ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 44

Welcome to Week 44 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  We are approaching the end of the challenge.  Only ONE more Color of the Month for this year (and then comes time to put everything together!)  Angela, over on the So Scrappy Blog, has been our fearless leader and constant cheerleader throughout the year.  YOU may want to consider joining in the fun for next year, as I have NEVER BEFORE had SEW much FUN playing with my fabric scraps!!!

This week's post may (or may not) contain October's Month in Review.  It will depend on how productive I am...

On SUNDAY, after breakfast, I headed up to the sewing room to put in a full day's work on my Custom Tote Bags.  As you might know, I got sidetracked!!!


MONDAY was filled with work... just NOT in the sewing room.  :o((


This TUESDAY, I made a big effort to complete the "2nd Sewing" Custom Tote Bag Order.  I made some good progress, but didn't QUITE finish:

The evening included the monthly meeting of NT Nights.  We always have an enjoyable time at our local library.  Tonight, I was joined by 7 quilters and we had a TON of FUN!!  I worked on BROWN:

I had hoped that WEDNESDAY would include a trip to the Post Office to mail off Tote Bags... It almost happened!  I got ALL the various parts done and started the assembly, but didn't finish all of the bags.  :o((

It's THURSDAY and I am off on another adventure, but first, I was up at O-Dark-Thirty to work for a couple of hours, my weekly Quilt Group got canceled and I had DS2 drop off treats at school for tonight's Face-to-Face teacher conferences.  Then... I packed up my stuff, dropped off the Custom Totes at the post office, and headed out of town.

Several of "the girls" from my Knit Group gathered for a trip to SAFF.  Others from our online community will be joining us tomorrow, but last year, we discovered the joy in getting there early to relax before the BIG event.  Peaceful knitting, along with a glass of wine (or two!), is DEFINITELY the way to go, if you can swing the extra time.


FRIDAY was a LONG day of Fiber Fun!!!  Complete with schlepping all around the show,
 collecting door prizes, and enjoying the Ravelry party after dinner.


On SATURDAY, I got up early to join Angela's LINK PARTY and promptly forgot that it was Saturday!!  Sorry for the photo-free post.  Boring, huh???  I'll try to fix it tomorrow when I get home.

(Oops!  I got home TOO LATE and went straight to bed.  But let me tell you, I am ready for a bit of play time with our NEW Color of the Month!!!)

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 43

Welcome to Week 43 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  I'm not making any predictions about how productive I may or may not be this week.  I still have several Custom CK Tote Bags to complete and would like to get them done (and out the door) before I head off to SAFF!!!


What's SAFF, Joyful???


That stands for the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair.  It's held in Asheville, North Carolina each fall and I've been attending with knitting friends for the last 4 years or so.  Basically, it's...

A really BIG shopping mall for knitters, spinners, and weavers.  With livestock, contests, and classes thrown in for good measure.  :o))

Here's how the week played out...

On SUNDAY there was NO TIME for sewing.  RSC sewing or otherwise.  I worked all afternoon and crashed right after dinner.  Sometimes you just NEED to listen to your body... even if it's telling you to go to bed at 8 PM!!!

I mentioned in last week's post that I was off to Quilt Bee.  Well, after coffee, chatting and making our way around the circle for Show and Tell...

Needleb brought out a small bag and mentioned that she had a few more trips to make.  Well, it turned out that my quilting friends threw their "Scrap Queen" a surprise 50th birthday party:

Complete with a GIANT cake...

And enough scraps to fill my huge IKEA bag!!!  On Sunday morning, I did spend a few minutes before work sorting though THIS:

If only a SMALL bag of scraps makes me happy, can you IMAGINE how excited I was to be the lucky recipient of ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL SCRAPS?!?!?!  Thank you, again, Nimble Thimbles Quilters!!!  BEST. BIRTHDAY. EVER!!!

MONDAY morning was made easier by my going to bed early last night.  I didn't keep track of what kept me busy during the day so I'm not quite sure what I have to share with you.  Sorry!!  I may not LOOK 50, but I am SO 50 in my memory power (or lack thereof!!)  All I know is that I was off to work at 5:00 and didn't get home until late.  (Thank goodness I got plenty of rest LAST night!!!)

Oh, wait!  Now I remember... I did a grocery run (followed by a bit of RSC sewing.  I completed TWO Tiny Nines:

And TWO Maverick Star Block in RED for Alycia's Quilt of Valor Block Drive:

TUESDAY began like most days, but transformed into anything BUT!!  I got called in to work (on my day off) and it threw off my whole day.  Gone were the final touches on my latest CK Bag and POOF! went my trip to the Post Office.  :o((

I did manage to sew a few stitches... between work and the most important event of the day...  Just enough stitches to complete ONE Slab Block in BROWN:

Why, yes.  It is the partner block to one that I made last week.  You know... the OTHER block that looks more like a Crumb Block than a Slab!!!  :P

After a quick dinner, it was time for DS2 and I to head off to the Fall Band Concert.  I volunteered to help with CD sales.  It was my first time EVER!  So... I needed to be there early.

It was a beautiful evening of music (since, of course, one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE musicians was performing!)  Thanks for a wonderful night, DS2 and members of all 4 CRHS ensembles!!

WEDNESDAY was spent sewing.  This and that...  First, I put the finishing touches on the Custom CK Tote (that I had intended to get out the door YESTERDAY.)

And then, headed off to the Post Office to ship this off:

 Afterwards, I did some RSC sewing, too.  :o))

I completed not ONE...

But TWO more Slab Blocks in BROWN:

I was SEW motivated that I put together ONE String Block in BROWN, too:

For some reason, THURSDAY (and the events thereof) keeps disappearing from the page.  This is the THIRD time that I have typed it in, so we'll see if it sticks!!

Anyway...

I went off to Quilt Group, sewed a label on a quilt, took pics for the group blog, and came home to add them and write up the post.  (If it this doesn't appear in my RSC post, maybe you'll just assume that it was a "normal" Thursday.)  TOO weird, though!

YIKES!!! It's FRIDAY already (and I'm not quite sure how we got here!!)  DS2 had a late jazz rehearsal since there was no school today. I set my alarm... for the NORMAL time!!  Ugh!!!

I had an appointment during the midday and DS2 had Marching Band in the evening (which means volunteer hours for me.)  The good news is that I had a chunk of time to do some mindless sewing during the afternoon hours.  No RSC progress, though.  :o((

SATURDAY morning, I joined Angela's LINK PARTY.  If you have time, I would recommend that you follow the link to see what all of the Rainbow Scrap Quilters have been up to this week.  You will find me at link number 2 this week... all because of Thursday's disappearing act.  Oh well, I don't mind being second to the lovely Katie Z!!  I'll have a look later, as I'm off to work concessions at one of our local college football games.  (Yet another volunteer opportunity because of DS2's involvement in band.)

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 42

Welcome to Week 42 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!

SUNDAY - I came home from my birthday weekend at the beach to find that Angela had posted another Sampler Block for October:

RSC Sampler October Block 2 - Kick

It looks like a REALLY fun block to make!  If you haven't made anything like it, you may want to give it a try using Angela's AWESOME tutorial.

Happy 20th Birthday to DS1!!!  How FAST the time has flown (and how fast he disappears when the camera is aimed his way):

MONDAY morning, I set off to mail out the Custom Tote Bag that I finished last week:

Only to find that the post office was closed for Columbus Day!!!

 :o((

Thwarted, I went up to sew for a bit.  I completed ONE Maverick Star for Alycia's Block Drive:

Prepped two and finished ONE Tiny Nine in BROWN:

On TUESDAY, I tried again.  Finding the post office open, I was able to mail the bag AND 30 pieces of fabric in trade for some BEAUTIFUL Plucky Knitter yarn:

Thank you, Pamelajd!!  I hope you enjoy the fabrics (as much as I plan to enjoy the yarn that you sent!!)

Back in the sewing room, I made ONE String Block in shades of "Paper Bag" BROWN:

AND...

ONE, more slab-like, Slab Block in BROWN (You may recall that last week's example more closely resembled a Crumb Block... oops!):

WEDNESDAY was for WORKING!!!


On WHAT, Joyful???


The FOUR remaining Custom Tote Bags, that's what!  Let the "Second Sewing" begin...

But first, I made TWO more String Blocks in BROWN:

This THURSDAY, the Quilt Group gathered at my house.  Coffee and donuts were followed by hand work.  Let's not forget a good dose of Show and Tell... my offering was THIS quilt (to which I was applying a label):

The afternoon found me up in the sewing room!  The bag of scraps that Joanna brought last week kept me occupied and produced ONE Rainbow Crumb Block.  (Thanks, Joanna!!):

FRIDAY morning began at the Coffee Shop for Knit Group.  The afternoon was made for quilting.  Unfortunately, that hungry Marching Band cut into my sewing time... AGAIN!!!  :P

I did manage to make ONE Maverick Star Block in BROWN before heading over to the school:

On SATURDAY, I invite YOU to join me on a tour of Angela's LINK PARTY for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  October's Color of the Month is BROWN (in case you didn't know or happen to have forgotten.)  Quilters from all over the world are joining in the Scrap Quilting FUN!!

You'll find me at link number X this week.

Now, I'm off to my monthly Quilt Bee meeting.  I'll be looking forward to going on that "blog tour" later in the day.  Feel free to go on ahead!   :o))

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 41

Welcome to Week 41 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This week, like most others, will have its challenges.

SUNDAY morning started late at our house.  After breakfast, I found that there was NO INTERNET!!  :o((

That pushed me up the stairs to the sewing room.


What did you do, Joyful???


I dug through my BROWN scraps and gathered pieces for Stings and Slabs.  I even managed to do a TINY bit of sewing!!  :o))

Before lunch, with internet restored, I found that Angela had posted her latest sampler block tutorial:

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler 2015

She named the block Shadow Star.  If you haven't made anything like this, give it a try!  Her directions are very good and the resulting block, with proper value placement, looks almost 3-D.

Oh! By the way...

I hope you (and Angela) won't mind, but I'm taking credit for the TWELVE Mystery Blocks that I completed on my recent CCLQ @ The Bluff quilt retreat!!  It's STILL a mystery (for those who were left behind) so I'm sure you will understand why I can only share a small portion of the blocks:

On MONDAY, while I was SUPPOSED to be working on my custom bags... I was wandering around my local BIG BOX store waiting to have my tires changed!   :o((

On the upside, I got my nails painted a nice, sparkly shade of BROWN:

TUESDAY morning found me upstairs working out...  my Custom Bag design challenge!!  :P

I had hoped to visit the Donation Bee, but time wasn't on my side.  :o((

On the bright side...  I have FINALLY managed to work out the Large Exterior Pocket on the bag:

WEDNESDAY was spent sewing until lunch time.  After that, a business meeting, then a hair appointment, followed by hanging out with friends, kept me busy for the rest of the day.  The night???  It was for Girls' Night Out!!  :o))

But...  I need to show you my "warm-up" block.  I set out to make ONE Slab Block in BROWN, however, things took a bit of a slant:

What do YOU think??  Can I still call it a Slab???  Please advise.

THURSDAY included Quilt Group (and was going to include a trip to get the college boy.)  Fall Break began yesterday.  (DH was kind enough to make the journey while I was out with my friends!)

SO...  Since I didn't have to go to Raleigh, I was able to sew ONE Rainbow Crumb Block.  The fabrics are courtesy of my friend Dee Dee (and the scrap bag that she brought me a few weeks ago:

The evening was ALL about the other boy.  He was inducted into the Tri-M Honor Society. Congrats! to DS2.  We are SO proud of you (and your musical abilities!!!

On FRIDAY, after getting DS2 off to Jazz rehearsal, DH and I left for the beach.  His brother has a condo rented and was kind enough to invite us down for the weekend.  It's my BIG 5 - 0 celebration!! ( Thank you, DBIL!!!  WHAT an AMAZING condo!!)

SATURDAY is the day for Angela's LINK PARTY.  Fortunately for YOU, I brought along my computer so that I could share what BROWN sewing I was able to complete!  :P

You'll find me at link number 13 (?) this week.  I hope you will take some time to go visit all of the RSC Quilters who have posted their efforts.  I won't get to blog hop until tomorrow.  :o((

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

Fall 2015 (Ravelry) UFO Club - The List

Sign-ups for the FALL 2015 UFO Club are now OPEN.. Any interested quilters with 5 (or more) UFOs are required to sign up by Midnight (EST) on October 7, 2015. All qualifying UFOs must be completed and posted to this discussion thread by Midnight (EST) on December 31, 2015.

There are 26 quilters signed up to work on their quilting UFOs during the next three months.  Everyone is asked to list out the projects and show photos of what they will be working on, so... that includes me, too. Below, you will find my goals, as well as my "pie in the sky" list, for the Fall 2015 UFO Club.  Wish me luck!!

I plan to focus on the following quilts:

Art Bee Slice Swap - I've combined this with DOQ's Paint Chip Challenge and that is due on October 19th.  The race is on!!!

QE2 Goodbye Quilt - My quilting friends in New Jersey gave me the blocks when I moved away. We've been in North Carolina for 15 YEARS... it's time to get this DONE!!! 

My reasoning for having multiple other projects listed is this:

Sometimes I just don't feel like working on one of my "short list" projects, so I give myself options... options that are still on my UFO List for the session!!  That way, no matter WHAT gets finished, I get credit toward my quarterly Club goals.  :o))

Here is my TOP TEN list for this quarter:

2 "C" Quilts:

1. Calico Ric Rac

This top has proven a challenge.  Needs borders... but WHAT???

2. Circle of Friends

I've got a plan for the borders... just have to execute the plan.

3 Mystery Quilts:

3. The Margaret Mystery

I've got to make the pieced borders.

4. The Tiffany Mystery

This project has been sitting in a basket on the bookcase shelf for MORE THAN 10 YEARS!!

5. The Bonnie (Hunter) Mystery - GIMQ 2014

~ 48" x 63"

3 Swap Quilts:

6. Snow Star Swap

This projects has been sitting on a shelf in the closet for 9 YEARS!

7. Ravelry Red Swap

Swapped AT LEAST 5 years ago... and STILL not a quilt top!  :o((

8. Art Bee Slice Swap

Blocks were swapped at the December 2014 meeting, but these stragglers were traded in January 2015.

2 Other Quilts:

9. Where's Jackson?

How many years CAN a dog sit on a sewing table?  Only time will tell...

10. QE2 Goodbye Quilt

2015 is the year to complete this quilt... I've been in NC nearly 15 years!

I feel that I'm showing such restraint with the quarter's list.  ONLY 10 items posted (even though there are MANY more UFOs hiding in my sewing room!)  Realistically, I don't know how many (if ANY) of these I will be able to finish.  I've got an upcoming commission meeting and may have TWO new quilts to focus on.  The meeting is today so we'll see what happens.

Until next time...

Happy Finishing!!!

Summer 2015 (Ravelry) UFO Club - The Results

Summer 2015 UFO Club

The Summer 2015 UFO Club is now CLOSED. Any interested quilters with 5 (or more) UFOs were required to sign up by Midnight (EDT) on July 7, 2015. All qualifying UFOs must be completed and posted to this discussion thread by Midnight (EDT) on September 30, 2015.

Membership (24):

SEND (4):
andimc13: 2 completed projects
dover
jrnylst: 3 completed projects
MamaPro

NO SEND (20): 
basketcase9702: 2 completed projects
sockjeannieous: 3 completed projects
freshwaterfibers: 2 completed projects
needleb
Yarnosophy
hexiemum: 4 completed projects
zookeeper74: 2 completed projects
Innerpeace1081: 9 completed projects 
monicarose51: 2 completed projects
aerieiris
siberspinner
allspots
kris7: 6 completed projects
CatWithCats: 1 completed project
Stitchnknitter
dukkytoez
alewisin: 2 completed projects
amalberti: 5 completed projects
JanniePooh: 1 completed project
Shonumu

Session Totals: 14 quilters completed 44 projects. Congrats! to Monicarose51 for completing her 2nd project of the session. Finishing on the LAST DAY in the Summer 2015 UFO Club, earning her the title of our “Queen of the Last Minute”!!!!

Congrats! to ALL of our quilting friends, those completing quilts, as well as those who made little to no progress. Sometimes life just has a way of getting in the way of our quilting!!  Thank you to those of you who cheered us along, too.  You make our efforts all the more sweet!

While we didn't have a record number of participants during this quarter (the record is 27), nor a record number of finishes (the current record is 46 finishes during the Spring 2014 session), we DID have a record-breaking session!!

Congrats! goes out to Innerpeace81.  She is our new record holder for the greatest number of finishes by any participant... EVER!!!  Sorry, MamaPro!  She beat your Fall 2014 record of EIGHT finishes in a session.

Will anyone up the ante next semester???  Only time will tell...

Until then...

Happy finishing!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC15 - Week 40

Welcome to Week 40 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  It's transition week.  Another Color of the Month began its reign.  I spent the week playing catch up from being away last week.

SUNDAY afternoon came and went.  I arrived home from retreat, made dinner, and went to bed. Meanwhile, Angela posted the...

October Color Announcement

On MONDAY, I got up and made lunches for the guys, breakfast for myself, and went back to bed!!

After a nice little nap, I was ready to face my day.  The first order of business was posting on our Quilt Bee blog (so the "ones left behind" could see what the travelers got up to in Lancaster.)  You can read about it HERE, if you are so inclined.

With that complete, it was off to the studio to get everything set back in its proper place and to see what kind of trouble I can get into today.  :o))

TUESDAY morning found my back on the computer...  Atempting to download the rest of the photos from my phone and then upload them onto the blog.  Who KNEW that it would take SEW LONG?!?

WEDNESDAY was set aside for making progress on my Custom Tote Bags:

Now, if I can just figure out the design dilemma on Bag Number Three, I can put these together:

October is coming.  If you didn't follow the Color Announcement link, the Color of the Month is:

We were told to use anything from "paper bag" brown-beige to rich dark chocolate-brown and everything in between.  (And beyond... to espresso (nearly black!)  Here are the scrappy bits and pieces that I have to work with during the month of October:

But first...

It's time for September's Month in Review...

ONE (1) Maverick Star Block:

FOUR (4) Slab Blocks:

SIX (6) String Blocks:

EIGHT (8) Tiny Nines:

Totaling NINETEEN (19) quilt blocks during ORANGE month (as shown in this composite pic):

It may not SEEM like a lot, but consider how few ORANGE scraps remain:

But, WAIT!!  There's MORE...

I also made SEVEN (7) Rainbow Crumb Blocks:

19 + 7 = 26

SEW... my adjusted total was TWENTY-SIX (26) ORANGE blocks made during September:

The rest of my week went something like this...

On THURSDAY morning, I was at work at O-dark-thirty, but only for a couple of hours!  After that, it was off to Quilt Group.  Thank goodness for friends with mathematical minds!  I believe that Joanna has solved the problem that I created with Bag Number Three:

Sorry!!!  There was NO time for digging into the BROWN basket today.  :o((

FRIDAY is generally set aside for Knit Group until after lunchtime.  Today, the knitting was cut short so that I could go have lunch with DS1 at college (and bring him home for the weekend!)

When we got home, I got to work on the laundry and spent some time finishing up this post (between load changes, that is!)  Too bad there wasn't any time left for BROWN sewing.  :o((

On SATURDAY, after attacking (what's left of ) Mt. Washmore, I joined Angela's LINK PARTY.  If you haven't been to So Scrappy Blog, it's high time you got yourself over there to check out what the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is all about! This week you'll find me at link number 8. Go, NOW!!  I'm heading up to the sewing room to get a start on BROWN month.  (At least, that's the plan!)   :o))

Until next time...
Get scrappy!!!

September = ORANGE = Productivity

Then sprinkle in a RAINBOW of Crumbs... unfortunately, the difference is nearly imperceptible!!!