Mail Call Monday - Anchor Swap Edition

Welcome to another edition of Mail day Call Monday!!  Not long ago, I posted THIS Mail Call Monday Edition featuring a darling little deconstructed shirt.

Here's the fabric from the shirt:

I like to reciprocate when someone mails me something out of the goodness of their heart.  That is how the following mug rug came to be.

It's started with color selection...

Found a long lost item, which you can read about HERE:

It went through several iterations at my Bee's Sew Day...

Random:

All lined up in rows:

Before landing on this design:

And ended with this "wonky" Pecking Order-inspired mug rug:

I hope Cherie likes it!!  I sent it off on Monday last week.  Cherie should have gotten it on Thursday or Friday, but I haven't heard back.  I'll update this post when I do.

UPDATE...

Here's what Cherie had to say:

Hi Joy.....thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!!!   We were gone on a little summer get-a-way and when we picked up our mail from the  neighbors, the squishy from you had arrived.  I absolutely love it and the colors are PERFECT!  You nailed it :)

Thank you so much 

Cherie

My response:

I wonder if you might be away. That's for letting me know that it arrived safely. SEW glad you like it!!

Joy

(Hopefully, she can read auto correct gibberish... Or at least, figure out what it was SUPPOSED to have said.  Ugh!!!)

Until next time...
Experiment with SCRAPS!!!

Sew Some Love - Quilty Girl QOV Style

Welcome to another edition of Sew Some Love Sunday!!  This is the space where I tell you about the good works that YOU can choose to support.  I realize that you MIGHT know all about it.  But, you may not "be in the loop."  That's where I come in!

In case you haven't heard...

Who?  My friend Alycia recently put out a call for participants.

What??  She is hoping to recruit donors.

Why???  To amp up support for her August/September 2019 Block Drive for the Colorado Quilt of Valor program.

Where????  Read all about it @ Alycia Quilts.

When!!!  No later than September 30, 2019

It's also the blog post series where I let you know what good quilty things I have been working on.  This week, it just happens to be a BIG 'ole block for Alycia!  :o))

First, I sorted through my big Patriotic Scrap Basket:

When that didn't turn up all of the required pieces, I dug into my small Red Scrap Basket:

Next, I cut all of the appropriate scraps:

Once the cutting was done, the 18" block went together in a snap.

Here's an overview of the process...

Absolutely ANY quilter can make a Rail Fence block (or 12!!)  I started with the strips shown in the photo above.

From them, here are the Rails that I made:

Scrappy.  Of course!  Because... That's how I roll.

After that, it was on to the BIG block assembly...

Laying out the rows:

Stitching together into halves:

At last, creating a GIANT square like any other 16-Patch:

Well, except for the GIANT part!  That was NEW for me.  And kind of nice, too.  You wouldn't need to make very many in order to have a good sized quilt.

There you have it one Aug/Sept19 QOV block, ready to wing it's way across the country to Alycia's Quilt Ranch.  If YOU are SEW inclined, give it a try!  I'm sure she would be thrilled to get another 'squishy' (or 50) in her mailbox.

Disclaimer:  It may (or may NOT) measure EXACTLY 18.5"!!

Bonus:  There's even a bit of Light/Bright BLUE
in honor of my RSC Quilter friends.

Please note:  I'm joining Cynthia
@ Quilting is more fun that Housework
for her Oh Scrap! link-up.

Until next time...
Sew Some Love!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC19 - Week 33

Welcome to Week 33 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  It's hard to believe that it's August already.  The summer is quickly coming to a close.  (In the northern hemisphere, as one reader was quick to point out.)  Our assignment from Angela is to sew with Light/Bright BLUE scraps this month.

Here's how my week went...

SUNDAY - I spent the morning catching up on what the other RSC participants were up to last week.  A meeting kept me from following all the links yesterday.

Speaking of my Bee Meeting...

Yesterday, I added made a length of Light BLUE binding from scraps given to me by a friend some time ago.  Thank you, Dee Dee, I have enjoyed using bits and pieces from the baggie of scraps from your stash!  The binding was sewn onto my current Guild Donation Quilt at my Bee Sew Day yesterday:

I finally got around to releasing last week's Design Floor Friday post.  It's title was transformed due to the delay.

MONDAY - I've been a good little RSC Quilter today.  I got out the baggie of Light/Bright BLUE fabric scraps that I kitted up last week and sewed them into one Scrappy Susannah block for the Guild BOM:

I also cut scraps for Libby's Simple Tiny Tuesday block:

TUESDAY - Tonight was the night for my Evening Bee.  I shared this recent Donation Quilt finish...

... Trimmed up some scraps for use in September's Guild Block of the Month program...

... And spotted some Light/Bright BLUE to share with the RSC Quilters for August's Color of the Month:

Thanks to Kate @ Life in Pieces, when I got home, I sorted half a bag of scraps:

Some of them even went in the giveaway bag!  :o))

WEDNESDAY - For those of you who have been waiting for it, I released the promised Expo Quilt edition of Wonderful Wednesday today.

Here's what else happened...

Knit Group was not very productive, as coffee ended up being followed by shopping and a trip to the nail salon:

My friend needed a manicure and my toe nails wanted a color change.  I found a closer shade of Tiffany BLUE to coordinate with the fingernails.  My heels wanted a pedicure and the new guy at Uptown Nails did a fabulous job (of not tickling my feet!)

At the Outlet Mall, I only bought what I went for, but did come home with a beautiful new sweater, thanks to Hilary's handiwork:

The is the Color Block Cardigan by Chaiki Hayaski, knit sans color blocking in Wolle's Color Changing Cotton yarn.  Elisabeth's color offerings are prone to change with each release.  Madeira Stripes is colorway that Hilary used in this sweater.

I thought I might get to this earlier in the week, but...

After dinner, I sewed together Libby's Easy-Peasy Tiny Tuesday block for the RSC19 Sampler:

THURSDAY - I spent a portion of the morning at my Weekly Quilt Group.  The rest of the day was spent among scads of Light/Bright BLUE!!  Here is a sampling of items:

FRIDAY - How can another work week possibly have come to a close?!  YIKES!!!  Time flies (whether we are having fun or not.)

This afternoon, I released a new Design Floor Friday post.  This one details the finishing of this UFO:

On this evening's agenda???

August's Friday Night Sew-In.  Yay!!  I meant to pack a few projects last night, but...  I had to got to the airport to retrieve DS2, who was just getting home from his 2 week vacation in New York.

When I hurried out the door to head over...

I inadvertently left my machine's power cord and half of my projects at home.  Ugh!!

Fortunately, I was able to use a friend's machine to make this week's Tiny Tuesday block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge:

SATURDAY - Make time to visit the LINK PARTY over at Angela's So Scrappy blog.  If you like Light/Bright BLUE, you will NOT want to miss it.  There is sure to be PLENTY of inspiration for sewing your scraps into quilts.

Until next time...
Get SCRAPPY!!!

Design Floor Friday - Tales of a UFO Club Finish

Welcome to another issue of Design Floor Friday!  The saga of this quilt began in April 2018 and continued through LAST WEEK!!  It fought me every step of the way.  You may have seen the pictures near the end of THIS POST.  Alas, it is done.

Here's one shot as a reminder:

It went from this stage to a completed quilt in the span of a week, but getting it to that stage to ages.  Absolute AGES!!!  Can you say creative block?  I had it in a BIG way.

Anyway, I was busy loading the quilt a couple of weeks ago:

With the Cuddle fabric loaded, it was time to add the batting and quilt top:

The semi-custom freehand quilting went fairly quickly:

Until a thunderstorm and flash flooding shut down production:

Once the storm passed, I was back on track for a FINISH:

And then I got stuck on the lettering for adding the names...

First, I tried permanent marker on t-shirt material:

Thought about free-cutting the letters, but decided against it.  After that, I was ready to give up!!  Alas, that wasn't an option.

Next...

I measured, cut, and carefully inked the appropriate characters.  

Then...

There was some additional stitching to secure the hand lettered patches:

My RSC Quilter friends will notice some Bright BLUE highlighted as a nod to the Color of the Month.  NO Light BLUE in THIS quilt per a request from the bride!!  

The last step was squaring up and binding:

Sewn to the back...

... And stitched down on the front:

Viola'!!  I present the completed quilt:

~60 x 86

I've been showing it off in ALL of my various quilting groups.  My favorite comments were...

"Oh, Joy!  I think this is your best one yet."

To which others replied...

"You say that about EVERY one of of Joy's Tee Quilts!"

The cozy backing and the 4.8 pound quilt:

Now, all that remains is getting this very special quilt to the happy couple BEFORE their 1st wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks.  YIKES!!  Nothing like cutting it SEW close to the wire.

Sharing with TGIF Friday!

@ Alycia Quilts

and

Whooping it Up with Sarah

@ Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Until next time...

Quilting: A labor of LOVE!!!

Wonderful Wednesday - Sewing Expo Quilt Tour

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  Last week you SAW the loot in THIS POST, but now...

You want to see the quilts, too???

Here are some of the "booth" quilts that I found interesting or particularly liked for one reason or another...

My Raleigh friends:

Shopping with my travel companion:

A fellow Ravelry member tried to get out of the way of my photo of her Guild's gorgeous Raffle Quilt, but I was happy to put a face to the name and ravatar:

Where's Jenny???  She's in England, but I'm here:

We started with the baking challenge and wound our way through the rest of the collections...

And continued to my favorite section of the show...

Apparently, the display title of this section of antique patriotic quilts alluded my attention, but these were my favorites...

Another of my favorite sections...

We got sidetracked by this exhibit show...

... As well as a friend's purchases...

Before moving back to the National Park inspired quilts...

Then, it was back to the Strong Women exhibit...

I also really enjoyed the following exhibit because I have a collection of antique tops that I hope to quilt someday...

A few more of the quilts from the Strong Women display...

The final display on our tour had us 'bird watching'...

A couple more "booth quilts" caught my attention on the way out...

I hope you don't mind that I let the quilts do most of the talking.  I'm in a hurry to get back up to the studio this afternoon.  Here's hoping I find a way to stay out of trouble up there!

Until next time...
Observe quilts!!!