RSC26 - Week #40

For me October will be a mix of playing with neutrals and hopefully figuring out how I want each of my RSC block sets to go together.  I'm sure I'll also have to make more blocks for some of those sets. So I'll be following the suggestions Angela posted Oct. 1. 

Starting with a dark neutral - black - I've pulled this set of RSC blocks for decision making.  There are only 32 Scrappy Star blocks because I skipped the "pastel" month.  Some of my blocks were already pastels.  If I lay them out 5 x 6, then I'll have 2 orphan blocks left over.  Because these finish at 9", this would be 45 by 54 which would be a nice size for a child, or a couch quilt.  The 2 extra blocks could become pot holders.

The rows went together and next week I am confident this will be a quilt top.

So far I had only made 17 of the little paper pieced Crackers and Jam blocks (Bonnie Hunter) and this week I used 16 of them to make this cute block.  It's 11.5" square, as is.  These are so cute, but for now I really don't have a plan.  

The little 4.5" Tulip Swirl blocks (also Bonnie Hunter) are coming together into 4-sies.  The little basket of these is pretty full so there will be a lot more of these.  Again, there is no clear plan for these yet. 

Friday afternoon I did make 4 little black Tulip Swirl blocks and 3 of the Crackers and Jam blocks from the scrap bin. The black/grey scrap bin is overflowing.  

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

Yesterday I was finally home long enough to spend quality time - and quantity - in my sewing room.  And I got a few things accomplished in there, plus catching up with laundry and baking some brownies for Saturday's quilt guild meeting. I plan to bake another pan of different bars today to add to those guild treats.

One thing I worked on had less than satisfactory results.  I quilted and bound the first Christmas runner in the Swirling Star pattern.  The outside edge is very wavy - positively ruffled.  Somehow I managed to stretch it out of shape with the quilting.  That means I'll need to really pay attention when I work on the second one of these.  I'm hoping that maybe I can do some pressing and starching on this one to make it lay more flat.

The October blocks for the Marigold Mystery were posted early in the morning as Oct 1 also happened to be the first Thursday of the month.  This month we're making 3 different small blocks - Shoo Fly, Uneven 9-Patch, and Square-in-a-Square.  I have the Shoo Fly blocks all finished.  We'll be making 5 of each.

The parts for all 5 Uneven 9-Patch are cut and waiting next to my sewing machine this morning.  They will be the first thing I work on today.

And the parts for the Square-in-a-Square blocks are also ready to go.  Keeping up with the Marigold Mystery so far has been pretty easy.  

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

BOMs and Sew-Alongs

There is always something fun going on in the Quilting World to tempt us to join in.  And you know I have very little willpower to resist.

I'm already working on these BOMs . . .

• Saturday Sampler
• Marigold (Meadow Mist)
• Garden of Stars (Carol Doak)
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge 

And now Moda is starting Blockheads 7, and I really really really want to play along.  This one will be weekly from next week through late April.  I did the Blockheads 6 in red, white, and blue and donated the finished quilt to our Quilt of Valor group.  

It has the theme this year of Friends and Family, and many of the blocks will be shared in 4 sizes. I'm kind of thinking about using Christmas fabrics and making it very scrappy.  

One little finish

In the bottom of the project box with all the leftover fabric, was a selection of embellishments in little zip lock bags that I must have collected when we were doing the Gingerbread Joy pattern for Saturday Sampler.  The quilt had a red/aqua color scheme.  And there were little buttons just the right color of aqua.  So . . . here she is, all done!!  She's only 12" square, but it's still very nice to have a finish.  

One flimsy can be checked off my To Do list too.  Enough triangle units to make 2 identical runners were on my sewing table, but so far I've only found time to get one of these sewn.  Hopefully this afternoon I can get the other one done and then find batting and backing for them both from my stash.  

The last Wednesday of each month is lunch with the retired group from the school.  Today we're meeting at a little spot - mix of gas station/convenience store/lunch counter - that serves the best Hot Beef special.  Roast beef and gravy, mashed potatoes, veggie, and dessert.  It's a generous portion meant to fill up the local farmers who frequent this place, so usually a couple of us share a serving.  Yum!!  I'm looking forward to a tasty lunch with my former coworkers.

The 50th college reunion

We had a really good time on Friday and Saturday at our college reunion at South Dakota State University.  We're officially members of the 50 Year Club!!  We got to see some people we haven't seen in decades, and some friends we see much more often.  

Dave had only 21 students in his high school graduating class, and 7 of them went to SDSU.  At the reunion this year - 3 of them were able to be there.  One more - Dave's college roommate and best man at our wedding - had planned to come but something came up at the last minute.  Dave (left) and Gordon (right) grew up a mile apart on farms. Gayla (center) and I met as freshmen because she lived about 6 doors down the hall from me in the dorm.  I didn't meet my husband until the beginning of our sophomore year. 

Dan (left) and his wife were other friends from college, but we do usually see them about once a year. His wife had other commitments for the weekend but Dan actually stayed with their youngest son, a student on campus. 

We posed with the Dirty Lil and Weary Wil statues near the student union on campus.  It's a long story, but the homecoming celebration at SDSU is Hobo Day.  Weary Wil had been a character included in the celebration for decades, and Lil was officially added the fall of 1976, right after we graduated. 

Here we are on May 1, 1976, right before our graduation ceremony.  I think our tassel color was different because I got a BA and Dave got a BS, although both from the College of Arts and Science.  The guy standing on the other side of Dave was one of his roommates, who got an Associates degree so his cap and gown were blue instead of black. 

I'm headed out early this morning to volunteer at the golf course, checking in golfers for a tournament - unless it rains again, which is a possibility.  Then I have a haircut appointment this afternoon.  There might be a little sewing time in between things.  

Design Wall Monday - Sept. 28

I'm hoping this will be a week of small finishes, but we'll see how it goes.  No sewing will happen today.  It was a very early morning as I'm the designated driver for my daughter's first colonoscopy.  Welcome to middle age my dear!  Then I'll come home and go the pinochle group this evening that plays monthly.  

A couple of quilts have been in the hands of a long arm quilter, and I'm anticipating at least one of them being ready to pick up soon. Will it be this week?
 

The gingerbread girl is almost finished.  She still needs some embellishment to make her pretty.  I did find a bow for her head.  But her dress needs buttons or something. 

In the meantime, I'm playing with some new projects that have actually been marinating in drawers for a year or more.  The pattern is Swirling Star by Krista Moser.  I used a Christmas-y batik jelly roll, plus some yardage to cut the parts for 2 identical table toppers.  These will most likely become gifts.  

This cute little gnome project was a laser cut kit purchased a few years ago, probably on a bus trip shop hop.  It's supposed to be a mug rug but I may make it a little bigger.  I have begun blanket stitching the applique. 

And another doll quilt will at least be a flimsy this week - I hope.  I have a basket with parts for doll quilts, as well as a couple of flimsies ready to sandwich.  I want to finish a couple more this fall before donating all of the ones made so far.

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #39

It is always fun to get to the end (or nearly the end) of a month and look back at the results of that month's color play.  This week I was really focusing on finishing some UFO projects, but in between those things I just played with the purple scraps.  No real purpose - just playing.  That resulted in some string blocks, one Cheerios block, a couple of Hollow-9s, and 2 more Crackers and Jam paper pieced tiny blocks.  What FUN!!

Looking back at the previous weeks' productivity in purple was surprising.  At this point in the year I'm starting to think about how I want to put some of these block sets together.  Do I want to make a small project?  Or a big project?  Are there enough blocks already for something or do I need more?  Is there a color I'm missing?

And of course we get excited to see what color is next?  

Rainbow Scrap Challenge has been such fun for many years now, and I can't think Angela enough for hosting and encouraging us to play with our scraps.  

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

There are multiple reasons to be smiling today!!  This afternoon we're heading to Brookings for our 50th college reunion.  How did 50 years fly by so fast?

We are actually on campus quite often because we have season tickets for basketball, but we did sign up for a "golf cart" campus tour that should give us a better look at the changes that have taken place in the past 50 years.  And we'll attend a few social events. 

On the quilting front there are reasons to smile too.  There are TWO projects that reached the flimsy stage this week.  Yay!!  Kisses From Heaven has been on my UFO list for several years, and I finally made it a priority. I am in LOVE!!!  It looks just like the picture on the kit package, so I'm very happy with the results.  Now . . . to get it quilted and bound. 

And the second flimsy is the elephant Happy Block quilt.  This is a 50 x 60 child's quilt, and was very fast to put together.  It's a 3 yard option using 30 blocks.  The centers are 6.5" squares and the frames are cut from 2.5" strips. The cute elephant print in the blocks was probably a bus trip purchase a few years ago. The teal and orange were added soon after with a different pattern in mind.  But they all play nicely in this pattern.       

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

Reading & planning

Are you a reader?  I can never have enough books on my To Read list.  Most weeks I read at least 1 or 2 books, with my favorite genre lately being mysteries. But sometimes it's a book completely out of my normal genre that surprises me the most.      

Recently a former coworker had posted on Facebook that her book club was going to be reading Mad Mabel.  Of course I had to look into it, and decided it was something I would enjoy.  And I was right - it was a very interesting read. 

Copied from the Amazon description - "a twisty tale of justice, redemption, and one irrepressible woman who’s not done breaking the rules just yet. "

I've been talking recently about the fact that I do a LOT of thinking about projects when I'm not actually sewing - or reading a good book.  My brain has been spinning away lately with the possibilities around here.  My Monday plan this week included getting a couple of UFOs to the flimsy stage, which I can report has been successful.  Come back tomorrow to see what I accomplished for flimsies.

But my plan also involved doing something with the Christmas-y gingerbread people blocks left over from a long ago Saturday Sampler.  The gingerbread girl block is on the way to becoming a mini quilt.  It's quilted and the binding is attached.  But she needs to be a bit more dressed up - buttons and bows are needed to make her pretty I think.  

I haven't decided yet what to do with the gingerbread boy block or the parts for 3 more that are still in that project box.  So the box has been put away again -  for now, at least until I come up with a plan. 

But of course the planning hasn't stopped for other things - so, what comes next? It was grey and raining AGAIN yesterday morning, which was a good reason to just go downstairs to my sewing room to be surrounded by color.  It was time to put away some things - and choose the next couple of things to focus on. From a basket full of fall kits, these 3 caught my eye first.  I think the little gnome mug rug will be my first choice.  Then I may have to make that hanging towel kit that was a recent purchase from Shabby Fabrics.  

And from a basket of Christmas things, I'm going to do this table topper using a gorgeous holiday batik jelly roll.  Last weekend was Sew a Jelly Roll Day - but I didn't. It's OK to jump into the game a few days late, right?     

Midweek check in

Every day I see a little more progress on this UFO.

So far this week I've gotten the last of the snowman noses ironed on and stitched down.  And now I'm working on the snowflakes.  There are 8 of them around the outside, and 12 more will go into the center area of the circle.  Then I'll have the 8 smiles to add to the snowmen. 

The last of the 30 Happy Blocks have been sewn, and they are also sewn into 6 rows of 5 blocks.  The colors are alternated like this.  I'm confident the rows will become a flimsy by the end of this week. 
 

The other progress made this week was in changing the seasonal quilts and things around my house.  There is more to do, but I'm happy with this little corner of my living room.

Saturday Sampler

Yesterday was chilly and rainy, so a perfect day for staying in the house and sewing. I can check off one of my goals for the week.   

The September section for Saturday Sampler is all done.  In the pattern this unit appeared to use a single background, and a single fabric for those triangles.  I decided to go with totally scrappy instead.  It's kind of strange looking alone, but looks OK with the other units.

There were all those corners trimmed off - and of course they were too big to just throw away.  So all 16 of them are now 2.5" HSTs.  They will end up somewhere eventually. 

Design Wall Monday - Sept. 21

One project from last week saw a little progress, and hopefully that progress will continue this week again.  I want to finish the top for this one by the end of the month.

Kisses From Heaven is getting closer to being a flimsy, but there are still quite a few applique pieces needing to be added.  I've been taking this one slowly, just doing a little of the applique at a time.  I tend to hunch over my machine when blanket stitching, and then my neck and shoulders get stiff.  So, I'm just working on it in small increments.

The Saturday Sampler assignment for September shouldn't take long, and that will be another priority for this week.  The small Flying Geese section (far right above) is actually not done as traditional Flying Geese blocks.  They are just rectangles with triangles side by side. The parts are ready to go for quick sewing.  A few more of the little snowflakes for next month need to be ironed onto fabric and cut out as well. 

These blocks are nearly ready to assemble into a baby quilt top. Just a few more blocks to make. This one might be a good baby gift for the new baby coming to the extended family (great nephew's family) this coming spring.  Once it's a flimsy, I should work on another UFO or WIP, right?  Not sure I could possibly live long enough to finish all of the UFO/WIP projects around here.  But I'm trying anyway.

I'm in the mood to work on some holiday themed things for some reason, but also have a lot of UFOs that need attention.  So . . . maybe a Christmas-y UFO?  These gingerbread people blocks were in a project box. Christmas pillows?  Table runner?  Wall hangings? Several years ago we did a Saturday Sampler called Gingerbread Joy, which was a mix of applique and piecing.  I finished my quilt without using the 5 gingerbread people blocks in the pattern.  These are the only 2 I worked on at the time, and they were tucked into the project box along with all the leftover fabrics.  Time to plan something with these I think. 

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #38

It was mostly in short bursts of time, but more purple came out to play this week.

Most important was getting the Who Found the Catnip block finished.  That middle kitty is the most fun, and nearly used up the little scrap I had left.  I'm in love with these blocks. 

OK - yes, I got totally carried away with the Tulip Swirl blocks.  There were so many pretty purple chunks in the scrap bag and I just kept cutting.  LOL  There is no plan yet for these 4" blocks, but they'll work nicely somewhere.  There are still a few parts and pieces in other colors laying on the design board, waiting to be sewn.  And there is a good sized stack in a small basket ready to become happy scrappy blocks.  

One Snail Trail block a day, and these 4 were finally done and off the design board they occupied.  The top lighter purple is actually a Halloween print.  The dark one here is a batik that looks kind of like corduroy. 

This second dark one is also a batik.  I'm actually surprised at just how much purple I have in my stash and in my scraps.  

In an effort to catch up with the Ticker Tape blocks, I got 5 red ones made this week.  That brings red up to the 9 I want for each color.  A 9th yellow one and 3 more pink ones also were added to the collection.  Since I want 9 of each - for now - I'll keep working on them.  There is a big collection of patriotic RWB Ticker Tape blocks too.

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

There are definitely no finishes to report for this week.  One of the downsides to not having lots of actual sewing time seems to be more time to think about projects.  My head has been spinning again lately with ideas about projects I want to make.  It has even been spinning around which UFO or WIP to tackle next.  All year I've been trying to work through fabric already in the stash, so here we go. 

I already had the squares and strips cut for this particular project earlier in the month, and then it got set aside - in real danger of becoming a UFO.  Shame on me!!  Yesterday morning I got half of the blocks sewn, and maybe today I'll get the rest sewn.  The Happy Block pattern is basically a 3-yard quilt, with the pattern being free to download from Maryquilts.com.  It's easy, plus it looks great totally scrappy or planned like this one. 

Notice - both of these center squares are actually pieced because I cut a few of them wrong. Oops!!  But once it's quilted it will be fine. 

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

Noses on snowmen

I finally got some extended sewing time yesterday, and it felt so good to work on multiple things.  And not feel rushed, which was a bonus.  

First things first, I made 2 different Double Sawtooth Star blocks for the Pizza Box Challenge.  These were fun.  I do think I like the lighter background better, but both are pretty.

I also worked on some purple blocks for Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but I'll keep those to myself until Saturday. The main blocks I finished were the 12" Snail Trail - in purple. 

Then I was able to get back to working on Kisses From Heaven again finally.  The large scarves were ironed on, and blanket stitched.  The small noses were next.  And maybe this morning I'll get the bigger noses done. That will leave smiles on the snowman heads and lots of laser cut snowflakes. 

Double Sawtooth Star

Sigh, it has been slow going in the sewing room.  LOL  A few minutes here, an hour there - that is how my sewing is going so far this week.

My 30s version of this month's Pizza Box challenge block is done.  This is the 7th block in our series.  I do have some fabrics chosen for a couple of the RWB ones our group is doing for Quilts of Valor, but no cutting has actually happened yet.  I'm hoping today will provide lots of sewing time finally.

Catch up time

Yesterday was a chilly rainy day, which is fine because we need that rain desperately.  It was a good day therefore to catch up on a bunch of things.  I had PT, stopped for a few groceries, and spent most of the afternoon working through a mountain of laundry and an overflowing email inbox.

Remember about a month ago I dug out a bin full of squares of flannel in baby prints, already sewn to denim backing.  I had planned to make a rag quilt many moons ago, but knew that just wasn't going to happen now days.  So I offered the whole stack, and happily was able to mail the box to gal who was interested.

Well, over the weekend, she sent me a photo of quilt #1 she has made. She said she was adding some of her own and working on a second one.  This just warms my heart to see that fabric used, rather than laying in my closet.

I did do a little bit of sewing on Monday afternoon, but have nothing to show for it quite yet.  Maybe today I'll get more accomplished.