Getting ready for some weekend sewing

After work yesterday afternoon, I picked up 2 quilts from the quilter, and I'm hoping to get the binding made for them this morning so I have binding to do while watching TV later this weekend.

And I kitted up 2 presentation pillowcases for our Quilt of Valor group.  With some leftovers, I made 3 quick Patriotic Stars blocks for a future QOV to add to the stack we have gathered so far.  I think I'll add some of these blocks to my February goal list.  They are quick to make and we do need more to finish a quilt top.  

Our February color for Rainbow Scrap Challenge was announced this morning - YELLOW!  Another bright cheerful color!  That makes me happy.  So I'm off with my morning coffee, to play in the sewing room for the morning. 

A big basket

A big basket of scraps is currently sitting in the middle of my sewing room - and it’s mocking me every time I walk in.  I’m almost afraid to dig into this. 

This basket is about 20” deep and it’s packed full of scraps.  It was the one scrap bin I didn’t dump out and sort by color a couple of years ago.  Nothing new has been added to it recently, which is good, I think.  But I’m working on goals for February, and emptying this basket needs to be on that list.

Gnomes with red hats

 Gnomes seem to be all the rage lately, and I've finally joined the fun by making the Twister Gnomes table runner.  

This runner is currently on the top of my treadle machine cabinet.  It turned out pretty cute, although I'm not completely happy with my quilting.  I actually followed the pattern and did parallel lines of quilting down the length, but not stitching over the gnomes themselves.  It's OK, but could have been better.  And it's really ugly on the back because I used the grey thread that matches the top but really stands out on the red and black backing fabric. And not in a good way.  

More scrappy blocks, acronyms, and organizing

Blossom Time blocks have become my Leader/Ender project lately.  Over the weekend I made 8 more of the individual tulips.  And now I've assembled "quad" numbers 8 and 9.   

These are only 13.5" square right now, so I'll just keep making them until I have enough for a good sized quilt.  I've been using up a variety of background scraps - white, beige, small prints.  Whatever is handy in the scrap bin ends up in the tulip blocks and in the narrow 1" sashing strips. 

One pink Twinkle Star block joins the collection this month.  This makes 15 of these blocks total so far, including the ones I made in 2020.

In the most recent Quiltmaker magazine Bonnie Hunter's column featured this scrap block.  She calls it Around the Corner, which is appropriate, as the side sections are sewn on by going "around" the center.  The first seam is actually done as a partial seam.  The finished size is 6".  I only made 1 of these just to try it out.  BH had the center square the same as those corner background triangles, but there was this cute little black and white elephant square on top of the pile, so I used it instead of white.  It's pretty cute, but I'm not sure yet if I'll make more.  It's hanging on the edge of my design wall for now.

As I've worked on scrappy blocks a lot this month you would think that my scrap bins would be diminished.  But you would be wrong.  I swear they are fuller than when I started.  My pink/red/orange bin is definitely worse, but maybe the scraps are just "fluffier" because I've been digging for the pinks.  While driving on Monday I got to thinking that maybe I need to sort those 3 colors and separate them.   

On the organizing front there are no pictures of success to show but I haven't been idle this week.  I've gone through my "GIFT" basket that was overflowing with patterns I've torn from magazines or printed from the Internet and saved as ideas for "Some Day".  GIFT is a new acronym I saw recently - Great Ideas For Tomorrow!!  Another hilarious acronym and it reminds me that I need a better system for keeping those ideas all together.  

I sorted out lots of patterns I'm sure I'll never make and added them to my donation box.  And I pitched about 5 pounds of paper printouts that also would never likely become projects.  

That basket is no longer overflowing because I only kept the things I really felt I might actually make.  Yay!!  It sure felt good to go through that messy pile and get rid of LOTS of the paper that had accumulated.  My "word" for 2021 is SIMPLIFY, and getting rid of excess patterns is another small step toward that goal.  

Sew Together bag #16

 Check it off the PIG list for 2021.  

This is my 16th Sew Together bag.  It's a Laurel Burch cat print from years ago.  I really love her art so I've been "hoarding" a couple of fabrics to use for something special.  I guess this qualified as special.

The rest of the fabrics in this one are batiks.  Orange makes the ends of the bag really stand out, and the deep purple of the edge bindings calm it all down.  

Next . . . the navy blue bag.  But maybe not right away.  

Design Wall Monday - January 25

 The Gnomes are all blanket stitched finally, and the runner is now sandwiched and ready to quilt.  Normally the blanket stitching wouldn't have taken so long.  But 4 different thread colors, and those little wispy beard edges slowed down the process.  I think the grey thread I used to quilt the snowflake runner will be perfect for this one too. 

A bold red and black backing was pulled from the stash.  I do wonder what I originally bought that for since there was about 3 yards of it.  It's always good to find something in the stash that works for a backing.  Even the batting was a scrap left over from another quilt.  This will be my main goal for this week - quilting and binding this Gnome table runner.

I'm linking up with:
https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Digging into the pink

 January has been the month to "think pink" for Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year.  And I did a LOT of sewing with my pink scraps.  Here are a few of the blocks I made so far this month.  Aren't they cheerful?  

However - it doesn't seem like I made much of a dent in the scrap bin.  I think those scraps multiply in the dark every night.  There is one more week in January, so I need to dig a little deeper into those pink scraps and use up a few more.  

I'm linking up to:
https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/