ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC16 - Week 35

Welcome to Week 35 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  It was an oddly quiet week in Joyful Quilterland.  With both DS1 AND DS2 away at college, I didn't quite know what to do with myself.  I figured that I better do something (even if it's wrong!)

Let's see how that worked for me, shall we?

SUNDAY, I took DS1 back to NC State (since I picked him up yesterday to allow him to get the things he left at home!)... after first taking him by DS2's dorm to do a quilt exchange, as his brother took the wrong one to UNC and he wanted it back.

MONDAY was spent with friends.  No RSC sewing today, but HERE is what I accomplished at Saturday's Sew Day:

(Some) strips were cut for my Barn Dance QAL

TUESDAY, I went to Knit Group and did some errands afterwards, including a stop at the nail salon.  I came home sporting the RSC (alternate) Color of the Month:

WEDNESDAY came and went. Had I sewn one thing???  NO!!! Neither had I done much of anything else... except for getting ready for friends to come over in the morning.

THURSDAY morning, the weekly Quilt Group was held at my house.  It was followed by a trip to a friend's house and then more of the same avoidance behavior.  I just couldn't wrap my head around spending time in the sewing room, but I went in long enough to take another look in my GRAY scrap "basket":

Not much to see in there!!!

FRIDAY came and I went off to Knit Group (again!) when I was supposed to be sewing.  On my way home, I met with the client who commissioned my next quilt.  Details were discussed and I can begin processing THESE shirts:

On SATURDAY, I rounded out the week with a little RSC sewing... I made ONE Tiny Nine:

ONE Slab Block:

and...

I made it THIS FAR on a Rainbow Crumb block:

Hmm... THIS was all that remained on the table:

Amazingly enough, I was able to stretch those fabric into the finishing touches of ONE Rainbow Crumb Block in August's alternate Color of the Month... GRAY:

In making these blocks, I used up almost every scrap of GRAY in the bin and here are the remains:

Along with ONE 3" square that I plan to combine with the other Color of the Month selections to make a Maverick Star.

I joined Angela's LINK PARTY and now I'm off to see what other scrappy wonder there is to be seen. Won't you come along on a tour through BlogLand to see what all the RSC Quilters have been working on this week?

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

Wonderful Wednesday - A(nother) UFO Club/2016 FAL Q3 Finish

Welcome to another installment of Wonderful Wednesday!!  This week I'm here to showcase my latest completed quilt commission. It started with a simple request of a son to a mother who REALLY didn't want to knit another XL Twin size blanket and ended in a beast of a quilt.

Here is the progression of The Tennis Quilt...


The T-shirts arrived in the studio, washed and ready for processing:

Once pressed, stabilized, and neatly trimmed, the shirts were ready for the design phase:

With sashing added to the smaller ones, rows were sewn:

Once the top was together, the monster of a quilt met my beast of a longarm quilting machine:

Needle and thread transformed the top into a quilt:

As you can see, it made a colorful "rug" for my kitchen:

The completed quilt measures approximately 74.5" wide...

... By 104.5" long.  This was deemed a fine length by the recipient:

Here's a driveway shot for better lighting...

... That didn't really materialize:

But, hey!!  The quilt is done and delivered.  The young recipient even made sure to contact me to thank me for making it for him (AND to tell me how amazing it looks.)  Hooray!!

Until next time...
Q is for QUILT!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC16 - Week 34

Welcome to Week 34 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This week was all about finishing The Tennis Quilt and shipping man-child 1 AND man-child 2 off to college.  Anything else will be a bonus!

THIS is how my week progressed...

SUNDAY was Move-In Day at NC State for DS1.  While he was packing, I loaded the backing and batting of The Tennis Quilt on the longarm.  The top has since been draped over the rest, but I wasn't "in the mood" to begin the quilting.

Instead, I took a little tour through BlogLand and spent some time on Ravelry, where one of my friends posted about the Make Do Quilt Challenge and Giveaway that Sherri Lynn Wood (author of The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters) is hosting.  LINK to further information for those of you who are interested.

On MONDAY morning, I went to Knit Group for a while and then went to visit a friend.  This is the THIRD Monday of the month, so that means that I was off to Quilt Guild after my visit.

TUESDAY, I had a full day to devote to The Tennis Quilt.  I got an early start and...

Hit a snag after lunch.  :o((

Fortunately, it was resolved after changed bobbins and adjusting the thread tension (again.)  Ultimately, the quilting was conquered:

Went of to "Get Lit and Knit" Night at Mebane Knights.  My friend, Tracy, coined the phrase a couple of months ago and reminded us about it at Knit Group on Monday.  I just MIGHT have had a glass of wine with dinner!  :P

I bet some of you would have wanted to drive off with THIS:

Strange place to set up shop!!

On WEDNESDAY, I spent the morning with a friend and the afternoon making miles of quilt binding:

When early evening rolled around, I realized that I didn't get around to posting the Mail Call Monday post that I promised last week, so I put that together for your reading pleasure:

Mail Call Monday... On Wonderful Wednesday

Before bed, I posted my latest quilt finish HERE.  The photos below give a peek at the quilting...

Front:

Back:

No, I didn't bother to match the seam on the panels of backing.

THURSDAY was the day I bound the Tennis Quilt.  Hooray!!  Just in time for Move-In Day:

After my weekly Quilt Group meeting, of course!!

It was fighting me every step of the way.  I miss cut the angle for joining the binding, ran out of bobbin thread while stitching on the last section, and chose the wrong color for sewing down the binding!  Issues, but it was STILL delivered before dinner.  :o))

FRIDAY was Move-In Day at UNC Chapel Hill for DS2.  You know what that means, don't you???

We are officially Empty Nesters!!!  Well...  Unless you count my recently adopted longarm quilting machine.  :o))

SATURDAY is Angela's LINK PARTY for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  After joining in the linky fun...  Even though I made NO purple (or gray) progress this week... It was an ESPECIALLY busy week!!  No comments from the peanut gallery.  :P

Follow me to BlogLand for some quilty inspiration because I doubt seriously that you will have any luck finding it in THIS sad little basket of gray scraps that I found in my sewing room:

The sum total of gray scraps in my stash!!!

Are you getting the idea that I don't use very much gray in my quilts???  In my defense, I do have one quilt's worth of medium gray, but haven't made the quilt, yet!!  I also brought some "low volume" gray prints last summer to use for a more "modern" feel in an upcoming quilt (also not started yet.)  I'm trying.

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

Wonderful Wednesday - A UFO Club/2016 Q3 FAL Finish

Welcome to another edition on Wonderful Wednesday!!  Today I have a (Ravelry) UFO Club FINISH to share with you.  The quilt in question began it's life in a Gayle Bong class a number (read 6 or so) years ago.  It came straight out of my scrap bins.  Literally!

I'm sure my quilt guild provided a supply list and all that jazz, but somehow when the morning of the class came, I hadn't done any cutting.  Didn't even know what to cut!!!

A call to the Workshop Chair let me know that I needed a particular size strip.  SEW...

I went to my 3" drawer (it holds everything from 3" to 3 and 7/8" strips and squares.  On the strip front, I came up empty-handed!  I grabbed all of the squares and a yard of muslin and headed off to class!

As luck would have it, when I asked the teacher if what I brought would work, she assured me that it would.  In fact, I had actually saved myself a step in the process.  (Gotta LOVE that!!)

I can't really say how far I got that day in class.  If it was anything like normal, it wasn't very far.  Eventually, I sewed the blocks together.  Honestly, I don't recall that part AT ALL, but here's the proof that it happened SOMETIME:

50" x 36"

The quilt top stayed this way for a VERY long time!!  It was added to and removed from UFO Lists from Winter 2011 through Summer 2016.

After FIVE YEARS, how did its number finally come up, Joyful?!

Well, it happened on a lark, really.  I was going shopping (for moral support) with my friend, Needleb.  At the last minute, I threw in Calico Rick Rack just on the off chance that I might find something that would work to enlarge it.

I told about that shopping trip in THIS blog post.  HERE are the fabrics chosen that day:

During the month of June, I transformed those selections into borders, binding, and backing for  the completed Calico Rick Rack quilt top:

~ 52" x 66"

After finishing UNC2 T-quilt, I loaded this top on the frame to get some practice with "ruler work" and free motion quilting:

The photo shown above is about the point when I wrote my Lemonade post.  Cutting to the chase, THIS is what I found, after what has since been determined a hit on the take-up bar:

Why, yes, that IS my fingernail sticking through ALL 3 LAYERS!!

I spent the month of July sewing the binding down in odd moments.  Odd, as in sewing... at Knit Group, work, and at my MIL's birthday party:

It's a wrap!!  A Summer 2016 (Ravelry) UFO Club finish and a Q3 Finish for the 2016 Finish-A-Long:

NOTE:  After several inquiries, I must add that you haven't missed a post.  I have proclaimed the quilt DONE!!  The hole is a repair to be made and doesn't disqualify my finish.  (I plan to have it taken care of by next week, anyway.  So don't fret.  You WILL see how I resolved the issue.  I promise!)

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict
for
Can I Get a Whoop! Whoop!

Linking up with Quilting is More Fun than Housework

for

Oh Scrap!

Until next time...

Happy Finishing!!!

Mail Call Monday... On Wonderful Wednesday

Oops!!  Mail Call Monday slipped by without posting, so...

Welcome to Mail Call Monday... On Wonderful Wednesday!!!  The happy mailbox is actually from last Friday, but you still need to see what arrived.  You may recall my love for entering prize drawings.  Well, I did it, again!

This time, Julie Sefton was having the final drawing of her wrap up for the SSOBB Blog Hop.  Imagine my surprise when I got an email notifying me that I had won a copy of her beautiful BUILD-A-BARN No Pattern Construction book!!

HAPPY DANCE!!!  HAPPY DANCE!!!  HAPPY DANCE!!!

Julie even autographed my copy for me:

The book explains Julie's process:

It also leads you through building your own Seasonal Sampler:

The best part of the book is that you are given construction details, along with photos, with no leaps to make on your own.  That being said, you are encouraged to translate Julie's techniques into the creation of your own free pieced buildings.  NOT JUST BARNS!!!

Maybe YOU don't even LIKE barns...

That's perfectly OK!!

"These techniques will then allow you to create many other types of free pieced buildings including aging or deserted industrial buildings, general stores, fishing villages, one room school houses, country churches, grand houses, humble bungalows, seaside cottages, or any other design style you choose."

Until next time...

Go build a quilt!!!

 

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC16 - Week 33

Welcome to Week 33 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  I'm not sure how much scrap quilting I will be doing this week, but if you are willing to come along, we'll see how it all pans out.

On SUNDAY, I was distracted by an idea that wouldn't go away.  I felt the need to make a gift for a special quilting friend.  A final offering, as I prepare to say my last goodbye:

5" x 5" mini, free-cut letters, fusible applique, machine quilting... And there's PURPLE in it!!

The label on the back included her initials, the date she passed away, and my name.  The cat fabric was chosen for the time she "adopted" her daughter's cat and fell in love with him.

MONDAY was my first APQS Owners Group meeting. Thank you for hosting, Angela, of Thread Waggle Quilting!  I learned quite a number of other things about my new-to-me longarm quilting machine...

Including that you can (and SHOULD) remove the needle plate to clean gunk out of the bobbin area:

And... check the needle hole by clipping a length of thread to "floss" it.  This will let you know if there is a burr to be filed down. Who KNEW?!  I got a wonderful FREE lunch as part of the deal.

Note to Self:  Next time, bring a dish to share!!  (Oops!!)

Immediately after the meeting, I raced off to meet friends in Garner for dinner.  We had a lovely meal at La Cocina (Garner) before "swimming" to the funeral home for our friend's funeral viewing.

It was raining buckets when we arrived!  I dropped the quilt, as I was attempting to open my umbrella.  My Bye-Bye Bird-Dee mini quilt landed in a puddle/stream of water and began to float away. 

No, no, no!!  MUST. STOP. THAT. QUILT!!

Whew!!  I caught it and took the dripping mess (and myself) into the ladies room to dry off.  Then, I proceeded to what was the most wonderful wake I have ever attended!!

Why is that, Joyful???

The reason is simple.  It was like a Quilt Show!  The room was decorated with some of Dee's favorite quilts.  It was AWESOME!!  Her casket was draped with the quilts she made for her granddaughters.  There was a quilt on the kneeler, as well as on each of the chairs and couches in the room (including the quilted wall hanging that Lisa and Tiffany created for Dee's 50th birthday and her own version of our QAL Beach Quilt!)

HERE is mine, soft yellow where her stars were done in a more vibrant shade of yellow:

Beach Star Swap, sewn by me, quilted by Tiffany, held by DS2

The outcome of the evening?  I felt joy instead of sorrow.  Dee had escaped the pain of Ovarian Cancer.  Her family and non-quilting friends, got to see a number of the quilts she made over the years.  I also felt excitement in knowing EXACTLY what I want my own funeral to be like when my time comes.  Thanks, Dee!!  Rest in peace, dear friend.

TUESDAY was a bit of a blur.  You see, I was unable to sleep, ended up with only 2 HOURS of rest.  I do know a few things about the day...

One:  I stitched through a PURPLE haze and took a photo for my RSC friends as I worked on the binding of Calico Rick Rack:

Two: I sewed like a wild woman throughout the afternoon.  The outcome was that The Tennis Quilt is now a QUILT TOP:

Not bad (for the day after a nearly sleepless night!!)

Three: Knit Night was fun, but I really shouldn't have been behind the wheel of a car!  (Refer to note above re: last night's sleep or lack thereof.)

WEDNESDAY, although I got a good night's sleep, I was still dragging a bit.  I did manage to get a few errands and chores done before succumbing to a nap.  :o))

Here's another PURPLE (haze) photo.  This was me, hand winding yarn at Knit Group last night:

Wild Hare Fiber Studio, LLC, Grape Jam

THURSDAY morning, I made my way to Quilt Group.  Thank you, Joanna, for hosting.  College packing is covering the living room and it would have been difficult for the quilters to find a place to perch.  Of course, I took The Tennis Quilt for Show and Tell! When I got it home, it returned to the rails of the quilt rack... er... longarm, waiting for its backing to be sewn:

FRIDAY morning's schedule included a client meeting and a fine cup of tea... and MORE purple haze.  The yarn (pre-winding) AND the gray-purple kitty, since PURPLE sewing was NOT on the agenda for the day:

Yarn from Carolina FiberFest 2013, fabric from Joanna's (?) scrap bag!!  Gotta LOVE scraps!  :o))

SATURDAY is the day that Angela, from So Scrappy, hosts her LINK PARTY.  I joined in the linky fun... even though I didn't do much (read ANY) hazy PURPLE sewing this week.  Follow me over to see what the other RSC Quilters have been up to this week, it is such a wonderful way to spend the morning... or afternoon... or evening.

Speaking of evening...

Take a look at what I was reading last night:

You can read more about it on my Mail Call Monday post coming up in a few days.  (Or check out Julie's website for the book.)

Until next time...

Get Scrappy!!!