RSC26 - Week #5

It's hard to believe we're 5 weeks into the new year already.  And it's time to retire the blue scrap bin even though it sure doesn't seem any emptier than it was 5 weeks ago.  But like most everyone else, I'm excited to play with a new color. 

The main blue project this week has been this one - Jackrabbit Stars. It is a little more than halfway to the flimsy stage. Showering Stars is the pattern and it's assembled in vertical rows that are 90" long.  

Lots of blue blocks happened this month - Honey Bees, Give It a Whirl, Hollow 9, Reversed Buckeye, Scrappy Stars, Snail Trail, and Vintage Spools.  Some light blue string blocks, a couple of random blocks, and a couple of blue UFOs kept me busy too. 

Lots of Quilt of Valor sewing happened in January too.  These blocks will all be on-going. Most months involve QOV sewing for me. 
 

One final dig into the blue scraps, and I ended up with 4 more blue string blocks.  Paired up with some lime green blocks already made, this will become a future doll quilt.  It's 18" square as is, so I will see what I have in either green or blue for a little border.  I have blue binding for it that is in the leftover binding drawer. 

Let's go see what everyone else is playing with this week . . . and find out what color comes to play in February. 

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 

Friday finishes (or Not)

Small finishes are so satisfying. The St Patrick's Day table runner is finished, along with 2 matching mug rugs.  With small finishes in mind, the next step was seeing what else was lurking in my stash that could be quick finishes in the next couple of weeks.

One drawer that just contains kits yielded a couple of PIGs for the month of February.  There were 3 little kits for 5-Minute table runners - 2 for Easter and 1 Halloween version.  I think these were purchased either on a shop hop or maybe during Crazy Days a couple of years ago.  Time to get them out of the drawer and finished soon. 

As for any big finishes - not yet.  But, I'm on the last side of the binding for a UFO quilt, and making progress on another large project.  So it's all good!

Check out more Finishes (or Not) today . . .
https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

SAHRR Round #2

The Stay At Home Round Robin prompt for Round 2 was "seeing double". Kathleen McMusing was the designer this week. 

After a lot of thinking, I decided to keep things simple this week, and to give the eye a chance to stop after a very busy round.   So I added a simple double border.  The border around the center block is dark purple.  The new  double border is a dark aqua/blue, and then a dark fuschia. Now I feel like the third round can be more dramatic again. It's about 26" square at this point.

Check out the Linky Party to see what other Round 2 ideas have been shared.

https://kathleenmcmusing.com/

Progress

Progress is continuing on the Jackrabbit Stars project.  It's about halfway to the flimsy stage. Two more strip sets need to be made for the other 2 stars.  Each of the 4 stars will have those "trails" to make them Showering Stars, which is the pattern name. 

No additional progress on this project will happen today.  I'm attending the monthly get-together of the retired group from the HS I taught at for 2 decades.  And then we'll be headed to a Jackrabbit basketball game.  But maybe I'll have a little bit of time to work on some Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks that are cut out and ready to sew.

Getting a start

I have a small start to the Jackrabbit Stars project.

This isn't a UFO, exactly - more of a PIG.  I've had the pattern and fabrics for months, but just couldn't make myself start cutting.  Finally, I began by making the big flying geese (finish 5 x 10) for the star points.  The block centers will be the Jackrabbit logo print. 

This quilt is done in vertical sections, and will be about 76 x 90, so those are long sections. The outer strip is 5.5" wide, then the next - with the star points - is the same, finishing at 5".  The star center and the "trail" adds another 10" so this left side is 20" wide so far.  The next section with the right side star points is ready to add. 

There will be 3 more vertical sections with stars and trails. It might take me awhile to do those next sections, as there is a lot more cutting to do.  But at least I've begun. 

Design Wall Monday - January 26

Hmmm - the last week of January is already here.  It has been an interesting month in terms of creativity.  What will February bring?

On Friday afternoon I participated in a fun hand stitching class at The Pin Cushion, where we learned a little about Patchwork Sashiko techniques. There were about a dozen of us.  I have my little piece about 1/3 stitched and still need to decide what it will become. I'm the white hair in the far back between the lady in white and the lady in aqua.

 There has been some binding progress this weekend, including the St Patrick's Day projects. I'll show those later this week.  And I'm halfway around this 3-yard quilt with binding.  So the first larger UFO of 2026 is getting close to the finish line.

Today I hope to get the Jackrabbit Stars project cut out, and hopefully begin sewing on it. 

Saturday, in between attending grandson Jack's 4th grade basketball game, and going to watch Olivia in the finals of the 100 Fly (butterfly) - we made a quick stop at Hobby Lobby.  I found some bead options to add some sparkle to the Valentine mini.  I might pull out the Christmas Tree mini from December and add a little something to that too.  Jack's team won their game and Olivia placed 6th in the finals.  She also qualified Sunday morning for finals in another event.  She had a terrific swim meet this weekend cutting time from every event.

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog

SAHRR - Week #1

The first week of the Stay At Home Round Robin, we were challenged to use Hourglass blocks with our center block. Check out the Linky Party on Songbird Designs to see how others interpreted this first prompt in their own way.

I had a whole small bin full of orphan Hourglass blocks made with trimmings from Flying Geese blocks a couple of years ago. All it required was squaring them up.  Spoiler alert - I barely made a dent in those Hourglass units, so there are still plenty more for some future project where they will be perfect.

So . . . Round #1 is done!!  I added a narrow purple border onto the center before adding the Hourglass units. That brought the center to 18" (finished size).  I trimmed the Hourglass units to 2.5", and added 9 on each side.  It's very bright and cheery!

RSC26 - Week #4

In 2025 I finished a fairly big Buckeye Beauty quilt, and there were a few block units left over that have been in the orphan block box.  I saw - in this RSC group - an awesome quilt - with the same units (4-patch and HST) in a different layout. Instead of pointing those colorful triangles out, these will have them meeting in the middle. 

So much inspiration in this creative and generous group of people!!  Making a Lather posted a quilt yesterday that she made called Flying Home. Her blocks used the same fabrics/color in the 4-patch and the HST.  It's a really great looking layout too.  It made me realize I could use my orphans as seed for a new set of blocks, similar to hers.  My leftovers have black and white 4-patches. and colorful HSTs.  Now 3 new blue versions have been added to those orphans. They will finish at 8".  I don't know exactly what these blocks will become yet, but I am quite sure I'm going to like it.  Plus it removed 4 blocks from the orphan box.

 Three new 6" Hollow 9 blocks have been added to the stack from last year.  The little white plastic basket behind them holds the collection of Hollow 9 blocks, plus the 6" string blocks I've been making. 

Above my cutting board there are lots of hooks holding the rulers I use most often, plus a few odds and ends.  This fall I hung a couple of patterns there that I was considering for new RSC blocks for 2026. See the pink note?  That was a list I was making of possible new blocks.  I've decided to be a bit more realistic and rein in my hog wild expectations.  So - there is just one more NEW block to play with for now.

I'm just calling this one Scrappy Stars.  The pointy sections are made with the Tri Recs rulers, and the blocks will be set on point.  My plan is to use scrappy black for backgrounds, and colorful scraps for the star points. These will finish at 9".  And that pink note - still has ideas for blocks that maybe will show up some other year.  LOL

Let's go see what everyone else is playing with this week . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 

Friday Finished (or Not)

It's kind of finished . . .

The Year of Spools kit for February is technically a finish.  But I really feel it needs a little something yet.  Maybe more quilting in the red area.  Or maybe some sparkle.  

The St Patrick's Day runner is closer to being finished.  After taking this photo of the flimsy, I got it sandwiched with batting and backing so it's ready to quilt.  I used up some of the scraps to make a couple of mug rugs - also sandwiched and ready to quilt.  Hopefully there is something in the stash that will work for binding.  

All of the blocks for Lupines and Laughter (Bonnie Hunter mystery) are made.  I chose to keep this a child sized quilt because I'm thinking it will make a good baby quilt for a nephew and wife expecting a baby girl this spring.  There will be borders on this too.

In between all of this, there has been some Rainbow Scrap Challenge sewing, and a little progress on my SAHRR project.  

Check out more Finishes (or Not) today . . .
https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

Winter arrived

 Winter weather blew in yesterday late morning, and it made my decision easy to NOT make that 80 mile drive to Sioux Falls for the afternoon work meeting.  At times I could barely see the house across the street due to the white-out of snow pushed by 40 mph wind.  

You know what that meant . . . a bit of sewing time instead of driving.  I was looking at some Valentine themed small kits in my "holiday" drawer to play with next, and came across a St Paddy's Day UFO.  You know how easily I am distracted, right?  I think I started this last year but abandoned it when I realized it wouldn't be done in time for the holiday itself.  It's a table runner so it would be a quick project, and ready before March actually arrives THIS YEAR. The parts required some organization but are now layed out on the big design board and ready to move this little thing from UFO to at least the flimsy stage.

Interruptions

 No sewing time today - and there wasn't any sewing time yesterday either.  Today will be taken up by "work" hours.  I'm mostly retired, but technically on call for when I'm needed.  This week is the annual employee face-to-face meetings, training, dinners, etc. in Sioux Falls.  Today is going to be the only day I attend.  

Yesterday I spent the morning getting some Quilts of Valor correspondence and paperwork brought up to date.  Some additional sorting of tops, backs and block sets for QOV was also long overdue.  A box was packed with tops and backs to send off to our state coordinator, who is going to quilt some for us.  I took that to the post office in the afternoon after my haircut appointment.  

The first prompt came out this morning for this year's Stay At Home Round Robin (SAHRR).  This week's prompt is by Brenda at Songbird Designs, and is to add Hourglass unit(s).  There aren't any Quilt Police so we can add as many or as few as we want, all the way around the center block or just on 1 or more sides.  I think before adding anything to my 16" center block it needs a narrow colorful stop border to give the eyes a break. 

So - there is a little bin of Hourglass blocks made a couple of years ago from the trimmed triangles on Dutchman's Puzzle quilt.  I had no real plan for these but just couldn't waste all those beautiful batiks, therefore the triangles became Hourglass units. These are about 3" square as is, but they could be trimmed smaller if I want.

There are more than enough of these to put them all the way around that center.  Or I could do something asymmetrical with them - maybe just on 2 sides. Let the play begin!

To Do Tuesday

 One little project is seeing progress - the Valentine mini.

The flimsy went together very quickly on Monday, so now it's time to quilt and bind it.  The backing fabric in the kit is much too pretty to go onto the back of something where it will never be seen again.  It is tucked in with some other Valentine fabrics for a future project, and I'm using a leftover backing chunk in it's place. 

Thank you to a couple of readers who suggested a "stop border" around the panel, and then add the blocks.  I have the borders added to the sides and still need to add them on top and bottom of the panel.  And I tested out some of the extra star blocks to see how they look.  I do like the stars better but we'll see what ends up.  We have a couple of different star blocks that could be used too, so there are options. 

Design Wall Monday - January 19

I kept thinking it was Sunday for the past 3 days, and now here it is Monday finally. And a bitter cold Monday morning around here.

The only actual sewing that occurred this weekend was binding, and piecing a back for a Quilt of Valor.  But I did spend a lot of time sorting through the quilts and quilt tops - and block sets - that we have for Quilts of Valor. I paired up 4 tops with backs to give to a long armer for quilting.  And I finished the binding on these placemats. 

Our QOV group has been given several patriotic panels to use in quilts, and I pulled this one out to play with some ideas.  There were more than enough of the 4-Patch Fun blocks to surround the panel.  I think it's way too busy.  What do you think?  Maybe star blocks would work better for this.  

This is the next PIG that I plan to work on. The February "spools" mini arrived in the mail on Saturday.  It shouldn't take long as it has very few small pieces. 

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

RSC26 - Week #3

The Vintage Spools blocks are starting to add up quite nicely.  The book (A Scrapbook of Quilts) with the pattern I'm using, and the blocks I made last fall are in that little bin. There are 2 different 6" blocks for this project. 

This week a dozen more blocks came off the design board - with blue being a part of each and every one of them.  Here are 6 of the small spools that are tilted to the side.

And here are 6 of the big spools sitting upright.  These will be alternated with the smaller spool throughout the quilt. 

The Snail Trail blocks are up to date, with 2 new brown ones and 2 new blue ones added to the 2 of each already made.  

A big variety of block sets - all going at the same time - is what makes me happiest with scrap sewing. It mostly eliminates boredom.  Some block sets get finished in 1 calendar year, but most continue on into a second or even third year.  I have blue taken care of for January for the following block sets:

** Vintage Spools
** Snail Trail
** Honey Bees
** String blocks (in light blue)
** Give It a Whirl

Now during the second half of the month I plan to get a mostly blue PIG cut out - the Jackrabbit Stars quilt.  And I'll play more with some of the longer running block sets hanging in the closet . . .

**  Quilt of Valor blocks
** Hollow 9-Patch
** Paint Chip
** 4-Patch Fun
** testing out another possible new RSC block - maybe

Let's go see what everyone else is playing with this week . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 

Friday Finished (or not)

It's Friday.  Sigh!!  Do I have any finishes to show for the week?  Not really.

 Well, I did get 3 Twin Star blocks done for a future Quilt of Valor.  That empties out one more design board.  So it's time to cut some more, right?  There are only 5 of these total so far which means there is a long way to go to have enough for a quilt.

I spent some time yesterday digging through the orphan block box to find something fun to use for the center block of the SAHRR online sew along.  The one I'm leaning toward is a 16" block called Follow the Leader. It was made with Loose Goose blocks I made in 2 sizes for Rainbow Scrap Challenge - back in 2024.  These are actually 3-D, with that colored triangle made with a folded rectangle.  The bag has a bunch in all the colors but I was stuck at this point with ideas of how to use the geese.  I might need to pick out part of the seam near those green geese to line them up better.  The first "challenge"  for SAHRR will be added next week.

Maybe those Loose Goose blocks should be back on my RSC list for this year so that I can use them ALL up to make something by the end of the year.  

Check out more Finishes (or Not) today . . .
https://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

Saturday Sampler and more

The background for month #1 of Saturday Sampler is assembled.

I'm using very pale batiks and solids for the background of this whole project.  Hopefully it will give it interest and depth.  This section of the quilt will (hopefully) get appliqued snowflakes.  I've only cut out 2 big and 2 small ones so far. I have a couple of candy pink snowflakes ready to cut out.  I'm not planning to iron them on permanently yet, until I get a better feel for how they will look.  And to decide on how many to use.  

Some RSC sewing in blue happened in between things, but I'll wait to share on Saturday.  I did decide to pare down my list of RSC blocks by eliminating a couple of things that can wait for another year, such as house blocks. But there is still 1 more that I may add to this year's mix of rainbow block sets. 

The guild is going to do a DIY Round Robin project this year.  I think this orphan block of hand pieced hexies will be my starting point.  I also want to play along with the online SAHRR (Stay At Home Round Robin), but haven't picked out a center block for that yet.  These can be as small or as large as we want, so I'm thinking I'll keep them fairly small.

Two more of the mystery quilt blocks are sewn together.  And I've attached the binding to 2 more placemats so I'll have some handwork to do in the evening. Progress is good! 

Midweek check-in

It's January in the upper Midwest which normally would bring cold and snow.  I never used to mind winter, because we went skiing.  And we had jobs that kept us very busy.  Now that we're old and retired (relatively) those fun ski trips are long in the past, and we're home a LOT.  With little interaction with actual live people.  And this month has been so gloomy!  Every day we have a grey sky and brown landscape.  ARGGGG!  Can you tell I'm struggling with that scenario?

Maybe I should be sewing with brighter colors this week.  And reading cheerful books.  And stop watching/reading the news!  And get out of the house to do something fun!

  OK - I did leave the house long enough yesterday to pick up a prescription refill and a few groceries. That doesn't count as doing something fun however.  But I did get some sewing done that is somewhat cheerful.  The 8 blocks needed for month #1 of Saturday Sampler are pieced, with a goal of getting them sewn into rows today.  I also got a start on tracing out some of the applique pieces that maybe will go onto this section of the quilt. 

A few more Lupines & Laughter blocks were my leaders/enders while sewing all those strips together.  So far only 5 blocks are finished - 3 of one and 2 of the other. It's forward progress, and has no deadline.  

Lots of prep work

Monday morning in the sewing room was mostly prep work on several projects that I want to see progress on this week.

The first month's task for the new Saturday Sampler is to make a pieced background for a large section of the quilt.  We'll make 8 blocks using 6 different backgrounds - or however many we want.  I have strips cut in these 8 pale colors, so that my blocks won't be exactly identical.  One block is done so far. 

There were 4 placemats all sandwiched on my ironing board.  They are now quilted and have binding cut. 

Vintage Spools are another Rainbow Scrap Challenge patterns on my 2026 list.  I actually began making these last fall in random colors.  But this month each of the 2 different blocks will have blue in them somewhere.  Lots of cutting has blocks prepped.  These are 6" finished, so I'll need a lot of them. 

Also for RSC I'm doing 12" Snail Trail blocks this year.  Up until now there were only 2 brown (from 2025) and 2 blue (2026) Snail Trail blocks finished.  My plan is to do 3-4 of each color. 

Two more of the brown and blue are cut out now and layed out on a design board.  The thing I really love about the design boards is that I can lay out the parts and pieces for a block or project in the right order or direction to be used.  It cuts down on sewing something wrong - doesn't eliminate it, but cuts down on it.  And I can just move the design board around from my cutting space to the ironing board or next to my sewing machine. 

I only sewed one more of the BH mystery blocks, but I do have the units all paired up so that the various fabrics don't end up repeated in the blocks. 

Having all of this prep work done ahead will make for some very quick sewing this week.  And hopefully getting some of these blocks done and off the design boards will make my sewing room a bit neater.  

Design Wall Monday - January 12

This weekend was the kick off to a brand new Saturday Sampler program at The Pin Cushion (local shop) and it is always fun to start something new.  Our program this year is Anthologie (by Southern Charm Quilts) and the ladies talked about what that word means, and how it applies to our quilting.  An anthology is a collection and this pattern pulls together a collection of traditional blocks (flying geese, Dresden, strip piecing, etc.) and different techniques, but pushes us to interpret them in a new way. 

After the intro, I began to rethink my background choice. This first month is working on a pieced background for the applique section of the quilt, and instead of one single pale grey fabric (my original choice) I am adding a bit more color variety. I realized quickly that using just 1 color in a pieced background was kind of a wasted opportunity.  So, I bought a 1/2 yard each of 5 other pale colors for that variety which should provide much more depth and interest. 

There will be more RSC and QOV sewing this week. I prepped some blue RSC blocks over the weekend to refill those design boards that I had emptied last week.  And there are a few QOV blocks already waiting on the design board.

And I hope to make progress on the Bonnie Hunter mystery since the reveal was posted on Friday.  The colors are so pretty this year, and I actually am using her colors. So far I have 1 of each block made.  But lots of the units making up these blocks are ready to go.

  The Pin Cushion is doing the PHD (Projects Half Done) challenge again this year.  It has been a good incentive for me to finish those UFOs, WIPs, and PIGs that are abundant in my sewing space.  Each year a prize is offered to anyone finishing all 12 items on the list kept at the store.  I've done that 3 years in a row now.  Can I make it 4 years?

I already have a UFO list that I keep each year, based off the old APQ UFO Challenge.  They no longer draw a number for the month however.  It works for me anyway - but with 3 items listed each month.  I have the PHD list priority project listed with an asterisk to remind me where my priority is each month.  Then there is a secondary UFO or WIP to try to make progress on.  And last there is a PIG each month, which I select at the beginning of the month based more on the season or the RSC color. The PIG spot leaves room for those squirrels/new projects that just pop up through the weeks.  

One UFO I added to this year's PHD list is the Farm Girl Vintage quilt.  This project box has been sitting for several years full of 12" blocks from both of Lori Holt's Farm Girl books.  Our Sew Vintage group worked our way through both books when they first came out.  I got crazy and made every single block in both 6" and 12" (finished) sizes, using my 30s reproduction stash.  I used all of the small blocks right away in a quilt that was finished at the time.  Then I pulled out the barn block and farm animal blocks and made another quilt - also done.  But - there are still 45 blocks in that project box - enough for a big quilt or 2 small ones.  Time to empty that box, so it's on my PHD list to finish before the end of the year. 

So - here is my PHD list for 2026 . . . containing a mix of flimsies, block sets, kits, and things with only the fabric gathered. 

• Jackrabbit Stars - fabric gathered
• Cactus in the Cabin - flimsy
• Kisses From Heaven - kit
• Beach Bums - kit
• Blockheads 6 QOV - blocks are made
• Farm Girl - blocks are made
• Brown Contessa - flimsy
• Triple Triangle - flimsy
• Snowdrift - kit
• Windy Day- fabric gathered
• Shadow Stars QOV - blocks are cut out
• Zipper - flimsy

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog