One house made

I always know that pieces that are cut less than an inch, are going to try my patience when sewing them into a block.  And I wasn't wrong!

This week's Blockheads block is a delight for the eyes, but a pain to sew.  I chose to leave off the 32 Flying Geese border for the Christmas version.  The house section in the 18" block pattern came out at 12.5" without those borders.  That's the size I'm making all of the Christmas blocks. The hardest part was making the window units with 7/8" cuts and getting them to line up properly.  

So far we have 5 blocks, which I'm satisfied with.  I'm digging into the Christmas scraps as well as some fat quarters I've been hoarding.  

The Bright (Tula & Kaffe) version of the block is going to finish at 24", and I'll be doing those borders.  Picking my fabrics has been a challenge.  I think that Kaffe print at the top will be the roof of the house, with the actual house done in that purple.  There is a similar piece that has yellow, orange, purple that might be even better as the roof.  I've been looking at the Facebook group for inspiration as others post their finished blocks. 

Decisions, decisions . . .  

Design Wall Monday - November 9

This will be a crazy busy week, with Veteran's Day and various other things going on.  But I did some prepping over the weekend so that even small chunks of time can yield some productivity this week.

The Marigold Mystery is a BOM, and it might actually take me all month to finish the November instructions.  Last week I cut all the strips needed to turn the blocks from 2 months into spools.  I got the spool pieces sewn onto the 4 Dutchman's Puzzle blocks, and hope to get the 5 Sawtooth Stars finished up today.  The blocks were 8.5" before the spool parts.  Then there are a smaller sized set from a different month to turn into spools.  Note: the navy blue is the overall background of this quilt. 

Sunday cutting produced more of the novelty print Churn Dash parts.  Frogs and bugs should make cute blocks.  And there is a set with farm animals cut out too.  That green frog print might be close to 20 years old, and there was enough to actually get all 3 sizes.  I've been choosing prints with a "critter" theme for this one.

This may be a week where I fall behind on the weekly Blockheads blocks because I've spent too much time deciding on sizes and fabrics.  This is a really great block, but it has made some decision making a priority before cutting or sewing.  Because I'm making all of the Christmas ones in the 12" size, I've decided to leave off those tiny Flying Geese.  It will just be the house.  But for the Bright version I decided this is going to be one of the two 24" blocks, so the Flying Geese won't have to be quite so tiny.  I'm still waffling on color placement for the Bright one.  And on Wednesday the next block will be released.  I need to get busy!! 

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog 

RSC26 - Week #45

This week had 2 non-sewing days, so I didn't get any more block sets assembled into tops.  But I did some block making to fill out sets that needed additional blocks.  

Because I've been making Windmill blocks again this fall, it was easy to just donate the 2 older Windmill quilt tops already hanging in the closet to be finished by someone else. Now the new blocks will continue to add up until I have enough of them.  Right now I have 34 blocks, sewn into 17 pairs.  I'll need a lot more, so these will continue into 2027. 

I've begun sewing the Tulip Swirl blocks (4" finished) into blocks of 4. So far there are 10 blocks, but there are tons more of the individual units in the basket.  I'm thinking about sashing these blocks but haven't decided on a color yet.  Any ideas are definitely welcome!!

And then there are the Churn Dash blocks - not following the RSC monthly colors, but definitely pulling from scraps left over from other quilts. 

After last week's comment about rectangular Churn Dash blocks, you know I just HAD to play with that idea this week.  Thanks Cherie - I've had fun with these!!  There are more in the works yet, and I haven't made much of a dent in the novelty print left overs. Based on how much of the print I had, I could make all 3 sizes or just 1 or 2 of them.  The big ones finish at 12" square, and the others are  6 x 12 and 6" square, so they all can be used together.  

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

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Finished (or not) Friday

This is a NOT finished kind of Friday, but I have moved forward a little on a couple of projects that are on my November goal list.

I can check off the Garden of Stars BOM for November.  We only need to make 1 paper-pieced star block each month, so this is pretty manageable.  There are also 13 alternating blocks, and I have 6 of those done so far.  

Another BOM that I'm doing is the Marigold Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs).  The November instructions were posted yesterday, and I have the parts all cut.  The sewing has begun, and maybe will continue today.  Each of the last 3 months we've made different pieced blocks.  This month we're turning them into spools.  My overall background will be that navy blue, and the spool tops are the pale blue.  I have 4 of the 8.5" blocks turned into 12.5" spools so far, with 5 remaining.  

Then there are some 6.5" blocks that will also become spools this month.  The cutting of the strips needed was definitely the most time consuming part of this task.

Another thing to check off my goal list for the month is donation quilt tops.  I have way too many flimsies hanging in the closet, waiting to be quilted.  So I've chosen 4 of them to donate to a good charity group that will finish them to distribute, and the box is now packed to mail.  These are all small to medium sizes.  The 2 Windmill tops are 45 x 54.  The Desert Horses (top left) is 40 x 46.  And the Woven Hearts top on the right is 60" square.   

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

Loss of momentum

I'm going to blame this on endless days of rain.  I've been on a roll lately and have lots of productivity to show for it.  But yesterday I think I hit a wall - and never even stepped foot in my sewing room.  The day wasn't a total loss however.

The local DAR group (that I belong to) nominates and hosts a Quilt of Valor award at the November meeting.  This navy veteran is a retired teacher from the technical college here, and also a busy volunteer at the Carnegie Resource Center where we meet.  As always it was an honor to be a part of this wonderful program.

And when I got home yesterday afternoon - I sewed the labels onto 4 more Quilts of Valor that will be awarded on Veteran's Day by our QOV group.  There are 3 more quilts in the pile in my dining room that still need their labels.  Maybe that will happen today.

Halloween fun

I have to share a fun Halloween photo - my daughter and her husband in their costumes.  They both love dressing up for Halloween, and decorating their front porch and yard for the Trick or Treaters.  They get pretty creative.  My 6' 5" son-in-law was perfect as Frankenstein.  I used to always dress up for Halloween at school when I was a high school teacher.

Rain, rain go away

I whined about being in a drought all year - until September, when it started to rain around here.  That is continuing in November I guess.

We did have some really nice days in October, without all the normal wind that usually takes away the beautiful leaves quickly.  But over the past week the rain has moved in again.  I had dumped about 3" total from the rain gauge by Sunday morning.  And then it rained all night Sunday, and more on Monday.  I'm ready for some sunshine!!!

The second version of last week's Blockheads block is done. After finishing this one I'm wishing I had used a warm color where the dark teal is. 

The November star block for Garden of Stars was finished yesterday.  And the parts are ready to go for the next 2 alternate blocks.  These are paper pieced 12" finished blocks. Carol Doak always designs blocks that look so intricate and difficult, but she breaks them down into very manageable sections so they are easy to sew.

While watching the Vikings game on Sunday, I just had to experiment a little.  One reader mentioned doing rectangular Churn Dash blocks, so of course I had to follow that squirrel, right?  From the strip bin I began with this one as a sample to check my cutting measurements. It's 6 x 12 finished. 

I was going to add Churn Dash blocks to next year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  But why wait?  The bin of novelty kid prints is very full, so why not work on a donation quilt with 12" Churn Dash blocks, 6" Churn Dash blocks, and now with 6" x 12" rectangular ones. I've pulled several novelty fabrics and began cutting the parts for Churn Dash - and for Windmills or other RSC blocks based on what was leftover. 

Sometimes just cutting up scraps is very satisfying, even if they don't get sewn up the same day.  These will be good Leaders/Enders all week.  Maybe following a squirrel was just I was needing to keep the sewing fresh.

In the meantime, one of my November goals was to donate 2 quilt tops.  I've pulled out 3 child sized flimsies that will be mailed later this week.   When I removed the bright colored Windmill (old UFO) flimsy from the hanger - surprise!!!   Under that one was another Windmill flimsy with all white backgrounds.  The 3rd top is Desert Horses - made a couple of years ago.

There is room in the box for 1 more, so before I seal that box I might choose another one.  These flimsies came off the hangers in the closet in my sewing room - and off the long list of tops waiting to be quilted.  I feel lighter already!