ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC19 - Week 26

Welcome to Week 26 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  We have officially landed at the middle of the year.  How are YOU doing with the projects in your queue?

I'm still plodding along.  Working more on my UFO List than my RSC projects.  I do manage a little something from the Color of the Month whenever possible.

Let's see how dark BLUE sewing went this week...

SUNDAY - Let's start the week of right with a tiny bit of work in dark BLUE for the RSC:

Ugh!  WHY do people let politics get in the way of business?  (Rhetorical question.  Please don't answer that!)

This afternoon, I did this:

I loaded the back of my Pecking Order quilt onto the rails of my APQS Millennium longarm and began the search for batting.  Oh, to be prepared...

This evening, I found that I might soon be one of only two Group Administrators for the Quilters Knitting group on Ravelry.  The group owner is entertaining thoughts of leaving the community.  

:o((

MONDAY - Field Trip to JoAnn Fabrics!!  I needed batting for my Pecking Order quilt.  I bought this Pellon product for 40% off:

I released a new Mail Call Monday post.  If you like nautical things, you might not want to miss this one.

After dinner, I checked my calendar to make a note.  I was shocked to find that out is the end of the month, already!  YIKES!!  I've got an email reminder notice to send out ASAP!!!

TUESDAY - During the midday, I released a new Tidy Up Tuesday post.  You can find it HERE.  Spoiler Alert... It's a GOOD one!

It's the LAST Tuesday of the month.  You know what that means, don't you!  My (twice) Monthly Evening Quilt Bee met tonight.  Here's the highlight for my friends in the RSC Quilters:

WEDNESDAY - Unsure of what today would bring, it definitely had its ups and downs.  On the up side... I released a new Wonderful Wednesday post.  On the down side... My afternoon of quilting was a disaster!  What can you do?!  Sometimes, things just don't go your way.  (Or you miss a thread guide on your longarm.)

THURSDAY - My Weekly Quilt Group met today and I was there for it.  Yay!  Here's a photo to to prove that I was there (because you KNOW that the Junior Quilter can't very well drive herself!)  The Quilting Grandmas LOVE the way she know JUST what to do with a quilt that makes its way to the floor:

Ella made this Fabric Snowflake from a pattern video on Shabby Fabrics:

It was a challenge to get a good photo of this AMAZING piece of fabric art!  DS1 created a Paper Snowflake years ago.  I had hoped to share it with you, but couldn't locate it.  :o((

Found it!!!

Later in the day, Kevin the Quilter posted the first step of SSSSQ - his Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt.  It's a Mystery.  And... there's PLENTY of time for YOU to join the fun!!

As you can see, my day started off fairly well.  That is, UNTIL I stepped up to the longarm!!  It was the moment my day took a turn for the worse.  I suppose I'm just going to have to chalk it up to experience.  The stitching looks beautiful on the front:

My experience tells me that if something doesn't SOUND right, it probably isn't!!  Unfortunately, I'm stubborn and frequently manage to convince myself that if the test quilting was fine, the REAL quilting is fine, too.

Just.  Keep.  Going.  (My inner speed demon chants.)

Well, friends.  That is the WRONG answer!!!  (LISTEN to the voice of reason.  Listen to that little voice and heed its warning.)

Sigh...  Time for a TOWA gauge.

THIS is what the back looks like:

Why, yes.  Those are stitches laying flat on the back of the quilt (just like a railroad track.)  Why do you ask?

Again... Sigh.

FRIDAY - This morning, before leaving for Knit Group, I released a new Design Floor Friday post.  I got a good amount of weaving in done on my Shawl Hoodie Cardigan.  :o))

My friend Linda brought her new book about sewing costumes for little girls.  If you have little girls in your life, you NEED this book:

The book should soon be available for all of your costume-making needs.  Better yet, Linda designed all of the costumes with the NON-sewer in mind!  The costumer are SEW adorable:

After knitting was over, I had a lunch date with one of my friends.  Lunch was followed by a massage appointment.  Ahhh... That's better.  :o))

Well, it was better until I went up to take another look at the quilt on the rails...

Then, THIS happened:

If you looked at the photo above and thought that it looks a LOT like the quilt that was on the frame, you would be CORRECT!!  It is the very same quilt that was on the rails.

You know...

The one with the tension issues.  It was WAY worse than I thought - (and I've already ripped out stitches for three HOURS!!)  There was NO WAY to stand - or even sit- at the longarm to rip out all those stitches.

SEW...

I learned that SOMETIMES a quilt needs to be removed from the frame BEFORE the quilting is complete.  :o((

SATURDAY - Wow!!  THAT was fast!!  I'm not quite sure how it got to be Saturday already.  As per usual, Angela is hosting her weekly LINK PARTY over on the So Scrappy blog.

Rainbow Scrap Quilters from across the globe are sharing their dark BLUE projects.  Go check it out!!  Meanwhile, as we wait for the NEW Color of the Month to arrive, I present...

Bikes.  In dark BLUE:

Until next time...
Get SCRAPPY!!!

Design Floor Friday - Sew "B" Style

Welcome to another edition of Design Floor Friday!!!  After my Monthly Quilt Bee last Saturday, Needleb and I decided to make a day of it.  Sewing the afternoon away.  Sewing into the evening hours.  It was SEW productive!!

Britt started right in on laying out her Pecking Order blocks:

While she worked on that, I sewed the last pairs of rows together for my own Pecking Order quilt:

Once the final panel had been created, I went on to assemble the first half of the quilt top:

Britt played with her block layout:

I continued on and assembled the second half of the my quilt:

With design decisions made, Britt counted up how many more blocks she needed to make for her chosen layout:

I like to press BEFORE sewing two halves of a quilt together:

Almost done...

With the final seam sewn, my Pecking Order is a completed top:

Ta-Da!!!  I absolutely LOVE it:

Here's a close-up of a block with some dark BLUE for the RSC...

... And a shot of the single block with ALL the colors of the rainbow:

Here is the final layout of Britt's quilt, sans borders:

Once my Pecking Order quilt top was done, I was free to play with my scraps in dark BLUE for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge:

Britt moved on to auditioning border options:

This pair may well be the winner:

Pairs of scraps for June's Rainbow Scrap Challenge:

LOOK!!  Spots and dots in shades of dark BLUE to add to the mix:

Next came another batch of pairs...

... And Britt's first sewn row:

Then, I spent some time arranging the pairs:

Britt approaches the halfway point of sewing her rows...

... And I filled my quilted thread catcher (made by Britt!) with bits of dark BLUE, as I trimmed the sewn pairs to prepare for the next step of the process:

Looking GOOD, B!!  Here.  See for yourself:

Linking up with Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Until next time...
We SEW!!!  Do YOU???

Wonderful Wednesday - June Friday Night Sew-In Edition

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  I'm here to share a follow-up post that I alluded to last Friday.

SEW...

Here it is!  The June meeting of Friday Night Sew-In.  Finish It Friday?  Whatever you want to call it.  I call it BLISS!!!  Five hours of sewing with friends in a big open room with PLENTY of space to lay out quilts.

Thank you to Ann for arranging our meetings and sending out reminders!  We come in and set up in dribs and drabs.  We work at our own pace on our own projects, but often feel the need to checkout what everyone else is working on.

Here is what went on last week...

Sara worked on finishing a small sweater:

Ann did some prep work for her Kaffe Quilt:

Marian prepares to sew:

Linda's machine is already humming along:

She's working on this Wheel of Fortune pattern:

Here is one of Linda's completed blocks:

Ella's machine is waiting patiently:

Oh!  There she is!!  She's making her Flying Geese units:

Jean has come to stitch with us tonight:

Cathy spent most of the evening cutting out applique pieces:

Dale thought she would try something new...

She traded in her paints for fabric to make a quilt:

Karen is working on another Baby Clothes Quilt:

There was a LOT of interest in Karoline's new project:

She was too busy sorting through charm squares to look up:

Sara has another sweater on her needles:

Jean sat quietly stitching:

Sara's cabled sweater is just beautiful:

Cynthia was able to join us this evening and has been busy cutting for a new quilting project:

Ann brought QUITE the collection of fabric scraps:

Britt worked on adding a hanging sleeve to her newest art quilt:

Ann had some trimming to do:

Karoline's 3-D Pinwheel's have emerged from the charm squares:

Joy finished three-quarters of the panels needed for assembly of her Pecking Order quilt:

Ta-Da!!  Marian completed her final leaf block...

... To be added to these other two and some Flying Geese blocks:

Ann's progress can be seen on the bench and Joy's last few rows are down on the floor below:

Another section of the bench to show more of Ann's progress:

Karoline shows off her newly complete 3-D Pinwheel top:

Joy posed for a picture with her Pecking Order panels:

Her dark BLUE scraps were studiously ignored:

Tomorrow is another day...

Thank you, again, Ann!!  The evening was SEW productive.

Until next time...
Quilting with friends is SEW much fun!!!