Design Wall Monday - Sept 15

 Welcome to a new week!  Last week I promised myself that if I finished getting 2 quilt tops assembled, and 2 table runners finished then I would work on something fun and new, possibly with a Christmas theme.  I met my self-imposed goal and this week will be full of Christmas cheer - or at least Christmas fabrics.

  The parts were already cut for the Candy Lane throw quilt.  This was a kit I purchased in August on the shop hop, and it's all soft neutrals with a touch of metallic.  The pieces are all quite large so this should be a quick project.

The other Christmas projects are stockings, and are all quite different.  There will be one gigantic stocking, a couple of tiny ones, and a normal size one to hang for the holidays.  And look - there is NO BLUE in the mix!!  LOL  

There is still some blue happening this week as I work on getting these QOV blocks sewn into rows.  Once the rows are done, then I can decide on border fabrics.  

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog    

RSC25 - Week #37

Brighten is a flimsy!!  Yay!  This top is 47 x 62, so a good size for a child.  It's bright and happy, which is definitely what I need this week.  There are 5 blocks left over, and they will be "seed" for another RSC quilt in the future. 

Light blue is the dominant color in this flimsy I finished this week. It's actually kind of "dusty" shade of light blue, and does NOT show up accurately in this photo.  

I did work this week on a small project from August.  This little doll quilt (24") was something I cut parts for in August when our color was aqua.  But then I got sidetracked.  This week I sewed it together, sandwiched it with leftover backing and batting pieces, and even got it quilted.  The binding is yellow and ready to attach. 

  And the next set of RSC blocks for flimsy assembly has been chosen - Windmill.  These blocks kind of chose themselves, as the 2 hangers these blocks are clipped to were so full the blocks were coming off.  Looking back at my blog I see these blocks were part of my RSC sewing in 2023 and 2024.  

Let's see what else is happening in the RSC world . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 

Still stuck on red, white, and blue

 Yup - I'm still working on red, white, and blue.  I had 3 sets of Quilt of Valor blocks going on this summer - or 4 if I could the Moda Blockheads blocks.  It was time to get those block sets finished and assembled into tops so I can clear off some workspace again for new projects.

The Spools top and the Rails & Stars top were finished in August.  I really like how both of these came together.  

Next up. . . is Ribbon, by Alycia.  I had a good start on the blocks in August, but finished the last few blocks on Wednesday this week.  I chose to do these scrappy - with a variety of white-on-white backgrounds, and different blues and reds.  I'm excited to begin laying these out today and hopefully pinned into rows.

Here is this week's Blockheads block - #16.  It's Cloud Nine by Debbie Maddy.  There is only 1 of this particular block.  The blocks this year have been 3 different sizes.  Most blocks have been 9" finished, but there was 1 finishing at 27", and so far a couple that are 18".  Sometimes the 9" blocks have said to make 2, and sometimes like this week, just 1. 

I'm linking up with Finished Or Not Friday!!

Blue Jay flimsy

The Blue Jay project is now a flimsy.  

Because I had the rows already made, it only took me about half an hour to finish the flimsy yesterday morning.  I did make the decision to leave off the final skinny border on this one, but it's still about 45 x 58 without it.  The color isn't at all accurate in this outdoor photo.  Even with an overcast sky, the colors look very washed out.

 

And under my "daylight" lamp in the sewing room, it isn't showing up as bright as it actually is.  Imagine the colors really are somewhere in between the 2 pictures.  

The pattern is Town Square from this Fabric Cafe 3-yard quilt book.  It might be about the fastest and easiest pattern in all of the books.

One more flimsy is done as well - maybe.  I needed a break from blue, and this was already kitted up and waiting.  This will be a doll quilt.  As is it's only 20" square, so IF I can squeeze some borders out of what is left of the solid colors, then I'll add a little border.  If not, then it will work for a small stuffed animal.  

Two new runners

 So far this week I have finished 2 new table runners.  

I thought I had this Pine Tree runner all done, but then felt that it needed something more.  That something turned out to be big red buttons to look like Christmas ornaments.  Now it's actually finished.

The pumpkin runner is also finished.  It didn't take long to quilt this with a simple diagonal grid, and then bound it in brown.

Now I can return to working on the rows and rows of blocks waiting to become 2 different finished quilt tops.  

Rows and Leaders/Enders

There was progress made on this week's goals, in spite of one small squirrel appearance.  

The Blue Jay blocks have all become rows of 3.  It won't take long to assemble the the rows into a top now.  Remember my fatigue with blue?  Once the rows were done I just had to move on to something more colorful for awhile. 

Brighten is definitely colorful, and is also taking shape.  The 7 rows are all done, and 4 of them have been sewn together.  Like the Blue Jays, this top should be a quick finish.

And what about the Leader/Enders and that squirrel I mentioned?  My Leaders/Enders began with just those floral Half Square Triangles.  As I sewed yesterday, I was thinking about what to make with them and remembered a doll quilt I kitted up last month during the aqua month for RSC.  But OOPS - I didn't get around to making it in August, and nearly allowed it to become a UFO.  So I am adding those aqua/yellow HSTs as Leaders/Enders this week too.  I'm still not sure what to use the floral HSTs for yet, but the little pile of finished ones is growing.  

I'm happy to say that the stack of parts, pieces, and blocks that have been cluttering the end of the ironing board are gradually moving toward flimsy stage.      

Design Wall Monday - Sept 8

At our guild meeting Saturday, one member gave a fun demo on the Accuquilt cutting tools.  I learned something new right away - that you could add fusible to fabric BEFORE running through the cutter, and your applique parts would be ready to iron on.  Duh!!  That seemed so logical, yet it had not occurred to me.  

The demo also gave me a nudge to go home and pull out my own Accuquilt out of the closet, and reacquaint myself with what I actually had.  I have the Accuquilt ME, which is a small one.  There were 3 dies in with my things - a Hunter's Star die, and 2 different size triangle dies.  And - not surprising - there were some UFO parts and pieces in a bag with the dies. 

Obviously I had cut a pile of triangles from a flower print.  What was I planning to do with them?  I have no idea, so I pulled out some leftover speckled neutral, and cut the same number of triangles to go with the flowers to make HSTs.  These will be my Leader/Ender project this week as I work on my focus projects. 

Laying on the "design floor" right now are the Brighten blocks that I've been making for Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I still need to do a little color rearrangement, but basically it's ready to set into rows.  There are blocks left over - "seed" for another quilt maybe. 

The Blue Jay blocks are also ready to set into rows.  There are 12 blocks, plus a couple of narrow borders for this quilt.  Another possible flimsy by the weekend? 

For hand stitching this week, I'm going to finish the pumpkin table runner binding first.  And after prepping many many yards (16 WOF strips) of red binding yesterday, I have a Quilt of Valor and 3 patriotic placemats ready to hand stitch the binding.  

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog