Wonderful Wednesday - RSC15/16 String Quilt

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  This week, you will see the transformation of a UFO.  Take a walk with me through the process of turning my RSC15/16 Rainbow Strings quilt top into a completed quilt.  And it counts for the Spring 2017 (Ravelry) UFO Club, too!

From a quilt top:

Which sat waiting its turn.  Waiting.  Patiently. For MONTHS!  NO!  Not in the driveway!!!

Then (eventually) it was "locked and loaded" on the longarm:

Stitch by stitch, it was changed into a partially quilted top:

Then it was a quilted top:

ALL over the course of ONE DAY!!!

Eventually, it was trimmed... thanks to my weekly Summer Sewing with my good friend Needleb:

Here is a floor photo...

...One of the back of the quilt...

This one shows a more accurate representation on the backing:

And for a different perspective, a shot from the other direction:

I had an idea for the binding:

It took a lot of colors and a LOT of sewing:

It also took an equal amount of pressing:

It was finally ready to be bound, but that took a bit longer than it might have due to a hair-brained scheme modeled after Bowie on the Ravelry Quilters Knitting group.  Matchy-matchy binding:

I think the result was worth the effort:

The quilt measures 54" x 72" and will be a gift for a dear friend:

This is what the completed quilt looks like from the front:

Here's another look at the bound (and delivered) quilt:

If you could hear her, you would hear her saying,

" Mine. Mine!!"

(I *think* she likes it.)

Thank you, again, Angela, from the So Scrappy blog for hosting the Rainbow Scrap Challenge as a way to encourage us to USE our scraps... one color at a time (and sometimes more.)  I have enjoyed quilting along with you for the last several years and I am SEW pleased to (FINALLY) complete my first RSC quilt!

ETA... Linked up to Oh Scrap!!

Until next time...
With persistence, finished happens!!!

Ignore the people and the shadow, but just LOOK at how the quilting POPS!!  Color me happy.  :o))

Tutorial Tuesday - QAL Style

Welcome to the next edition of Tutorial Tuesday!!  Sorry for the two week lag, but I got a late start on the sharing (originally thinking that I would have one long post for the June quilt QAL over at Crazy Mom Quilt, but it got TOO long, TOO fast!  Let's continue.

Week 2 - What about the strings???

At first, I thought I might use YELLOW, since that's the Color of the Month for June in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Gray and yellow go together well, but...

I've always wanted to make a quilt that I could call Running Hot and Cold.  Maybe I should use Hot Pink...

... And Orange...

... Along with YELLOW (for the RSC, as established earlier.)  That SOUNDS like a good idea, but somehow, I'm just not convinced.

And still another scrap basket, blue...

... Which would be a nice combination for a moody quilt.  I wasn't feeling the gloom of a blue and gray quilt (even though there are times when it might match my inner feelings.)

A stroke of genius came after I passed on the idea of using my bag of J's Hand Dyes...

... As well as my batik scraps...

... With the chosen Gray background and cornerstones, inspiration struck!!  I know JUST what I want to use (and I already know what I'm going to name the quilt.)

Here are the first few blocks:

It's going to be PERFECT!!!

Until next time...
Quilt Along!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC17 - Week 25

Welcome to Week 25 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  It was an extremely productive week.  Sew much sewing that it would make your head spin!  LOL

Here, let me explain...

SUNDAY - First thing this morning (after putting on a load of laundry) my RSC15/16 String Quilt was loaded on my longarm. Ready for quilting, but I was ready for a little break.

Sew...

Some HST's of sunshiny YELLOW...

... Along with pairs of YELLOW squares...

... Were sewn until I felt ready to begin the quilting and quilt, I did:

The next break came during our Happy Father's Day celebration, but then I was right back at it.  To the bitter end, when I ran out of bobbin and decided to play "thread chicken" with one of my leftovers from a previous project... And LOST!!  :o((

Check back next week to see how that story ends...

MONDAY - Knit Group followed by a Sew-In with Diane (and Britt and Maureen.)  It was a productive day:

After such a productive day of sewing, I took myself off to Quilt Guild for our Ice Cream Social/Symposium Wrap-Up meeting.  We had a special presentation to a local Animal Rescue program and a local quilt speaker showed quilts made with Deb Tucker's rulers from Studio 180 Designs.  This was one of my favorites:

TUESDAY - Today I constructed the building blocks of my YELLOW Scrap Jar Stars.

Corners...

... And 16-Patch blocks:

Kevin the Quilter posted the fabric requirements for his upcoming Sapphire Stars QAL.  I'm off to check my scrap stash now!!

WEDNESDAY - I worked on my June QAL String blocks this morning:

And...

My Wonderful Wednesday post went live.  Check it out HERE.  I linked up with Kat for Sew Some Love.

Doctor appointment with DS2 in the afternoon interrupted the flow a bit, but when I returned I trimmed up my HSTs for my YELLOW Scrap Jar Stars:

Here are the two layouts...

Light:

Dark:

THURSDAY - After hanging out with my friends today, I attached the pairs of HSTs for the star points:

FRIDAY - More time with my friends, followed by assembly of the dark and light YELLOW Scrap Jar Stars:

SATURDAY - LINK PARTY day for the RSC!!  And this is what I didn't show you last week...

It was my Quilt Bee's annual Dye Frenzy.  These are the pieces that I started with...

... And here is what I ended up with:

Sorry!  The surface texture was EXTREMELY difficult to photograph.  If you click on the photo, the enlargement may help.

This T-shirt is the result of a THIRD dip in the dye pots:

I love the illusion that there's YELLOW in there!!!

It went from the original white to a pale green back when we first started our annual Dye Frenzy.  Then a few years ago, I changed it to pale green mixed with Amazon Green.  This year it went into the China Blue dye pot and I couldn't be more pleased with the result!!

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

Wonderful Wednesday - Police Quilt Delivery Day

Welcome to the next edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  This week, I am excited to tell you that I have (FINALLY) delivered my Law Enforcement Appreciation quilt.  Yesterday was THE DAY!!

Honestly, it's been done and ready to deliver for a number of weeks.  (Months?)  It's even been riding around in the car with me for the past several weeks just waiting for me to stop and pass it on to its forever home!

Yesterday, it was complaining so much that I picked up the phone and called the Hillsborough Police Department.  No!  I didn't call the emergency number.  I called the station number to find out when the Chief would be available to accept delivery.

The office manager informed me that Chief would be available during the afternoon hours Wednesday - Friday this week.  I'm not sure what came over me, but I asked about that. Very. Day!!

As it turned out, the Chief was available.  SEW...

My friend, Britt, and I cleaned up our quilting projects and hopped in our cars (we each had errands afterwards), heading for the Hillsborough Police Station.

Upon our arrival, the office manager went to get the Chief.  I explained who we were and how the quilt came to be.  Although, Britt was forced to interpret for me, since I was talking too fast.  
(Just a BIT excited!) She explained that we are part of a local quilt group called the Cherry Creek Lane Quilters and we meet weekly. She went on to explain that one of our members designed the quilt. We presented quilts to each of seven local law enforcement agencies, serving the areas where our members reside.

We then showed the Chief the quilt, but I forgot to get a photo of his face upon seeing the quilt or an "official" presentation shot. You know the one?  It's the one with the people shaking hands over the presented object.

Instead, we got a photo of  Britt and I with the Chief:

Got a photo with the Chief and the office manager with the maker:

Took a picture of the Chief and the office manager with the quilt:

Britt also got one last shot of me with the quilt for the blog:

With that, we left the police station to check out the NEW Used Book Store in town and allow the Chief and the office manager to "duke it out", as she wants the quilt to be hung in her office... Right on the wall that you can see behind the glass.

Good luck, hanging it anywhere else in the station, Chief!!  LOL

Linking up with Kat for Sew Some Love

With the delivery of the completed AND labeled Police Quilt, that's one more thing off my plate.  Whew!!  Now, I'm on to the next...

Until next time...
Have YOU thanked your local law enforcement agencies???

Tutorial Tuesday - June quilt QAL with Crazy Mom Quilts

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Tutorial Tuesday!!  This will be a recurring feature on my blog.  I will link to interesting tutorials that I've found out in BlogLand and will begin with the following, while sharing my progress on the project:

Please ignore the two-week lag.

Sometimes a girl is just a sucker for a Quilt-A-Long.  THIS girl is no exception!  When Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts announced the June quilt (from her new book) QAL, timing was ripe for a new project.  (Well, it SHOULD have been time for tackling another UFO, but we won't go into that now.  UFO Club members, please turn a blind eye.) Anyway, I already have a copy of No Scrap Left Behind (and it was autographed by Amanda at QuiltCon East earlier this year.)

SEW, you see.  I just HAD to quilt along!!

Week 1 - What fabric should I use?

Background, cornerstones, and string choices all have to be made (before Week 2 arrives.)  I searched for the background, only to realize the perfect option was right on my ironing board.  Gray scraps from the back of my recently completed RoboQuilt!!

 After that revelation, I considered my available selections for cornerstones.  It only took a moment to realize I had just purchased the obvious choice... The gray zig zag print from We're Sew Creative is just the ticket!  So much for the skirt that I had THOUGHT would be made from it.  The QUILT insisted!!

Then came the BIG question...

Until next time...
Quilt Along!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC17 - Week 24

Welcome to Week 24 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This one will prove to be another action-packed week filled with helping out some friends and some other stuff filling the gaps.  Never a dull moment!!

SUNDAY - Went digging in my YELLOW scraps and began cutting for my RSC projects:

Started with the 2.5" requirements and cut from there.  In the end, I came up with four stacks of fabric and a significantly less stuffed basket of scraps than I showed earlier:

MONDAY - Visiting with an old friend this morning.  The afternoon was spent prepping Scrap Jar Stars:

TUESDAY - This was a JAM PACKED day!  I went from playing with the explorers in the morning to sewing with Needleb in the afternoon. 

 The evening was spent merry making with my knitting friends (and then some!)  Mebane Knights makes a great spot for "one stop shopping."  Wine and appetizers, dinner and dessert, they've got it all, along with a pleasant atmosphere!!   :o))

WEDNESDAY - I've taken care of my fingers...

... And toes for June:

Aah!!  Happiness is my quarterly spa pedicure.

I know it's not color-appropriate for the RSC, but if you look closely at the nail art, you will see some YELLOW in the flower!

THURSDAY - Same old...

FRIDAY - Same old.  Plus, I did some "catch-up work" on the stars for my adaptation of the RSC15 Sampler Quilt:

Both green and YELLOW Slab blocks were chosen and I cut the star point for each of them.  Now, all that remains is choosing the background fabric.  I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time with that part of the process, but I'm guessing that it's because I'm trying to use a variety of leftover bits (as opposed to a single background material for the lot of them.)

SATURDAY - Follow me for a tour of the YELLOW brick road, as I join Angela's LINK PARTY over on the So Scrappy blog. Summer's golden delight awaits.

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!