May accomplishments

The month of May is definitely lacking in finishes, but I did get plenty of random sewing done.  I did make a pillow, 5 pillowcases, and managed to bind a couple of small things.  I made a bunch of blocks for Quilts of Valor and Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  And I worked on 3 different quilt tops, all of which are still in a state of partial completion.  No big finishes however.

I finished this table runner and have no idea what will become of it.  I'm not happy with the results of my own quilting efforts on this one.  It seemed like a good idea but the final result is just not making me happy.  Guess it will go into my donation pile. 

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt from 2018 is back from the quilter and needs binding.  It's on my UFO list so it would be a good thing to finish up.  Hopefully I'll get that binding ready to go over the weekend.  And I bought backing today for another UFO, so it's ready to be quilted - a Christmas Mountain Majesties quilt top made last fall. 

The May UFO Challenge number was 4, and my list had a Valentine bench pillow for that number.  It didn't even come out of the project box unfortunately. It needs blanket stitching around the applique.  The June UFO Challenge number was drawn today and it's 10.  My list shows 3 options: a Simple Whatknots project, a Row by Row project from 2 years ago, and a rail fence quilt I began about 10 years ago. The blocks are done for the rail fence, so maybe that is what I need to tackle.  

I'm also anxious to see what color is chosen tomorrow for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for June.  I'm so ready to make another cat block and more flower blocks and string blocks.

And I'm hoping to dig into this fat quarter bundle (Stonehenge Stars & Stripes VI) from Northcott for more of the patriotic stars blocks. 

Have a great weekend!!

Auditioning a border

I'm almost afraid to cut into this border print because it's so cute.  Ghosts dance through the orange section and skeletons dance through the purple section.  The print has the colors of my blocks: lime green, orange, black, and purple.

My green print in the blocks is nearly the same as the green in the border print.  Plus the blocks have a little orange and a little purple in the witch's hats in the green areas, so I'm hoping this print will pull those colors more forward.

So I'm going to finish up the last 2 rows of blocks and sashing and then move on to adding the borders.  I'm planning mitered corners, so hopefully I have enough fabric. 

Memorial Day

It's that time of year when I love getting out the red, white and blue table runners.  The Lone Star table topper/wall hanging is a favorite.  I made this about a year ago. 

The smaller square topper on my kitchen counter is from several years ago.  It's about 16" square and is another ones of my favorites.  

No sewing done this weekend, except for a little binding. Saturday was spent doing yard work after a week of rain.  Then Sunday we had impromptu visitors. Granddaughter Sophia told her dad she wanted to go play golf with grandpa.  So they spent Sunday with us. We golfed, the kids played, we had supper, and Sophia helped make cupcakes for dessert.  The turtle statues sit just off the #12 tee at the golf course we were on. The back 9 holes are closed due to the wet conditions, but we did drive the cart path down to #12 to see the water just inches under the walking bridge.  

Results don't always match the plan

A good plan doesn't always work out as well as you hope does it?  I really felt these Saturday Sampler blocks needed orange sashing to "pull out" the bits of orange in the green print and the black print.  Black sashing just made it way too dark, so orange it is. 

Now that 4 of the 6 rows are sashed, and I have a chance to really look at it I'm not so sure I like it.  Up close and personal, the orange looks pretty good, but laying it out on the floor and stepping away gave me a whole different perspective. That orange really overpowers the blocks.  

However - I'm NOT going to take this all apart and waste that fabric. So I'll finish the last 2 rows, and then looks for an outer border fabric that might tie it together better.  

And then I can get to work on my other version of this Saturday Sampler, with the pink, black and turquoise.  I'm doing a layout with no sashing for that one.  

More patriotic star blocks

There were 3 of these, and now there are 6.  This is the pattern that the Quilts of Valor Foundation is currently doing for a block drive, but I also want to keep some of these for either personal use or for our local QOV group.  I am really loving this 12" star block and I can picture it in any kind of fabric, not just patriotic prints.  

You'll find this pattern near the bottom of the QOV website home page.  http://www.qovf.org/

And now - enough random block sewing.  I want to get back to actually finishing something.  

Blossom Time blocks

Designer and teacher Bonnie Hunter has a column in Quiltmaker magazine each issue called Addicted to Scraps, where she introduces a scrap-friendly block.  In a recent issue her block was this one - called Blossom Time. While my husband was watching the finale of Game of Thrones Sunday night, I was diving into the scraps to make a couple of these. 

One slight problem with the pattern?  The magazine printed it saying the block would finish at 9" instead of the real measurement of 6".  Once I got past my initial panic about the block size, then making the second block was actually fun.  

Bonnie does a live online event called Quilt Cam about once each month and Saturday's was all about this block.  I watched the video later that afternoon and was definitely inspired to go play in the scrap bins.  Check out this video and many, many more on Bonnie's blog.   

https://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/live-quiltcam.html 

Design Wall Monday - layout options

I thought I knew exactly which of the ELEVEN layout options I was going to choose for this version of my Saturday Sampler. And then I began playing with the blocks on the floor yesterday - and now I'm not so sure.  The top photo was option 1 but you have to pretend there is an orange sashing between those blocks.  

Here is another option and this one would only get borders, but no sashing.  And below is the same layout as the first (needs sashing) but with the colors reversed.  Right now, this is my favorite one. But there are 8 more layout options in the pattern.  And do I really want sashing?  How will I ever decide?

Check out more Design Walls on this Monday:  http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/