ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC16 - Week 18

Welcome to Week 18 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  Each week, I try to sew something with the Color of the Month.  It doesn't always happen (because sometimes I get excited about the color and make all of my scrappy projects at the beginning of the month and work on UFOs during the remaining weeks.)  That happened this month, but you'll have to read through my week before you get to that report.  :P

On SUNDAY, I took some process pictures of the making of Block2 of the RavBOM.  This version began with a rectangle and a square... or rather 12 - 4.5 x 2.5" rectangles and 25 - 2.5" squares:

In the photo above, the square is covering the right half of the rectangle.

MONDAY afternoon, I finished up another Block2 sample for the RavBOM:

It needs a bit more pressing, but it used up a bit of scraps for the Stashbusters Challenge and provided another method with NO triangles and without the use of HSTs.  I blogged about my method HERE.

TUESDAY morning found me a Knit Group. I sewed buttons on a long-completed cowl. That poor cowl has been waiting for buttons for THREE YEARS!!!  Oh, wait... It's ORANGE:

The pattern is called PERFECT by Threebagsfulled.  I just LOVE the texture of this cowl!!!

WEDNESDAY was a beautiful day.  I went out to take some pictures for my friend Paula over at Paula B Quilts.  She LOVES iris and I just happen to have a yard full of them...

Lavender Heirlooms from my friend Rebecca:

Yellow Siberian (?) Iris from Dee Dee's garden:

White Bearded Iris from a neighbor's garden:

Yellow Heirlooms from my friend Hilary:

In the harsh midday light, I noticed that the Tall Bearded Lilac/Orchid Iris that I traded for the White Iris shown above was blooming across the street so I got a shot later in the day:

 

Those came from my friend Fran's garden.  If I'm not mistaken, they have moved with us to our last 3 homes and they are still as beautiful as ever!

Last week, it was the Purple Iris that came from my aunt's house.  (I've got to remember to move some of those back to my yard before she moves away, as something happened to mine.)  It's always exciting to see flowers that came from my garden flourish at homes all around the neighborhood!

On THURSDAY, I sat with a sick friend all day. I was disappointed to miss this week's Quilt
Group meeting, but it couldn't be helped.  (Hello, CCLQ members!!!)

In the evening, I unearthed THIS:

Can YOU guess what's inside???

It's an antique New Home sewing machine that I need to sell:

Where is Bonnie Hunter when you need her??  (And she doesn't even live that far from me!)

FRIDAY was supposed to be a work-at-home day.  How do you think THAT turned out???

Well...

The morning was spent moving things around in the sewing room and found that there actually IS a floor beneath the sewing table:

The afternoon, however, included a trip to Raleigh to move DS1 out of the dorm.  He only has one exam left before the end of the school year and I had a limited number of days available to help him.  So... TODAY was Moving Day!!  (He'll keep enough clothes for the weekend and probably take the bus home after his last exam on Tuesday.)

NOTE:  For those of you who were hoping to catch a glimpse of the completed S's T-Quilt, check out the most recent post for Design Floor Friday.  (Thanks for looking!!)

On SATURDAY morning, I joined Angela's LINK PARTY and posted April's Month in Review:

ONE (1) Maverick Star:

ONE (1) Slab Block:

ONE (1) String Block:

ONE (1) Tiny Nine:

For a total of FOUR (4) blocks sewn from my ORANGE scraps this month:

But, WAIT!!!

There is also...

ONE (1) Rainbow Crumb Block:

To add to that, bringing my total block production to FIVE (5) for the month of  April:

After posting and joining Angela's LINK PARTY, I'm headed over to Needleb's house for a Sew Day.  A number of my Quilt Bee friends are planning to attend.  It promises to be a WONDERFUL day!!  I have a couple of projects that I plan to work on waiting by the door.

I'll be looking forward to catching up on what all of the RSC Quilters have been working this week, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. You go on ahead and enjoy all of the ORANGE scrappy goodness!!

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

Design Floor Friday - Assembly of S's T-Quilt

Welcome to another edition of Design Floor Friday!! Today you will have an inside look at how S's T-quilt FINALLY came together...

From the last block:

To identifying the spaces to be filled in:

Continuing the process:

Making the final decisions up in the top right corner:

Sewing the final spacers:

And sewing the rows...

... Into a completed quilt top:

I'm SEW glad to have this one DONE!!!  It was a MAJOR challenge, but I am pleased to have created such a fun quilt for a special little girl.

Until next time...
Get it done!!!

RavBOM - Block2 {Again!!}

Another way to skin a cat... errr... make a block!!

Start with 2.5" squares. You will need FIVE "star-colored" ones and TWENTY (20) dark ones to make the background for ONE Block2:

I sewed the dark squares to the right side of each rectangle and then pressed:

Then, I laid everything out again:

After making sure that everything was right, I sewed the FOUR "star point" squares to FOUR of the "geese" rectangles:

Next, I chain-sewed the remaining background squares...

... That's AFTER "double-sewing" the first set of triangles!

What comes next?  Why, "double-sewing" the second set of triangles, of course:

 Trim those bonus HSTs and begin to lay everything out again...

... Just to make sure everything is going the right direction and assemble the "double geese" sections for the corners and sew the block together like a traditional 9-Patch:

Press  and there's your Starlight Geese block:

Good luck!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC16 - Week 17

Welcome to Week 17 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  Each month Angela from the So Scrappy Blog chooses a color (or two) for the "RSC Quilters" to work on.  It's SEW much FUN!!  For the past 16 months, I have found this challenge to be a particularly motivating way to get some quilting done.  This year, I go up to my studio to work with scraps in the Color of the Month and stay to work on a UFO or some other project with a looming deadline.  It has been a truly wonderful experience for me (and any number of other quilters around the globe!)

Would you care to see what I accomplished this week???

I thought that you might!  :o))

On SUNDAY, I slept late, caught up on laundry, and completed the LAST block in S's T-quilt:

MONDAY morning found me taking care of some housekeeping duties, but after lunch, I sat down to finish my scrappy version of Block 1 for the RavBOM.  This block was found at Quilter's Cache, an AMAZING resource for quilters.  Wedding Rings 2 is just one of MANY blocks on the site:

Considering Block 2 was released at the end of last week, I'm only a LITTLE behind on this Ravelry Block of the Month program.  In my defense, my block was Block 2 and I had that on my mind... and on the bed of my sewing machine!!  Along with another TOP SECRET thing that will be revealed at a later date, I didn't manage making my Block 1 until now.  (BIG doings in the works and that's ALL to be said about that!!)  :P

TUESDAY afternoon, I spent some time working on this Feathered Star block that I started while the rest of the RSC Quilters were joining in Angela's LINK PARTY last weekend:

I only made a small amount of progress and it wasn't photo worthy.  Sorry!!  I'll try harder next time.

On WEDNESDAY, I had grand plans of finishing S's T-quilt.  Unfortunately, other activities thwarted my plan.  That's OK... tomorrow is another day!  :o))

Oops!!  THURSDAY was NOT a sewing day.  It turned out to be a travel day... all the way to the beach (and back.)  Look closely, you will see some ORANGE along the way.  This was an unexpected request from an old friend (and it was SUCH an enjoyable day!)  Aside from chatting for HOURS, we stopped for lunch at Flaming Amy's Burrito Barn:

It LOOKS like a bit of a dive...

... The food is top notch!!  Fresh and delicious.  I apologize to my vegetarian friends, but I highly recommend the Cuban Pork Burrito... YUM!

Later that day, I stopped to say my goodbyes to Winterpast:

That evening was the end of an era. The dojo officially CLOSED after DS2's workout.  The owner is retiring and this is the first step in the process.  DS2 has been training there since 3rd grade and he is graduating from high school in 6 weeks!!  I feel certain that he is not going to know that to do with himself without karate each week.  :o((

FRIDAY morning, once DH and DS2 were off to work and school, I got busy with the work of preparing S's T-quilt for assembly.  This project has been hanging over my head for TOO long and I want it DONE (so that I can move on to the next BIG thing!!)  Here's a LINK for today's Design Floor Friday post, if you would like to see how this project is coming along.

I didn't get much further than the first seam when the phone rang - requiring me to turn off the sewing machine and deal with the Financial Aid Officers of 2 different universities.  :o((

Decision Day is approaching and 2 schools haven't sent DS2's package.  HOW are we supposed to make an informed decision WITHOUT financial aid packages?!?!?  Ugh... 1 week and this will all be over (and we'll be several hundred dollars poorer for paying the tuition deposit at one lucky school!!)

On SATURDAY, I tried to join Angela's LINK PARTY right after breakfast, but she either slept late or had some sporting event or another with her kids!  (Actually, today may be the district-wide AP Biology Exam that she was helping her students review for last Saturday.  If so, good luck SoScrappy students!!)  I headed up to work on (I mean FINISH) that blasted quilt top.  Now, instead of being an early bird, I'll be late to the party.  Oh, well... I tried!

This just in from Angela:

"Sorry to say that there are blogger issues this morning that can't be fixed from my phone.  Will have computer access again at lunch.  Doing Disney today with the Academic Team"

Well, I've got NO EXCUSE!!  Time to get on with my day.  I'll check back this afternoon, later tonight, or link-up tomorrow.

NOTE:  This post was brought to you be the color:

Have you sewn with ORANGE this month?  If not, please do!  Your scraps are waiting for you!!!

Remember:  Watch for NEXT week's Design Floor Friday post!  S's T-Quilt may even be FINISHED!!  (She says hopefully, in small print.)

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

Design Floor Friday - SEW Close

Welcome to another edition of Design Floor Friday!!  Today, I will share the progress that I've made on S's T-quilt.  It's ALMOST ready to assemble into a quilt top.

First, I needed to identify where the blank spaces were...

... And begin filling in the gaps:

Only the top RIGHT corner remains:

Now, I have to trim everything to size...

... And begin SEWING (which is what is on today's schedule!!!)

Until next time...
Wishing you Speedy Stitching!!!

Mail Call Monday {WIN!!}

Welcome to another edition of Mail Call Monday!!  I recently had a happy mailbox.  You will be happy to hear that I didn't order a thing...  I won a drawing.  :o))

The Canuck Quilter was just published in the June 2016 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine.  You can find one of her patterns inside these pages:

She was SEW happy that she decided to offer up an issue to ONE LUCKY READER...

THAT would be ME!!!  :o))

She even autographed her article/pattern for me:

Thank you, again, Joanne!!!

Another item of interest (for me) was listed in the Q of the magazine title:

This issue also includes a FABULOUS section on COLOR:

If you aren't a subscriber, I would suggest that you check it out at your local news agent!!

Until next time...
Happy (Quilty) Reading!!!