ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 13

Welcome to Week 13 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  The past couple of weeks have been spent in a fog.  I'm not sure if allergy season is kicking in or if I am suffering from waking up early too many days in a row...  All I know is that I'm TIRED and I want some SEWING TIME!!!

Week 13 went something like this:

Sunday:

This morning I woke up early to get DS2 off to a birthday party.  Yes.  It required waking up early!  My MIL was visiting (to get her taxes done) and instead of RSC sewing, I opted for working on Kennedy's Quilt in the afternoon.  The two outer columns on each side are sewn together now.

Monday:

This morning was another early morning.  DS2 had to get to school for Wind Ensemble practice. After work (and a late afternoon business meeting), I chose to make additional progress on K's Quilt. The central column is sewn.  It took some doing, but it's done.  Whew!!

Tuesday:

I was up early AGAIN!  DS2 needed to be AT school at 7:30 AM to catch the bus to MPAs... that's Music Performance Assessments for you non-musical types.  His band earned straight SUPERIORS!!!  Hooray for CRHS!!!

I worked late, did a grocery run, and met DH for dinner.  No time for RSC sewing then, but I was able to stitch down another 18" of binding on my Crumb Quilt.  It was in the car so I made use of my time while waiting for the buses to return.  (Can you see my halo from there?  I was feeling virtuous.)

In a fit of desperation, I went up to the sewing room upon returning home.  I should have gone straight to bed, but I just NEEDED a little time with my YELLOW scraps!!

What did you make, Joyful???

Well, since it was late, I needed something FAST.  I made ONE String block (and promptly went to bed!!!):

Wednesday:

I actually had time to go sew (but chose not to!)  I was feeling lazy and sat surfing the internet (however, I did manage to finish the notes from Saturday's quilt bee meeting.)

Thursday:

Actually, WENT to Quilt Bee this week.  That was followed by lunch and a meeting with a quilting/knitting friend.  I finished off the notes from Saturday's meeting and worked on 2 of my 4 commission quilts.  Not enough time in the day to do RSC sewing, too!

Friday:

I went to Knit Group and lunch then came home to finish my Design Floor Friday post.  I wanted to make excuses and play on the computer or get some work done on Kennedy's Quilt, however, I decided that I really NEEDED to make a few more YELLOW blocks!!  SEW... I headed up to the studio and... finished ONE Slab block:

This block was made from YELLOWS found in Thursday's haul mentioned in THIS post.

And prepped one Tiny Nine block to sew another day:

Prepped Tiny Nine block... oops!  I'll need to trim those squares from Diane before I can sew!

Saturday:

This morning, right after breakfast, I raced out the door to meet with my friend NeedleB with no time finish this post.  We were working at her house today.   I finished the binding on my Crumb Quilt today.  It's DONE!!!


Would YOU like to see???


Of COURSE you would!!!


Here's the obligatory rolled quilt photo:

Check out the quilt's finishing post for further details.

Saturday night, after the girls (I was at work) were in bed, I finally had time to finish this post and join the LINK PARTY over on the SoScrappy blog.  Head over to Angela's blog to see what YELLOW goodness all the RSC Quilters are working on!

In a few more days we'll be saying goodbye to YELLOW and hello to ???.  Only time will tell, but judging by Angela's page layout, I'm guessing that it's the color of my current nail polish.  We'll see!!  :o))

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

Design Floor Friday - {T-shirt} x 2 - Week 3

I was SO close to finishing Kennedy's T-Quilt last week.  SO CLOSE... but yet so far!!!

I made a few changes and here's what the design floor looked like:

What do you think???  It might need another revision.  (Hum the tune from Jeopardy...)





I'm feeling better about the layout and the color distribution now.  Time to begin the piecing!

Let's review:

1. The color distribution needed help (and still does.)
2. It was discovered that this would be an 8 ft. long wall hanging!
3. I went back to the drawing board.


I've done some editing and THESE shirts didn't make the cut:

I've also combined some of the smaller shirt squares (in an effort to fit as many shirts/designs as possible in quilt):

4 shirts into ONE...

3 shirts into ONE...

And 2 shirts into ONE!!! (Thanks for ignoring the fact that the photos are sideways.)

Presto, change-o!  NINE shirts into THREE!!!


The good news is that I've made further progress and ALL of the columns have been sewn:

The central panel is only about a half inch longer than the other pieces now.  I had to make some adjustments to make everything fit properly.

 Now to determine if it needs sashing...

Or not...

... since the central panel doesn't line up with the side pieces.  I can't decide.

What do YOU think???

Until next time...
Keep at it!!!  (Whatever IT is.)
:o))

Wonderful Wednesday on Thursday {Taking in MORE Strays}

I am overwhelmed by the generosity of my friend Diane H. who I met for coffee and a delivery this afternoon.

What delivery, Joyful???

She is cleaning out her studio and I am her current beneficiary.  I am SO EXCITED to be taking in MORE STRAYS!!!

Sorry, fellow Austerity Quilters!!  I've done it, AGAIN.  (In my defense) it's fabric in, but NO MONEY was exchanged. You SAID that it was perfectly within the Challenge guidelines for me to accept gifts of FREE fabric.)  I can't HELP myself!  I'm a softy when it comes to those poor unwanted fabric scraps.

I don't have time for photos, but wanted to post this VERY BIG THANK YOU to Diane!!!


For those of you who want to see the goods...  I'm right there with you!  I only had a moment to take a quick peek at the top layer.  I can tell you this much... she's been reading my blog and she included some amazing YELLOW fabrics that I can use on this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge sewing!


I'll try to add photos tomorrow.  Tomorrow is here and here are the photos that I promised:

 

A pile of random scraps.

A bundle of purple and red strips and bits from a Circle project.

More project bits!!  A Maple Leaf, a 9 - Patch, and a Log Cabin.

Leftovers from a Snake Trail quilt done in solids.

Four books that looked interesting. (Two others went back home with Diane!)

Don't laugh, Tiffany!! There was even a paper-pieced tree pattern and bits included in my haul.

AND...


A bag of lovely tropical colored, hand printed fabric squares from Candy at Quilt Bee today, too!!! (Thanks, Candy... and Dee Dee for rescuing them from the thrift store!!!)

Until next time...
Count your blessings!!!

Mail Call Monday - Winning Mail!!!

Some of you may have read the news last week...

I'm a WINNER!!!

Click HERE and go to the bottom of the post for details and follow the links.

In the meantime, feast your eyes on what came in today's mail... and be VERY jealous!!

TEN (10) incredibly beautiful hand dyed  FQs from Vicki Welsh.  You can find her blogging at Field Trips in Fiber or you can select your own rainbow of hand dyed originals in her Etsy shop.

Thank you, again, Vicki!!!

Now, I'm off to search for a special pattern for using these beauties.

Until next time...

Get lucky!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 12 . . . . . . {National Quilting Day}

Welcome to Week 12 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!!  I am hoping for more sewing time this week.  As you know, I was feeling under the weather last week.  Thank you to all who posted comments wishing me well.  It worked!!!  Those wishes really lifted my spirits, making me feel better.  :o))

Here's my RSC sewing report for YELLOW, Week 3:

On Sunday afternoon I drew the short straw and had to take DS1 back to college (while my husband did the pharmacy and grocery run.)  This is all I had time for upon my return:

One yellow crumb center for a Maverick Star block.

Monday, before Quilt Guild, I sewed star points for 2 Maverick Star blocks:

Tuesday...  HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

Found this adorable quilt on someone's blog. It had been nipped from elsewhere on the internet with no credit given. I think that I need to make this for my house!!!

See???  It looks JUST like me!!!

Oops!  Back to Tuesday... while taking a break from the T-shirt Quilt that I was working on, I trimmed up the star points on the 2 Maverick Star blocks that I made on Monday:

Wednesday, after work, I volunteered at DS2's school for a couple of hours.  Afterwards, I hurried home to prepare for a business meeting.  No time for RSC sewing... my YELLOW scraps will have to wait!  (I did get a bit of work done on Kennedy's T-shirt Quilt.)

Thursday, I go called in to work.  (So I did manage to get some hand stitching done on my Crumb Quilt binding!)  No RSC sewing on this day.  After work, I took dinner to DS2 who was at a Jazz Workshop in the same town.  Of course, I just HAD to stay for the concert!!!  :o))

Only ONE side and TWO corners separate me from a completed quilt!!!

Friday was another busy day.  The only thing that changed was that I was busy SEWING and turning the block parts made earlier in the week into these TWO Maverick Star blocks:

On Saturday morning I finished up this post and linked up with the RSC Quilters.  Find me at link number 11 this week.  After a quick shower, I raced off to my Quilt Bee meeting.  (Afterwards, I went on a secret mission.  Look for more on that in a few days.)

Until next time...
Go SEW!!!  It's National Quilting Day!!!

Design Floor Friday(On Saturday) - {T-shirt} x 2 - Week 2

Last week, you saw the beginnings of Kennedy's T-shirt Quilt.  In that post, I had gotten as far as THIS crazy jumble of squares on the design floor:

Since then...


I've done some math (without screaming, mind you!) and come to the conclusion that the layout pictured above will NOT work.

Why not, Joy???

The reason is simple really...


NO ONE  really needs an EIGHT foot tall WALL HANGING!!!  So...


I went back to the drawing board to come up with some changes and didn't get as far as I'd hoped.


Sorry!!!  I was too busy working to post this yesterday and too tired to post it last night.  At this point it will STILL be on the design floor NEXT week... so I'll show it to you then.

Until next time...
Happy Spring!!!

Wonderful Wednesday - Taking in Strays {Quilt Top sans Borders}

Welcome to the next edition of Wonderful Wednesday!

It's a GOOD day because:

Taking in Strays was determined to need no borders!!!

The process in that determination went something like this:

Last week was Spring Break for DS1 and he happened to wander into the sewing room one evening. We chatted for a bit and I threw the quilt top on the floor for him to see.  He immediately and emphatically stated, "I LIKE it."  (My boys tend to not get excited about things - so for him that was as good as an exclamation and a clear indication that HE should be the recipient of this quilt.)

So... He said he liked the quilt and followed that by asked, "Who made it???"

I told him that I made it.  To which he replied, "It doesn't look like one of your quilts."  I patiently explained that the blocks had been given to me and I added the plain squares.  To that he said, "THAT makes more sense and explains why it's not symmetrical."

Then we did our usual "quilting by committee" thing...

I brought out some border choices and he suggested that the quilt should be a wall hanging, as is. Given the options, I believe that was sound judgement.  So...

I laid out some binding selections and DS1 asked to see them on the opposite sides of the quilt.  (So I switched the position on the fabrics.)  He thought that was better, but then he asked if I have ever used two different fabrics to bind a quilt.  I said that I had and put one fabric on top of the other to create a faux-piped effect.  Apparently, that wasn't what he had in mind.

It turns out that what he has in mind is a bluer fabric for the binding on the bluer corner and a greener fabric for the binding on the greener corner.  My job will be to figure out how to make that happen!  (He did give "permission" to wrap the corners a bit, as opposed to ending at the miter with one color on one side of the miter and the other color on the second side of the miter.)

Edited to add something REALLY wonderful: 

When checking my email tonight, I saw the following subject line... Congratulations! You won day 5 of the Spring Cleaning Giveaway!

Here is the content of the message:

You won the purple and red Shades packs from Friday's drawing! Send me your address info and I'll get the fabric in the mail to you.

Thanks!

Vicki

Vicki Welsh

@ Field Trips in Fiber

Go check out her AMAZING hand dyed fabrics.

Until next time...
Happy Quilting!!!

Top o' the Mornin' to Ya!!

Skip the fact that it's already after noon.  LOL

I hope you are all having a Happy GREEN Day!!  Er... You might know that better as St. Patrick's Day!!!  I'll spare you a history lesson.  For me, it's a day/week/month to celebrate my favorite color.

Are YOU wearing your GREEN today???

I am!!

The photo below was taken on Saturday at a Donation Quilt Workshop, but I wore the jacket to Quilt Guild last night and I'm wearing the jacket again today.  (Truth be told, I'll probably be wearing it tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that, too!)

I made my Shamrock Surprise Jacket a number of years ago (back in the days spent working in my TINY sewing room - before the BIG move to my current studio.)  It only took a week from start to finish!  I was a woman on a mission. The fabrics jumped off the shelf and demanded to be turned into a jacket. RIGHT. THEN!!

I set aside another jacket that was in process and used the sweatshirt meant for it as a pattern for the cutting the batting scraps that I used inside this one.  On the outside, I used the surface to showcase a number of quilting designs that I use in finishing the quilts that I make.

When I wear it at the beginning of the month, I get comments like "That jacket will be GREAT for St. Patrick's Day."  When I wear it at the end of the month, I hear "That would have been PERFECT for St. Patrick's Day."

You know what???

This is my FAVORITE jacket and I will continue to wear it throughout the month of March!!

Wouldn't YOU?!?!?!

At the same time that I made the jacket, I also made my Shamrock tote bag that you can see peeking out between my Crumb quilt and my rain boots.  I use it ALL MONTH during March, too!!!

Until next time...
May the fabric in your stash always be fresh!!

Mail Call Monday - Read Me a Quilt

Welcome to another edition of Mail Call Monday!

Only "regular" mail to report this week.  However, the mail box was STILL happy on Saturday AND today!!!

Why, Joy???

Well, aren't YOU happy when a quilt magazine (or two) arrive in your mail box?!  :o))

That's what happened here.

On Friday, the mail carrier delivered the new issue of Quilting Arts magazine...

and today's mail included the latest (and my LAST... unless I renew my subscription soon!!) issue of Quilter's Newsletter.  It's the ONLY magazine subscription that I've kept through ALL my years of quilting.

If you don't subscribe to either of these publications, you can check them out at your local book seller or craft store.  The tech-savvy among us can probably figure out a way to view them online!  :P

Until next time...
Enjoy a quilt-y read!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 11

Welcome to Week 11 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!!  I hope to have a lighter schedule this week and hope to get MUCH more sewing done.  We'll see how THAT goes!  :o))

In the meantime, the flowers growing in my garden got the memo about the Color of the Month. These YELLOW daffodils began blooming BEFORE all of the snow and ice that we had two weeks ago and they are still going strong:

Oops!  Looks like I need to add more mulch!!!

Sunday afternoon, I thought I would get a head start on the week and went upstairs to get busy on these TWO String blocks:

Sunday evening, I was still feeling enthusiastic and made ONE Slab block:

Monday afternoon, I had a hair appointment right after work.  After that??  Nope!  No sewing.  I met with my friend Threebagsfulled to return her computer (and have a cup of coffee.)  DS1 is home for Spring Break and takes computer work whenever he can find it.

Monday night (after a dinner "date" with my boys) found me beginning this post... before I forgot what I did yesterday!  LOL

Angela was busy, too.  She posted the Monkey Wrench March Sampler block today.  If you haven't made one, follow the link and give her directions a try!

Tuesday, since I couldn't bring my sewing machine to DS2's Band Booster meeting, I got NO scrap sewing done.  (They REALLY need to change their policy!)

Wednesday, after work, I carved out a bit of sewing time and then it was off to the doctor with DS2.  DS1 went along for the ride so that he could get a hair cut before going back to school.  (Spring Break means lazy days for my little engineer... he actually dragged his butt out of bed for the late afternoon excursion!)

Not sure how I feel about so much BLUE in my YELLOW String block!!

Wednesday, before dinner, I got back to work on the String blocks that I started earlier.  Guess what?!  I finished TWO more String blocks:

Wednesday, after dinner, I pulled ONE Maverick Star block off my sewing machine ready for pressing and a snapshot:

Thursday afternoon, even though I worked late (on my day off), I went straight up to my sewing room to spend some time with my YELLOW scraps.  Here's what I made:

ONE String block and...

ONE Slab block.  :o))

On Friday, I actually took a Sick Day off from work.  This is an EXTREMELY rare occurrence!!! After how poorly I felt on Thursday evening, it was well warranted.  I stayed in bed most of the day, but managed to drag myself upstairs for a few minutes of sewing before dinner.  The result is THIS:

ONE yellow Tiny Nine!!!

Saturday, I finished up this post before heading off to another DOQ Donation Quilt Workshop (LATE, if at all!!).  I'm thinking that NO scrap sewing will get done today.  I'll let you know if that changes.  While you're waiting to hear back from me, go over to Angela's So Scrappy blog to see what all the other Rainbow Scrap Quilters have been up to this week.  I'll be hanging out at link number 17 this week. :o))

** Remember that LIGHTER schedule that I mentioned for the week... Didn't happen!!!  I feel lucky to have accomplished as much as I did.  We'll see what next week has in store...

Until then...
Get Scrappy!!!

P.S.  Happy Pi Day!!  (3.14 15)

Design Floor Friday - {T-shirt} x 2

It's been another busy week in my world.  Not much new going on.  The design floor was empty until late yesterday afternoon.  Now it's filled with Kennedy's T-shirt quilt.

There was MUCH grumbling as I began laying out the blocks.  I finally got them all out and stared at the would-be quilt for a while.  It's looking good, but I wasn't happy with the flow of colors. Unfortunately, I couldn't decide what needed to be moved.

You KNOW that something ALWAYS needs to be moved, right?!?!

Here's what I've come up with, so far:

How does it look to you??

DS1 (who is home on Spring Break) took a look at the layout and said that the blues needed to be separated and there was too much white in the center for good balance.

Hooray!!  You've GOT to love "quilting by committee."  LOL!!

The color distribution is better, but still not "right."

After making the changes that DS1 suggested, I solicited the help of DS2.  He tends to be less critical than DS1 (but still has a good eye.)  He thought that the positioning was fine.  So...

I trimmed up a few more shirts.  It's SO much easier to see how a layout will come together when things are cut to the proper size!  The challenge (for me) comes in with the few shirts that HAVE to remain a larger size to keep the design intact.

Is that REALLY necessary???

It may be.  (I know that I tend to like the design to be kept whole.)  Perhaps, I can "edit out" a portion of those large shirts without compromising the integrity of the design.  I'll have to stare at the quilt a while longer before making that decision.

I wanted to keep working... really, I did.

Unfortunately, by that time I was beginning to feel TERRIBLE!!!  I've been fighting a cold all week and last night I felt sicker than I have been in quite some time.  The sniffling.  The coughing...

Ugh!!

What is a sick quilter to do???

It was time to admit defeat!!  So... I headed off to bed.  The family will just have to step over the quilt parts that are scattered all over the floor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :o))

Those quilt parts will remain until I can get to the doctor to see JUST. HOW. SICK. the quilter is.

Until next time...
Be well and keep quilting!!!

Mail Call Monday - Bartering and Gifting

Welcome to the second edition of Mail Call Monday!!!

Last Thursday I had a happy mail box.  When I arrived home from work, I found not ONE, but TWO packages!

Any guesses what my first thought was???

What, Joyful??

My first thought was, "Oh, no!  What did I order NOW?!?!"  LOL

Turns out that NEITHER of the packages contained items that had been ordered!

This decidedly WET package...

Contained a (well protected) bartered shawl:

Beautiful, soft, squooshy shawl... Thank you, OrangeSmoothie!!!

And...

This (nice, dry) package...

Held a gifted set of quilt borders:

Thank you, Laura!!  These borders make me want to start my Carolina Christmas quilt RIGHT NOW!!

Until next time...
Be grateful
(I am!!  Thanks again, OrangeSmoothie and Laura!!)