Another Try at Scrappy

I have never made crumb blocks, but I was sent some from a fellow member of the Sunshine On-line Quilt Guild ( a group that makes donation quilts for children).  My first try at working with these blocks was a strippy quilt described at this post and shown below:

 

Digging into the box she sent again, I had some more of two sizes of blocks to work with.  So I decided to use the rectangle arrangement like the Boston Commons look with the smaller blocks in the center and the larger ones to make up the outside border:

There were cute square-in-a-square blocks with chili peppers in the center that had a dark blue background, so I used a dark blue for the stop borders.  I like that contrast.  Sometimes I use black fabric to make colors pop, but I like the richness of the navy in this one.  I might add one more border with colorful fabric or I might not.

 

Linking up later today to Quilting is more fun than Housework’s Oh Scrap!

 

And speaking of colors that pop, my neighbor has two orchids in her backyard that are blooming – these photos were taken at dusk but aren’t these still gorgeous despite the low light?!!

 

Easing into Scrappy - Part 2

Yesterday I described my current stash and scrap system (such as it is).  I expect it will not change all that much, but I am devising some ways of actually seeing what I have and some ideas for how to move forward.  If you didn't read it, catch that post here.

I had received some wonderful 2.5 inch squares from several members of my Sunshine On-line Quilt Guild (thank you, thank you going out to Beth, Joann and Cathy L!).  Those will be my starting point.  I know I can work with these and find some sustainable ways to work with this size leftovers from my work.

 

just some of the squares next to my sewing machine

I don’t want to make her blush, but I have found Cynthia Brunz’ website Quilting is More Fun Than Housework to be so inspirational for how to use scraps/yardage and have the quilts come out looking beautifully pulled together.  I recently went to her page for the Scrap-a-Palooza Quilt Gallery where she shows the step-by-step progress of some scrap projects and found the Zig-Zag Quilt (May 2014).  Please follow the links above to her site if you are looking for some great ideas.

Since I wasn’t sure if I had enough squares to make Cynthia’s Zig-Zags right off the bat, I switched over to this pattern that has smaller centers:

 

Pattern called Field Day

It is from the book "Seemingly Scrappy" by Rebecca Silbaugh:

I will go back and make Cynthia’s pattern after I have cut all of my own leftover binding pieces and created a special place for 2.5 inch squares.  Then I know I’ll have enough and the colorful squares will look wonderful in her design!

And this is the work in progress while I was auditioning for the big squares:

 

the blue in the background wasn't right and the yellow was too washed out

but the black with multi-color was just right!

I still have to rearrange some blocks to distribute the logs that were slightly lighter (I used everything from my stash after all) – but, I’m in love with it!  And they look way better after quilting...

Linking up to Oh Scrap!  on Sunday.  Check out what ideas others are coming up with for using their scraps (see the button on my sidebar).

Busy as a Bee in the Sewing Room

I’ve been happily sewing away in the New Year.  I have vowed that 2015 will be the year that I use my fabric stash and scraps to make interesting quilts for children.

This is a low-contrast top I made on New Year’s Day from fabric I’ve had for several years.  The two colorways of the floral fabric look brighter in person and I like the design called Chain Reaction from a recent Fons and Porter Magazine.

I  joined the Stashbusters Yahoo Group for more incentive to dig into that stash of mine.  My first step was to officially join their 2015 UFO Challenge … and I actually dug out a few of those UFOs and counted them and sent in my entry.  Wahoo!  That’s progress already because I know now that I have too many UFOs (well, you would have thought I’d have known that before now, wouldn’t you?).  But now they are organized and readily available for me to sew them up.  And I joined the Numbers Game whereby they draw numbers and you work on that number from your list should you choose to do so.

The first numbers drawn were 8 and 35.  My #8 was a homemade kit for a kid-size Warm Wishes design using fabric printed with tropical fish.  It was in pieces before and I sewed up the top today:

And my #35 was strips that I had cut to make Mary Johnson’s Quick Strippie.  She says it is her favorite quick donation quilt and it really is so easy that I can’t imagine why mine is still a UFO.  Anyway, I sewed the strips all together today to make this quilt top (it’s actually straight, but I didn’t take the time to straighten it out on the rug):

 

The star print and the checkerboard are actually a dark Hunter green

I have desperately wanted to get rid of that checkered fabric that makes me dizzy looking at it – what was I thinking when I bought it?!!  They have to be quilted and bound before they are considered finishes for the UFO Challenge, so I have some work to do.

I also have a new button on my sidebar, Oh Scrap, that links to a blog that will have linky parties beginning on Jan 4^th where people will share their creative ideas.    Cynthia Brunz sponsors the linkies and has a blog titled “Quilting is More Fun Than Housework” (you had me at the title, Cynthia!), also with numerous ideas for how to use those scraps.

So 2015 should be great fun in the Sewing Room!

Whipped Up a Scrappy

Sometimes in the quilting world you just want to work up a top so easy-peasy that you don’t even have to think.  Can I get an *Amen*?!!

This Totally Scrappy top filled that bill for me last night.  I won all of these blocks in a lottery and I just had to lay them out and sew rows and *whoopee!* a finished top.  The blocks were from the Quilter’s Cache website, a design called Scrapbagger:

http://www.quilterscache.com/S/ScrapbaggerBlock.html

And for a totally off-topic picture, I saw this little thing hanging in a scrub forest  made up of oaks, cypress, wax myrtles, palmetto palms, etc.

In our area, these are usually for early detection of the Mediterranean fruit fly that can cause very serious harm to our food supply.  Although we often think of how these little devils can destroy the extremely valuable citrus crops, they actually attack over 250 different fruits, vegetables and nuts, including tomatoes, peppers, guavas and mangoes.   This is a close-up of the trap, but it was being used in California against the threat of Light Brown Apple Moths ... doesn’t sound likely here.

Because they weren’t near citrus trees, I can’t help but wonder what they are targeting.  I didn’t find anything on the State Agriculture website, but I’ll watch the newspaper to see if anything comes up.  Just curious, don’tcha know??

Quilting Today

I’m chipping away at the stack of tops to be quilted.  I quilted this one today and will add it to the stack that needs binding.  I have three more tops ready to be quilted, but at least the stacks are changing!

And I added another row onto the novelties top I was working on – of course, I had to move some blocks around to spread the colors our more evenly when I added these new block fabrics.  I’m going to have to give up on the layout soon, and get to sewing the pieces together.  I keep thinking that there is that perfect combination of colors, but if I persist in that thought, I’ll go crazy (ok – no laughing - might be almost there anyway!).

On Friday, Oct 21^st, Heidi’s Friday Night Sew-In will be in session.  Hop on over to Bobbi’s  blog, Crafty Vegas Mom, to sign up.  Bobbi is Heidi’s co-host and cousin and she will be hosting the Sew-In this Friday.  There will be lots of prizes, so join in!

Another Challenge

In keeping with my "I will not make New Year's Resolutions" resolution, I am taking part in another Challenge to make sure I keep on track with getting things done next year and using up the fabric in my stash.  The last challenge that I posted about was Judy Laquidera's UFO challenge and this challenge is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

See this site (and I have a button on my sidebar):

http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/2010/12/rainbow-scrap-challenge.html

Superscrappy will post a different color selection each month and regularly post suggested designs to work with - no quilt police and no hard and fast rules!  If you have enough stash to sort some scraps by color, go ahead and get started.  I have some limitations (like I don't have much orange), but I can work around that. 

With both of these complementary challenges, I should be getting some projects completed and using up some stash, too.  I'm getting organized for a fresh New Year!  I'll keep ya posted ...

Tonight's Quilt Top Finish

The quilt top that I put together this evening was made from blocks I received in a block swap and is from a block pattern called The Dandy Block.  The block pattern can be found on Marcia Hohn’s website, called the Quilter’s Cache^®.   That site has more quilt blocks than you can shake a stick at.  If you’re a quilter and haven’t visited, please take time to go see it … you’ll be glad you did!

Here’s the link:

http://www.quilterscache.com/

And here’s my Dandy Quilt Top:

Made with 1930s reproduction fabrics - just like grandma used to make!

And It's Done

And this is the final picture of Pink Posies - it is now bound in dark green and happily packed in a box.  Now I can move onto something I like more!

This one is designated to go to Wrap Them in Love.  To get more information about this organization, check out this link:
http://www.wraptheminlove.org/

Not a Favorite

Did you ever make a quilt that you ended up not liking at all?  I was given a quilt kit that had lots of pink fabrics in it and was supposed to make up a simple brick-type top.  Well, (1)  I've never cared for pink and (2) I didn't like the mushed-up, messy looking brick construction.  But, since I've had this kit taking up space for over a year, I decided to make it up into something and give it away.

I wanted to use up all of the fabric, so I selected this pattern and added wide borders to the top and bottom:

http://buttonberry.blogspot.com/2011/05/stashbuster-quilt-tutorial.html

Then, I didn't like the plain borders so I added the posy appliques.  But, I still wasn't feelin' the love for this top.  It made into a quilt that was larger than I usually make and it was awkward to move around at any stage (even as a flimsy).  I have been dragging my feet getting it done, but I finally finished the quilting today.  I will put the binding on it tonight and put it into the donation box.

I do like some of the fabrics (the paisley and the small calicoes), mainly because they have a considerable amount of green in them.  Here's a closeup of some of the squares.

I know there is not a thing wrong with this quilt ... and I'm actually happy to know that someone, somewhere, will be very glad to get this.  Someone who likes pink ... !!

Sandhill Cranes

We have a lot of sandhill cranes in our area and they are fearless.  While majestic, they will fly in front of cars, walk around people and endanger their lives at the drop of a hat.  They have a loud honking kind of croak that is unmistakable.  Yes, we do see the babies quite a bit, too.

Today we were at the local grocery store in a strip shopping center and one of these beauties was two feet away from the front automatic doors and croaking up a storm.  People just walked past him and into the store (with a few trying to distinguish if he was real or a Disney creation - after all, this is Florida!).  When we came out, he was a few doors down, still looking for a hand-out apparently.

My thanks for the above photo to http://www.photolibrary.com/

And, as an aside, I finished quilting the Stars of Avon (Quiltmaker Magazine, Mar/Apr 2004, designed by Avon Leekley of Culver City, CA - modified to include my own scrappy borders) - I really like it and, of course, I wonder now what took me so long to put it together!