a fussy cut square.  For the bright version - that isn't made yet - I'll do that heart as the pattern shows.  Getting that second block done is my main goal for the day. 

For more finishes, please visit:  https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

Wednesday check-in

Tuesday didn't provide as much actual sewing time as I had anticipated.

But I did get one of the little doll quilts quilted and binding attached.  That is a good start at least, and will provide some binding to hand stitch in the evening. Maybe today I'll get the second one quilted - in between other things going on.

I did cut the pieces for a few more of the Windmill blocks, and some additional Plus blocks.  Here are some of them.  

My other goal today is to finish getting the borders sewn onto the Honey Bee quilt.  And maybe I'll choose colors for today's Blockheads block.  

I might be getting overly ambitious about today since I have the monthly "retired" group lunch, and then we're heading to Brooking tonight for the first Jackrabbit basketball game.  

This and that

Today is a day I've been dreading for the past month.  Our wonderful cleaning lady is "retiring" to care for her elderly mom, and we're really going to miss her.

She has taken such good care of us for more than a decade.  I'm gifting a quilt to her as a thank you.  She came every 2 weeks for 2 hours, doing the things I'm finding it harder to do.  I'm hoping she feels appreciated for her hard work.

This is the busiest time of year for Quilt of Valor award, so it was perfect timing to receive a completed quilt as a donation.  It's really a pretty one too.  The stack of quilts in my dining room for November awards keeps growing.  We'll be busy.

Design Wall Monday - October 26

Life is good!  We had a whole week of mostly beautiful fall weather last week.  The fall colors are near peak around here.  And our feral cat clan appears happy and healthy.  

We attended an all-school reunion on Saturday evening in our previous hometown. My in-laws, my husband, our kids and all of their cousins attended that school, along with lots and lots of other extended family.  And I taught there for 18 years too. It was a smaller than usual attendance, but it was an enjoyable evening.  Four years ago there were 10 first cousins at the alumni reunion. but this time only 4 were there - my sister-in-law Kathy, my hubby, cousin Anita, and cousin Gene.  

And BTW - college basketball season has begun.  We attended a doubleheader on Sunday for the local DWU Tigers.  And on Wednesday we'll make the first drive to Brookings for Jackrabbit basketball.  

Another new week, and it will soon be a fresh new month too.  My goal list for this week isn't very long, but hopefully will contain some finishes again. When the list has binding on it, I can be very optimistic about finishing something.  All of the other fun things going on over the weekend meant there was no sewing time, other than a little binding.  I hope to make up for that in the next few days. 

• finish binding the Churn Dash baby quilt (a UFO)
• quilt and bind 2 doll quilts
• Honey Bees quilt top needs borders
• make more blocks for on-going projects
• Blockheads (week 4)
• another alternate block for Marigold
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks

I really want to get both of these doll quilts to the finish line, so they can be paired up with a stuffy and donated soon.  The tops were already done, and I finally got them sandwiched with batting leftovers and backing leftovers.  The quilting will be kept simple.

Blockheads for week 3 was this Game Day block by Sherri McConnell.  My Christmas version is the 12" size, and the bright version is the 9" size.  For the Christmas blocks I'll be doing a scrappy background to go with the scrappy Christmas fabrics from the stash.  But for the bright set of blocks I'm going to keep the background the same, which is a neutral slightly on the cream side of white.  Wednesday will bring us the Week 4 block.  What will it be?

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #43

Where has October gone?  I know there is still a full week to go, but . . . suddenly we'll be turning the calendar page again.

Buckeye Butterflies is now a flimsy.  The blocks finish at 8", so the flimsy is 48 x 64 which is a nice size for snuggling under on the couch.  I played with the idea of adding borders, but decided I like as is.  There are 5 blocks left over from this set, but hopefully they will find a home in some other project before too long.

I have some small baskets holding the smaller RSC block sets.   Just a few more Vintage Spool blocks were added to their basket this week.  That top left one is actually navy blue, but the other 4 used black or dark grey scraps. 

Ticker Tape was a new block this year that I began making after seeing variations online.  I actually have 2 sets of these going on.  One set is reds and blues with scrappy white backgrounds for a future Quilt of Valor.  But the other set has been an ongoing RSC block in the whole rainbow.  These have been going into a little basket as the collection has grown.  Now I've counted them to see which colors needed more blocks. 

Following a lot of time taking inventory of RSC block sets this week, I decided to revisit a couple of block patterns that had been in Time Out for quite awhile.  Parts were cut for Windmill and Plus blocks and used as Leaders/Enders while I worked on other projects this week.  There were 15 of the Windmill blocks on a hanger in the closet that were left over from a previous quilt.  Now there are 8 new ones on the hanger too - all cut from scraps.  Fourteen of the Plus blocks have been added to that collection.     

Let's go check out more Rainbow fun . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

There are 2 finishes this week to report.  Yay!!

This is Salt Water Taffy.  It's a Villa Rosa pattern and mine finished at 52" x 65", so a generous crib size quilt.  I used most of a jelly roll to frame the charm squares, and used most of the remaining jelly roll strips for the scrappy binding.  It's ready to gift or donate.

And voila!!  Kisses From Heaven is done too.  I'm really thrilled to have this Joann Hoffman kit all finished finally.  Lots of applique on a round background - it was very intimidating.  The kit sat in my sewing room for several years.  But it was worth the wait - and the work.

Oops!  I need to update my flimsy inventory, because I found an additional flimsy hanging in the closet. It required a search through my blog for details.  The pattern name was Shooting Stars, and it was part of a Sew Sampler Box from Fat Quarter Shop.  Sometime in 2024 this became a flimsy.  This is now #22 hanging in the closet.

And #23 has just been added - the Buckeye Butterflies that I've been working on this week.  I'll share a photo of that one on Saturday for RSC.  And #24 (Honey Bees) is getting closer to that flimsy stage. 

For more finishes, please visit:  https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

More inventory

I won't bore you - or me - with a count of every single block set I have going on in my sewing room.  Some are for current Sew-Alongs, some are for Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and some have been put in Time Out for now.  But I was able to take stock of some of my block sets - while prepping binding for another small finish.

Current Block of the Month/Week projects: 

** Saturday Sampler (BOM)
** Blockheads 7 (Block of Week)
** Marigold (BOM)
** Garden of Stars (BOM)

So far I've kept up with these 4 sew-alongs.  And hopefully that will continue to be the case over the next few months.  I do love a Block of the Month!

Block sets for Rainbow Scrap Challenge are always ongoing for me, with some sets finished and new ones started at various times during the year.  My purple collection from September was typical for 2026.  Scrappy Stars is now a flimsy.  Honey Bees are well on the way to flimsy stage, as well as the Buckeye Butterflies set.  That means I have room in the closet - and my brain - for new blocks!!

Because I'm in the process of wrapping up a couple of block sets, my focus is shifting to some different sets.  There were only a couple of these Plus blocks (from 2.5" strips) hanging on my bulletin board.  It's time to add them to the current scrappy projects.  I also pulled out a hanger from the closet with leftover Windmill blocks, and those will be a revived block set.  

Fresh projects happen and keep me motivated.  

Taking inventory

Yesterday I was up early, and sometimes that is a dangerous thing because I do a lot of planning (scheming and generating of ideas) over coffee while the house is quiet and it's still dark outside. I've been thinking ahead to goals for 2027.  Yikes!!! 

So . . . I had this idea to take inventory in my sewing room closet.  That's where the block sets and flimsies live, hanging on hangers.  Sounds well organized, right?

Well, it's kind of organized but also out of control - because of sheer numbers. Including a couple more on the far right side beyond the white drawer unit, there are currently 21 flimsies hanging up.  A few are small, like wall hanging size.  Most are either lap size, crib size, couch size, or even bed size.  

Last spring I donated 5 flimsies to our guild rummage sale for someone else to finish.  And by my spreadsheet of finishes I've also finished 15 quilts already this year, not including wall hangings. Obviously I like sewing the blocks and tops a lot more than finishing them. 

I've made a list of the 21 flimsies in the closet, and will decide which of these will be the first ones on my 2027 list.  

 After working on the inventory, I did manage to get the remaining Buckeye Butterfly blocks sewn into the last 4 rows.  Hopefully today these will all become flimsy #22. 

A little progress on 2 projects

The Honey Bee blocks have been sewn into 3 vertical rows with the spacers.  And the inner (honeycomb) borders and outer beehive borders are all cut.  The pattern called for 2.5" strips for the inner border and 8.5" outer border.  Mine are cut at 2" and 6.5", so I have enough of both border fabrics to use in the second Honey Bee quilt too.  

 

The top half of Buckeye Butterflies has been assembled.  That leaves the bottom 4 rows left to sew together, and add to the top.  I haven't decided yet if this project will get any outer border but it's a possibility that I'll explore later.  

Design Wall Monday - October 19

There is a new binding project happening this week.  Salt Water Taffy came back from the quilter last week, and I already had a scrappy binding prepped for it.  The backing on it is so much fun - and works with all the colors on the front.

So far I've stayed caught up with the weekly Blockheads 7 blocks.  Of course there are only 2 released at this point.  But I'm doing at least some of them in 2 different colorways.  For the first block released I made them both in the 12" size.  But for the second block, I did the bright colored one in 9" and the Christmas one is again 12".  I think I'll continue that 12" size for all of the Christmas blocks I make.  For the bright ones, right now I'm planning to use one of the layouts shared that has all 4 sizes used.

Two of the 8 rows of the Buckeye Butterfly blocks are sewn and pressed.  For now they are hanging over a hanger waiting for the rest of them.

The first set of Honey Bee blocks are about to become a flimsy.   I'm going to use the Circle of Nine book to choose the layout for these. Sunday I cut that gold honeycomb into the spacers.  Over the past couple of weeks I searched online and finally found the perfect border fabric.  It's navy blue with bee hives scattered around. 

And yes - I'm getting distracted as I go through the closet looking at things that could be moved along toward the finish line.  As I was trimming excess backing from Salt Water Taffy, I ended up with some scraps that I cut into my precut bins - 5" squares and 2.5" squares.  Those 5" squares reminded me of the Windmill blocks hanging in the closet, as 2 squares of each color are used.  Hmmm . . . instead of putting them INTO the bin, I picked out 2 fun purple squares to pair with them.  Voila - one new Windmill block.  And another is ready to sew.  I think this block will go back into my rotation for Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #42

I thought I finally had a week with fewer things going on, so I anticipated a lot of time spent in my sewing room having fun.  Then on Wednesday instead of sewing I spent the day wrapped in a quilt in my recliner - napping.  Was it the flu shot or the Covid shot that knocked me down?  Maybe I'll stop getting them both the same day.  And I spent most of Thursday on a little road trip with my sister-in-law.  I drove her to a doctor appointment, but we also relaxed over a leisurely lunch, and had lots of conversation both going and coming home.  

But in spite of all the napping and the road trip, some black 2.5" squares became Hollow-9 blocks.  Earlier in the year I had used most of the Hollow-9 blocks made this year in a lap quilt for donation. A few more became placemats.  But it's a great block for using up scraps, so I'll continue making them and will eventually have enough for future projects. 

The Ticker Tape blocks in all the RSC colors have been accumulating all year.  Most of the colors have 8 blocks made.  So far I have only 4 black ones.

One lonely Gameboard block was made. I've discovered that I don't have as many of these blocks made as I initially thought.  So these will no doubt continue into 2027. 

The Tulip Swirl blocks came together quickly too.  Again - these use 2.5" squares and I have 2 shoebox size bins filled with the squares, so it's just a matter of choosing some.

Last but not least, the Buckeye Butterfly blocks will be the next RSC flimsy. These all have black squares in the corners.  After laying the blocks out on the floor and rearranging them a few times to balance the colors - I've pinned these into rows.  So maybe this will be a flimsy by next Saturday.  Or at least by the end of the month.  

Let's go check out more Rainbow fun . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday - Red, white, and blue

Thursday did not work out as planned either, but that's OK.  I ended up doing a road trip to Sioux Falls with my sister-in-law.  

The only NEAR finish is a QOV that I've been binding this week. I have 1.5 sides left to hand stitch that binding.  But I did pick up a couple of quilts from the long armer yesterday, so more binding will be in my future.  

RWB Ticker Tape blocks were mostly my focus on Thursday.  I only got 4 of them sewn, but I did get a bunch more sets ready to sew. 

And more are on the design board, along with a nice stack of blocks ready to be put into the Quilt of Valor they will become.

Ticker Tape is being assembled in vertical rows of blocks, which finish at 4" x 8". I have the first 5 rows done, and they are 72" long.  I'll need at least 10 more rows like these to make this quilt large enough.  

For more finishes, please visit:  https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

The Pizza Box Challenge

Tuesday morning I stopped at the pharmacy and got my flu shot and my Covid booster. Other than a sore arm I've not had any bad symptoms from those shots - until this time.  By supper time I was running a low grade fever.  All night I tossed and turned, and my whole body ached.  About 8:00 Wednesday morning the fever broke but I still felt like I had been run over by a big truck.  There were multiple naps yesterday, and today I'm mostly back to normal. 

Good thing I had gotten a little sewing in that morning - and that I had scheduled yesterday's post before I hit that wall.  LOL

The Pizza Box block (#8) for this month was shared by Amy, and it's really a FUN block called Woven Star from Patchwork Square.  I've used that web site before, and they have a lot of great block patterns - free PDFs and in multiple sizes.  My RWB versions were done first.  The block on the right actually has an identical twin because I accidently cut too many pieces.  Oops!  So I have 3 of them for sharing with QOV.

The 30s version that I'll keep for my personal project . . . so bright and cheerful.  I think that's the reason I love 30s reproduction fabrics so much.

Blockheads 7 - Block #1

Spring Walk by Vanessa Goertzen is the first block in the new Blockheads 7 series.  The name of the series is Friends and Neighbors. I chose to make this one in the 12" finished size, but knew right away that I would be tweaking this design a little bit. I believe the vertical striped blocks were supposed to represent a fence or maybe a walkway.  

My initial plan was to do this series in Christmas.  The first fabric I chose included a fat quarter of the cute Christmas-y elves/gnomes.  Fussy cutting 2 pieces for those corners instead of cutting narrow strips seemed to fit my own taste better.  

Following the Facebook group has yielded so many fun ideas, whether it was just color combos or ways to make the blocks unique.  After finishing my Christmas block, I saw a couple of people posted pictures of how they changed those striped areas into an actual picket fence.  So, using my Free Spirit fat quarter bundle that is what I did.  And it's pretty cute.

Today the second block will be released, and then we'll see where my plans go from here - do I make ALL the blocks? do I make the next block bigger or smaller?