Rainbow Sampler - finished

Finally - another UFO from my challenge list can be checked off as finished.  This one is a full sized quilt made with sampler blocks from the RSC18 challenge.  I've been following the Rainbow Scrap Challenge online for several years, sometimes doing the blocks shared by the host like in 2018 and sometimes just choosing my own blocks to do in the color of the month.

In 2018 I made the actual blocks shared by the host. These were traditional blocks that could have been found in our grandmother's quilts.  I chose to do mine in bright modern fabrics on a scrappy white background.  I really love the old traditional blocks.  This quilt may end up on the guest room bed for the rest of the summer. It's so bright and cheery with it's aqua binding and "splashy" backing. 

  

In 2019 I'm doing my own thing - making 12" cat blocks, Ohio Star blocks, and the 6" flower blocks.  And I'm happy to say, I'm actually keeping up each month so far. 

Working on my first UFO of 2019

The APQ 2019 UFO Challenge has begun and I have a couple of items identified for January that I plan to work on.  Squared Away was the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2018 project and I kept up all year so I have 30 blocks all ready to set into a flimsy. 

My plan for Squared Away is a simple layout with sashing and cornerstones.  I had bought a white jelly roll this summer to cut into sashing for this project; what a time saver!!  And I dug through the box of 2.5" squares already cut from scraps to find enough pretty colors to go with the blocks.  It's ready to layout on the floor and arrange into rows for sewing.  I plan to have a finished flimsy soon, but probably not before the end of January as I'll be away from home for almost 2 weeks out of this month.



The Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2019 has also begun. I've had a lot of fun with this over the years.  The host has a new plan for each year, and offers blocks to make using the color of the month if you want. Or you can work on anything else you want using the color.  This is my second of the RSC sampler quilts and I've chosen my own blocks for other years. 

Both challenges (UFO and RSC) are a fun way to sew along with others all across the country and also stay motivated to finish things.

RSC18 - Squared Away

I've really enjoyed making each of the 10 blocks for this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Squared Away.  Check out these 2 blogs for more information including the block tutorials:  http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/p/rsc18.html  and http://academicquilter.blogspot.com/p/squared-away-bom.html  . These 2 ladies have done a great job on this project this year, even offering different sizes of blocks to choose from.

Block 9, called Queen Charlotte's Crown (from the 1930s), is the last set I needed to make to complete my 30 blocks.  Somehow I forgot to make these in September.  The color for September was dark blue, and my first block was from a really rich looking dark blue. But then I got sidetracked - by teal.   It's not like there weren't plenty of dark blue scraps to choose from, but both of these teal fabrics just spoke to me. So I used them.  This afternoon after work I plan to lay the 30 blocks out on my floor and figure out how I want this quilt to look. 

Design Wall Monday - RSC18 blocks

The 3 October blocks for RSC18 are done.  The color for October in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is green, with the focus on darker shades.  I dug through the scrap bins and came up with a few options.  Last month was dark/medium blues and I still have those blocks to make to complete the challenge blocks for the year. I forgot to make them until looking at the stack of finished blocks over the weekend.  Oops!

Mari (Academic Quilter) tells us this block is called the Dewey Dream block, from the 1899 edition of the Orange Judd Farmer, an agricultural publication.  She has been finding such interesting vintage block patterns for this year's challenge.  The Rainbow Scrap Challenge is hosted by So Scrappy each year, and this year these 2 ladies partnered up on the project. You can find links to all of the blocks for 2018 at either blog. 

Check out more Design Wall Monday posts at:  http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Pink Ritzy Crackers

 

The 12 pink Ritzy Cracker blocks can be checked off my May goal list as complete.  I already had 6 pink ones made before, so these are just added to the stack. I could definitely see doing a single color quilt of these blocks. And they would make some wonderful Quilt of Valor blocks in reds and blues.

 

 

If I have counted correctly, I have 97 blocks made. I want enough made for the family reunion at the end of June.  I think that it needs some orange, more red, a few more black, and more multi-color blocks. So I'll be deviating from the RSC18 monthly color choices to get these done in time. My plan is to have them stacked by color and let people choose a block to sign. 

 

And ironically the reunion is the same weekend as our bi-annual guild quilt show. So I'll be feeling a bit frantic for a few days until both are over.  My husband is in charge of the reunion, and I'm on the quilt show committee.  Luckily both events are taking place here in town.

More goals for May

Besides finishing the UFO items, I have set a few other goals for the month of May.  Most of these are just keeping up with or moving along WIPs (Works in Progress), but I want to start a new project too.  Maybe the Farm Girl Vintage blocks will have to be my "new" project since all I have is blocks. Guess I will just have to see how the month goes. 

Pink/rose was selected as the May color for RSC18 (Rainbow Scrap Challenge).  So there is a lot of pink in my goals for the month.

3 RSC Sampler blocks in pink

2 Saturday Sampler blocks  

12 Ritzy Cracker blocks (pink)

finish top of Christmas jelly roll quilt

bind Pink Pineapples

prep the sewing room wall hanging for quilting

make a plan for large Farm Girl Vintage blocks

This morning I dug through the stash and scraps for pink.  I actually thought I had more pink than I found.  But there were some good ones to choose from.  Twelve pink Ritzy Cracker blocks are under way.  I love this 30s reproduction fabric with the black Scottie dogs.


The center sections of all 12 blocks are sewn, and ready to add the triangles.  And I'm kind of hoping that I get some more sewing time after work this afternoon.  They are all laying on my sewing table waiting for me.

More yellow

 

Only one more yellow Ritzy Cracker block made - a bright yellow print with oranges on it.  Three more were cut out but I just didn't get that far.  And I have 4 more yellow fabrics to work with.  Yellow and gold are the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color for April. My yellow choices were a bit limited as it isn't one of my "go to" colors. Maybe it should be however, because these are really happy blocks and sure brighten up the pile of blocks I've made so far.

 

This might be the only sunshine I see this weekend since we are expecting more snow on Sunday. And today we may see a high only in the 20s.

RSC18 green blocks

I'm keeping up so far with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2018 blocks. January was blue, February was purple, and March is green.  http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/p/rsc18-sampler.html Check out the Squared Away sampler page.

The March block is an old pattern called Red Cross.  It has elements of Broken Dishes I think with the half square triangles joined this way.  So far I'm loving all 3 months' blocks and am looking forward to see what April brings.

More "Cracker" blocks

 

OK - these are officially one of my new favorite blocks to make!! So easy and so fast.

 

Yesterday there was a comment about these being a wonderful signature block. Absolutely perfect for signatures!  My husband's family has a big reunion coming up this summer, and I had this crazy idea to have a stack of these to sign at the reunion.  I did a little figuring and came up with needing 180 blocks to make a queen size quilt but we only had about 150 at the last reunion.  So maybe we could make a smaller quilt. We'll see if this actually happens.

 

I may need to talk to my sister-in-law (also a quilter) and see if she is interested in making some too.

Squared Away - RSC18

 

I've made 2 more blocks for Squared Away RSC18.  One is quite light and the other is more of a medium.  I'm loving these 3 blocks and can't wait to see what next month brings, both in terms of color and design.  I have a ton of blue scraps so I may have to play with some other simple block designs and keep making blue blocks.

 

So Scrappy and Academic Quilter are the co-leaders of this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Check it out if you are interested in using scraps, one color at a time. 

Design Wall Monday - RSC18

 

Two very creative quilters are joining forces on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year and I'm very excited to try to do some more scrap busting in 2018.

 

So Scrappy and Academic Quilter are doing a sampler called Squared Away and this is block 1.  Each month they'll give the instructions for 3 size variations of the new block of the month and I'm doing the 10" block. This month's colors are light to medium blue - and these are a bit dark. But these colors were near the top of the blue/purple scrap bin so I used them anyway as I tested the block.  We need 3 blocks this month so my next 2 will use up some lighter blue scraps.  Isn't this block great?

 

Check out what other quilters are doing this Monday: http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/01/design-wall-monday-january-8-2018.html