Scraphappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 22

Welcome to Week 22 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!!  This week is not a typical week for me.  Memorial Day holiday may have added some sewing time, but along about Wednesday, RSC production ended for the week.  Alas, also for the month.

Here's the overview of the week:

SUNDAY morning came and went.  I was feeling a bit lazy, so instead of making the trip up to the studio, I started this post and visited all of the lovely bloggers who joined last week's RSC Link Party.  Later, instead of heading out to the grocery store, I made ONE Slab Block:

MONDAY (in America) we celebrated Memorial Day.  Thank you to all who gave their lives in the name freedom and patriotism.  I took advantage of my day off (schools and offices are closed)  by sleeping late and meeting a friend for lunch.  I also remembered that I had neglected to post the fabric "basket" that I made on Sunday:

TUESDAY, after work, I packed my suitcase for tomorrow's trip... and finished up the embellishment on a couple of quilts:

Shown with the fabric "baskets" that I made over the Memorial holiday weekend.

WEDNESDAY, after work, the family and I left for Florida.  Watch out, Angela!  Here we come!!!

Oops!!  While we were traveling, Angela made the Color Announcement for June.  (As usual) I totally missed it!!

On THURSDAY morning, we woke up in South Georgia, headed for the east coast of Florida, but by the afternoon I realized that we were on the WRONG coast!!  We'll just have to visit with friends and family (and spare ScrapHappy the trouble of cleaning up for guests.)  :P

FRIDAY dawned to find a FREE day.  If you discount the tour of USF and taking the boys go-cart racing at one of the only indoor tracks in the area!  (Let's not forget the boardwalk hike in the swampy park that we squeezed in between lunch and the races.)  We were supposed to go rock climbing at one of the only rock climbing gyms in the ENTIRE state of FLORIDA, but we were all too tired after our racing experience.  Who KNEW that carting was SO exhausting!!

Some of my favorite shots from our FREE day in TAMPA:

 A potted bougainvillea on the campus of USF.

A walk along the boardwalk through Lettuce Leaf Park.

So glad that the gator is sleeping on a log (instead of trying to eat us!)

There was even GREEN at the indoor go-cart track! (The GREEN track was the FAST track.)

Relaxing in the GREEN-tinged water of the hot tub.  It was late in the evening and our feet could barely carry us another step. Ahhhhh!!!

On SATURDAY morning, I woke I thinking that there was something that I needed to do.  Guess what??  It didn't take me long to figure out that it was RSC Day!!.  While the RSC Quilters were busy linking-up with Angela, I was busy getting ready for a party.  My day will be spent with extended family at a 50th wedding anniversary.  Congrats! Grammy & Grandpa O.

Here is the inventory of GREEN month's block production:

FOUR (4) Maverick Star Blocks:

EIGHT (8) Slab Blocks:

NINE (9) String Blocks:

TWENTY-ONE (21) Tiny Nines:

For a total of FORTY-TWO (42) GREEN blocks during the month of May.

And... a fair amount of trimmings, too:

Let's not forget the monthly composite photo:

I'm ready for BLUE and LINKing up, too!!  Head over to see what other GREEN wonders await with all of the other RSC Quilters.  COOL!!!  You'll find me at link number 22 for Week 22 of the RSC.

:o))

Hope you don't might that I tallied up the month a couple of days early. I knew there wouldn't be time when I got home from this trip.  Another busy week is just around the corner.  Are YOU feeling BLUE???

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

May = GREEN = Productivity

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 21

Welcome to Week 21 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!!

This week got off to a great start (even though I didn't have much time for sewing.)

SUNDAY came and went in a blur.  Angela posted another TUTORIAL for the 2015 Sampler - Green Block 2 - Split Pinwheel.  If you haven't made one, follow the link and give it a try!  No time for that for me today... I spent all afternoon gathering items to take to Quilt Guild tomorrow night.

Why, Joyful???

Because our Quilt Bee IS the program!!!

Gathering, checking, packing...

MONDAY, I obviously had no time for RSC sewing.  (See Sunday's entry.)  Here we are on stage preparing to begin our presentation:

TUESDAY afternoon, between work and MORE work, I trimmed a few GREEN scraps.  Significant, but not photo worthy.  When I got home, I thought that I would sort the scraps that were gifted to me last week, but the bag was DOWNSTAIRS and I was UP... so I did some RSC sewing instead!!

I finished ONE String Block:

And ONE Slab Block:

WEDNESDAY was filled with work.  For a paycheck and for personal satisfaction (or because the quilters are coming over tomorrow!) :P


THURSDAY morning, I hosted my weekly quilt group.  I have a love/hate relationship with my turn to host.  I love having my friends over, but I hate the feeling of my home not being as neat as my fellow quilters' homes.  They CLAIM not to feel that way, but I have 2 teen aged boys and 2 part time jobs, so it's hard for me to make housekeeping a priority.

After lunch, I put away my Show and Tell then putzed around in the studio.  I trimmed and sorted some GREEN scraps, then I prepped some Tiny Nines... NINE of them, to be exact.  LOL

Before heading off to DS2's Spring band concert, I...  have NO idea what took up my time, but I can tell you that it wasn't RSC sewing!!!


On FRIDAY, I was gone all morning.  I love Knit Group, but it cuts into my QUILTING time.

When I got home, there was "paperwork" to be done before heading out to dinner with the guys and more of the same until bed time.  Although, I did manage to take a quick photo of the trimmings that I took care of on Tuesday afternoon:

Look for that bottom fabric in tomorrow's entry!

SATURDAY morning I happily snoozed, with no alarm to wake me.  The afternoon was spent quilting with a friend.  I tackled a few different projects, starting with some straightening up to give Needleb a place to sew.

Next, I moved on to a bit of cutting.  The prep work that I did earlier in the week didn't include any white background squares.  After cutting the 36 squares that I needed, I sewed the NINE Tiny Nines that were shown laid out on Thursday:

LOOK!!  Needleb liked my Tiny Nines so much that she is making her own:

I also finished up ONE Maverick Star block:

Then I worked on a batch of fabric "baskets" for storing additional scraps.  Pinning and sewing:

Presto - chango!  Turning it right-side out:

ONE "basket" for PINK scraps:

The baskets begin like THIS:

And ONE "basket" for Multi-colored prints:

After completing TWO of the fabric baskets and dinner, I set about finishing this post.  Follow this LINK to see what all of the other RSC Quilters have been up to.  You'll find me at link number 27 this week.  Go on!  What are you waiting for?  They've got some REALLY great projects!!!

I took longer than expected working on this post, so...  the third basket didn't get put together...   Oh, well...  Tomorrow is another day!

Angela reminded us that there is still ONE more week of GREEN sewing remaining.  Unfortunately, I only have HALF of the week to work on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.  Don't worry!  I'll still try to check in with you all, though.

Oh!!  Did you spot that trimmed scrap???  I've already put it to use.  It was just the right size for the center of this week's Maverick Star block!!!  See!?!?  I told you those trimmed squares would come in handy for future sewing projects.  I just didn't realize I would be using it so soon!  :o))

ETA... Thank you to Carol at Quilted Fabric Art for reminding me that I neglected to credit my source for the fabric baskets!!  Several years ago, I came across the Fabric Basket Tutorial found at sometimecrafter.com to create my scrap storage containers.  There is one BIG difference!!!  I don't use interfacing or batting in my baskets... they are stuffed with fabric, anyway (and I wanted to be able to fold them up when I use up all of the scraps!)  Plus, I prefer the soft-sided look.

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

Design Floor Friday - Return of the Travelers

This is not your average Design Floor Friday post.  If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you may be aware that 8 of my quilts went on field trip at the end of 2014.  That trip was extended through the end of March and the quilts were returned to me sometime in April.

You may also recall that, during the month of April, those travelers were the LAST thing on my mind!  (THREE commission quilts due by the first week of May!!)  I have NOT forgotten that I promised to post pictures once they returned home.  (I just didn't remember until the dust settled on the last BIG thing... Monday night's Quilt Guild presentation - Follow this LINK.)

Here, in all their glory...  The Travelers Return:

Zentangle

Original Design

10.75 x 15

(Can be hung from any side.)

Visit the King... aka... Remnants
Quilted by Jan Struble

11.25 x 11.25
(Award winning miniature quilt made with a Traditional Pattern, using an original setting.)

Blue and Yellow Woven

Original Design

10.5 x 12.5
(Made using commercial fabrics and free-form weaving techniques.)

Flying to the Candy Dish

Original Design

8 x 10

(Machine appliqued with personally hand-dyed and commercial fabrics.)

Fractured Friendship (Stars)

8 x 10
(Original Design created from a Traditional Pattern)

At Loose Ends

Original Design

8 x 10

(Made using machine couched, commercially available yarn.)

Autumn Tread Play

Original Design

8 x 10

(Machine quilting on commercial fabrics.)

Shades of Patriotism

Original Design

14.5 x 9.5

(Machine quilting on personally hand-dyed fabrics.)

These items were available for sale, but most were listed at premium pricing.  I wasn't sure if I was ready to part with them.  If you see one that you would like to purchase, please contact me.

Wonderful Wednesday - {Even MORE Strays!!!}

If you don't know by now, I am a sucker for stray fabrics!!  Last week at Quilt Bee, Ella brought a bag of scraps for me.  I was SO excited that I forgot ALL about my plan for the day and sorted fabric (until it was time to go to lunch.)

HERE is the bag and a portion of the fabric:

After lunch, I got distracted  by other things and the bag was STILL sitting on my sewing table last night, waiting to be sorted!!!  I dragged myself upstairs to inventory the loot...


But, found that the bag was still downstairs... so I worked on some Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects instead!  LOL


On Monday, it was joined by another (smaller) bag of scraps from Joanna.  Thank you for sharing, Joanna!  You will be happy to know that your scraps have all been sorted and put away.  :o))

Until next time...
Express gratitude!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 20

Welcome to Week 20 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  I got off to a fairly good start this week and switched gears mid-week.  All in all, I'm still pleased with the progress made on my RSC sewing.


Here's how the week went...


MONDAY came and I started a NEW project... or TWO.  Since I borrowed a friend's Twister Ruler, I figured that I better get on with it!  Here are the beginnings of those quilts using 5" squares from swaps 10 YEARS ago, including a number of GREEN fabrics!

Twisted Sixter One (ready to grow, two by two):

Twisted Sixter Two (once satisfied with the layout):

For your GREEN viewing pleasure, I present my favorite tree on the grounds at work:

TUESDAY's task was sewing the rows together (it counts because there's GREEN in them):

First, on the "bright" quilt...

And then on the "autumn" quilt.

I also managed to do some GREEN sewing:

I made ONE String Block...

And ONE Slab Block.  :o))

All that was AFTER working a double shift AND racing to a Band Boosters Meeting BEFORE heading home.  (Oh!  Hi, my name is Joyful and I'm the new VP for next year!!  head, desk.
WHAT was I thinking?!?!)

Hey!!  Don't laugh at me... I'm sure YOU have done something similar.


On WEDNESDAY afternoon, my sewing time was spent bordering the two Twister quilts and sewing with some of my GREEN scraps:

Twisted Sixter One - Spring/Summer

Twisted Sixter Two - Autumn

The GREEN sewing yielded ONE String Block:

And ONE Slab Block (with a little pop of PINK):

There is something that I wanted to share with you about the String Block... THIS is how it looked BEFORE trimming the 3rd and 4th side:

I'm showing you this in order to illustrate an important point when sewing with scraps.  The fact is this, not all of your scraps need to be cut perfectly (into squares or rectangles) in order to be useful!!!  Depending on your pattern, ANY scrap can be a usable piece of fabric.


THURSDAY morning BEFORE Quilt Bee, I put together ONE Maverick Star Block:

Oops!!! I guess I better try that again!!!  LOL

That looks better.  :o))

I had planned on cutting more GREEN scraps at Quilt Bee (just like I did last week.)

However, I was presented THIS bag of scraps upon arrival (Thank you, Ella!!!) and ended up sorting instead of cutting (I couldn't WAIT to see what treasures revealed themselves.):

Notice the mat, ruler, and cutter... I really DID intend to cut GREEN scraps!!!

Note:  I "confessed" to the Austerity Quilters and I'm sure that Needleb is rolling her eyes and wondering when enough is enough.  (I'm pretty sure that she feels that I've reached critical mass and could easily make quilts FOREVER without EVER buying - or bring home - any more fabric!!)

On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store.  (Teen-aged boys NEVER seem to stop eating!!!)  I put everything away and spent some time working on this post.  Then I headed upstairs to have a go at the Twister Ruler... but first I made ONE Maverick Star block to add to my RSC collection:

And then ran out of time!!!  (Remember those hungry boys??  They wanted dinner.)


On FRIDAY morning, I went off to Knit Group and thought I'd leave you with a lovely GREEN picture:

That afternoon I planned to cut and sew those Twister blocks:

A set of rulers and an inspiration booklet.  Thank you to Margaret, for loaning me her rulers to see if I wanted to purchase my own set!! Ignore the stellar photography skills.  You'll just have to imagine this photo right side up.   :P

 They started off like THIS:

And ended up like THIS:

SATURDAY morning was reserved for Quilt Bee, but when I arrived back home, the SCRAPS were calling to me from upstairs.  I heeded their call and made ONE String Block:

I wanted to add a shot of the start to finish photo of the Twister Quilt(s), so that you could see for yourself the amount of waste involved, but ran out of time.  We are on our way to a BBQ with friends.


Whew!!  That was ANOTHER busy week!  Let's LINK-up with Angela and the other RSC Quilters to see what everyone else was busy with this week.  You'll find me at link number 25.  Thanks for stopping by and be sure to head over to see all the other GREEN projects!

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

STOP waiting!!! Join the Rainbow Scrap Challenge today.  It's SEW much FUN!!!