Tidy Up Tuesday - Bookbinding - Two Journals

Welcome to TidyUp Tuesday... the bookbinding edition!!  It's hard to believe that a month can go by so quickly.  I'm here with a quick post to document an ARTventure Day with B.

Life got in the way before I realized that I hadn't released this post, but here's what happened that late-April day...

Just as May was on the horizon, we met to make our journals for Messy May: 

While there, I spied the Matchbook Journal that I made in a class with Ali Manning.  Imagine my surprise and delight to find that Britt has actually been working on a number of tiny collages, as evidenced in the photo below:

I neglected to make my completed, yet to be decorated, journal smile for the camera before heading for home.  Here it is after trying out the stamp set that I had purchased for just such an occasion:

For the curious among you readers, I used a manila envelope with the ends cut off to make my journal cover.  LOVE the built-in pockets that created!!  :o))

Once that was done...

My TUAC 5-Minute Challenge journal was made and decorated with a pretty cover from a junk mail magazine:

The interior of the former tissue box turned traveler's journal sized book was covered with a map of Sweden (in honor of my two Swedish Pen Pals from junior high school) and filled with a few pages of copy paper and a couple of old gelli prints which paired well with the exterior:

This one took a backseat to the Messy May journal where filling was concerned.  I applied the day/prompt labels, but only managed a few pages before the Get Messy event was underway.

Stay tuned.  Another ARTventure is coming soon.  :o))

Until next time...

Book it!!

The Guest Blogger(s) - Vol. 48 - Robobeagle Flies thru F and L

Welcome to another edition of The Guest Blogger(s) here at The Joyful Quilter!!  I'm here to share the ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge project that Robobeagle posted over on Ravelry the other day.  She posts it there because she doesn't have a blog and then I bring it to you.  It works that way or with an email and I would be pleased to share YOUR project, too.

Robobeagle had this to say:

I made a “placemat” for the Table Scraps challenge yesterday. I have been making disappearing HSTs and was tired of seeing all the points that don’t quite match because I apparently can’t consistently sew a straight line or cut exactly at 2” or whatever. The blocks are pretty, and I doubt if the eventual recipient will care. So, I switched gears and did some crumb piecing. I ended up with an extra block/slab/whatever that may become a zipper bag or wait for other inspiration.

These are from my orange, but not specifically Halloween fabrics. The little bursts of color for the most part are from triangles cut off another strip pieced project. F = “fun” and “finished (in one day)”, and the wavy quilting “lines” are the L. It’s about 13 x 17. I used variegated cotton petite 50 thread for the top, and a variegated green sewing thread in the bobbin.

Robobeagle shared these photos...

Front:

Back:

Give Robobeagle's ORANGE project some quilty love in the comments below.  I know that you enjoyed seeing her useful quilted "F and L" project as much as I did!  Thank you for sharing these photos for the blog, Robobeagle.  I'll be looking forward to seeing what you will do with the next challenge!

Link Party REMINDER...

All entries for the May 2023 ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge should be submitted by Wednesday, May 31st @ 11:59PM (EST).  Here's the LINK in case you would like to make a quick project to add or if you haven't yet seen the submitted quilted items for May.  Note:  You will find June's letter prompts included near the bottom of that post.

Until next time...

USE those table scraps!!!

#ABCtableSCRAPSchallenge2023

#tablescrapschallenge2023

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC23 - Week 21

Welcome to Week 21 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This was a crazybusy week in Joyful QuilterLand.  It was filled with work, meetings and artistic endeavors.

Read on to see the results...

SUNDAY - Today, six brave souls met for a handful of 5-minute 1-to-1 discussions about a variety of art related topics.  While waiting to gain admission to what @cayleegray calls Artist Speed Dating with members and friends of Get Messy Art,  I worked on the TRUST (the process) page in my art journal for Messy May:

Zooming in Sue's World started my week off right:

Sorry, SZQ, but I wanted the rainbow photo at the top of the blog today!

MONDAY - Work was followed by figuring out how I wanted to use these painted papers to create a page for today's IDENTITY prompt:

Hours later...

The papers were collaged onto the page, a zine was added, and the envelope used to attach it to my journal had been decorated with postage stamps, washi tape, and notes about what makes up our identity and the names I'm called - a big part of my own identity:

TUESDAY - Off to work with my ORANGE purse, used in honor of May's Rainbow Scrap Challenge Color of the Month.  Shown here with the new-to-me book from my friend Karoline.  She knows how much I like making small quilts and I was the perfect choice to off-load er... gift this book to:

Thanks for thinking of me as you destashed your quilt library, Karoline!!

I haven't shown any Wordle or Quordle photos lately, but I clicked on Quordle Sequence for the first time.  It's even MORE challenging than regular Quordle, but I actually WON my very first attempt:

For those of you who are curious, this version of the game only shows where the letters are one word at a time.  Players must solve for the first word, then the second and so on.  No jumping around to solve the third word first!

WEDNESDAY - Work was followed by a quick series of errands and my weekly Zoom with my friend LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color:

During our session, LeeAnna helped me choose the inspiration photo for today's PALETTE prompt.  (Thanks, Lana!)  Below, you can see what I did with it:

THURSDAY - The day started and ended with my quilting friends.  Weekly Quilt Bee met this morning (without a photo) and Monthly Evening Quilt Bee met tonight.  I nearly missed getting a group photo then:

And...

Between those two events, I received these items from Britt:

To create a page for today's COLLABORATION prompt for Messy May:

But...

Before the finishing touches were added to the page, Britt loaded my latest T-Quilt on her longarm for quilting:

Thank you.  Thank You.  THANK YOU, Britt!!!

I quilted while she finished up her workday.  Stay tuned to see how that turned out...  Sorry!  Not now.  You will have to wait for an upcoming post, as there's a whole story to go along with it.

FRIDAY - ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge

Work was followed by catching up on emails and catching a new online art journal class:

FREE Fringe Flip Book Class with @bbhenry

LOOK!!  The construction workers next door appear to have gotten the RSC color memo...

The photo above shows the ORANGE clay they trucked in from another construction site.  Got scraps?

Speaking of scraps...

That's today's prompt for Messy May!  :o))

I paired remnants from previous journaling sessions with the page extension that I added yesterday.  The flap from an envelope that I bound into my journal simply wouldn't have provided enough real estate for very much scrappy play:

SATURDAY - It's LINK PARTY day for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  I hope you will join me in visiting Angela @ So Scrappy to see what the RSC Quilters have been up to this week.  Please accept this lovely ORANGE rose, along with my apologies, for never getting around to visiting last week's links, friends.  I'll try to do better this week!

Until next time...

Get SCRAPPY!!

May 2023 - ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge - Link Party

APOLOGIES FOR THE EARLY BIRDS WHO FOUND NO LINK!!!

Welcome to the May 2023 edition of the ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge here at the Joyful Quilter!!  Thanks for stopping by the Link Party to see what participants have made this month.  In my part of the world, Spring and Summer have once again been struggling for power this month.  Have the moderate temperatures arrived in your neck of the woods or has someone turned up the heat?  Allergy season seems to be at its peak.  I can't think of a better reason to stay inside and quilt!!

I host this challenge in conjunction with Angela's (RSC) Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ So Scrappy.  It's been SEW much fun to offer the...

Button credit to Susan @ Desert Sky Quilts, updated by me.

Since basically ANY small quilted item qualifies for this challenge, I scrounge through my scrap basket to see what I can come up with.  

Each month I offer a prompt to help get your creative juices flowing.  While you are NOT required to use it in your project, the guiding word is revealed at the end of each month's LINK PARTY post.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the next month's focus.  It, along with the RSC Color of the Month (as soon as Angela releases it - around the 1st of the month) will also be added to the 2023 ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge page at the top of the blog.

May's letters were:

F and/or L

This month, I ended up with something completely different that what I had expected to create.  My plan was to combine the two letters and come up with a design that represented Florida, as well as the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Color of the Month.

What better way to depict the Sunshine State???

May's color was ORANGE, after all.  As you can see, I have a fair amount in my scrap basket(s)...

This was yet another month that I neglected to take many process photos...

Here are the little quilt tops in the making:

Soon enough, the quilting was DONE on the (expanded) backing...

(What I'm considering...) The front has also been quilted.  Although, you might notice a fabric substitution.  One strip was bothering me enough to get out the seam ripper and re-sew:

SEW...

I'm pleased to present my completed ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge entry for May:

The clip side:

How does that fit this month's theme, Joyful???

It worked like this:

F = FLORAL... A couple of small scraps displaying a floral theme were used in making this little pin cushion.

L = LINE... The Autumn-themed ORANGE fabric on the back (or would that be the front?) form a line on which to store a few quilt clips.  However, I would probably construct that portion differently, if I were to make this project for someone else.

What's next, Joyful???

The month of June is nearly a week away.  Angela will pick a new Color of the Month then... Er... now:

 

Dark and/or Bright BLUE

Whoops!!!  That was done in January.

For June... Let's do Light GREEN and/or Any BLUE!!!

June's letters are:

D and/or I

And now...

It's time for YOU to link up your F and/or L projects in the LINK PARTY below.  All entries MUST be submitted by Wednesday, May 31st @ 11:59PM (EST).

Until next time...

USE those table scraps!!!

#ABCtableSCRAPSchallenge2023

#tablescrapschallenge2023

Linking with Cynthia

for

Oh, Scrap!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC23 - Week 20

Welcome to Week 20 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  I'm home and wishing that I was still in Florida.  It was lovely to get away from the everyday routine and my MIL's condo community is quite conducive to relaxation.

Getting back in the swing of things looked something like this...

SUNDAY - "Happy mom day."  That's the text I got from DS1.  Honestly, I'm glad to have gotten that much from him!  He's not overly demonstrative, that one.  I did get a hug from DS2 and he took time out of his day to pick us up from the airport.  Will work for food?  Could be...  :o))

Speaking of food...

We went straight from the airport to Mothers Day lunch at Alpaca Chicken:

YUM!!!

This RAINBOW reflection greeted me on the 2nd floor landing when I returned home:

I'm looking forward to catching up with my RSC Quilter friends soon!

MONDAY - Back to work  AND it was Quilt Guild night:

Julianne Walther brought her amazing Portrait Quilts for a lecture/trunk show:

LOOK at the incredible way she captures the eyes! Photo vs. mini proves my point!!!

You can find her newly released book Portrait Art Quilts: From Photos to Fabric on Amazon.  I didn't ask, but I'm certain you can also find it at the author's quilt shop, Cary Quilting Company.  (NOTE:  Anniversary SALE ends today!!)

TUESDAY - Work was followed by a quick grocery stop.

WEDNESDAY - Pleased to have the day off work and a new Wonderful Wednesday post was released this morning.

This afternoon, I was thrilled to resume my weekly Zoom sessions with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color:

RSC much???

Yep!  We both got the color cue memo.  What fun it was to see that we were wearing the same shade of red-ORANGE in honor of May's Rainbow Scrap Challenge Color of the Month!!

THURSDAY - Weekly Quilt Bee met this morning and I was actually able to attend, but was so excited to be there that I forgot to get a group photo.  I'm SEW sorry, Quilters!

Instead of smiling faces, you get to see the fun art project I worked on this afternoon...

I found a big rose petal in our driveway and wondered if I could do some petal printing in my journal.  That petal came from this glorious ORANGE-pink rosebush with no color enhancements made:

FRIDAY -  Work SHOULD have been preceded by Knit Group, which met this morning, but I was scheduled to be in earlier than I sometimes am so there wasn't time.

Since you don't get to see any fuzzy yarn, I thought you might like to see the NEW (recently released) Dark Colors POSCA paint marker set that I bought:

I was concerned that several of the colors would be duplicates of some previously purchased ones, but I'm pleased to report that ONLY the white one is remotely like anything else in my stash!

SATURDAY - It's LINK PARTY day for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  I hope you will join me in visiting Angela @ So Scrappy to see what the RSC Quilters have been up to this week.

Me???

I did a bit of ORANGE scrap sewing early in the week, but the block got wrinkled up in my bag on Monday night.  I used tiny slivers of scraps to make this little house to add to the random neighborhood quilt I'm making for this year's Guild Challenge:

It's been a fun way to use the Color of the Month.

Until next time...

Get SCRAPPY!!

Wonderful Wednesday - UFO Club Finish

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  I have a finish.  I have a UFO Club finish!  It was actually finished a few weeks ago, but didn't get published for some reason. If I don't complete anything else, I will still have accomplished my goal.  Of course, there are other projects that I would like to finish this quarter.  We'll see how that goes.

For now, let's see what I checked off the list...

Project number 8 was my Batik Skinny Runner:

 This project from 2022 can be seen on the RIGHT in the photo above.

Sometimes we just need an easy win...

Am I right?  (You know that I am!)  Anyway, when I was packing for my recent retreat, I decided to pull backing and a scrap of batting for this small table runner.

Alas...

When I got around to quilting this, it was late in the evening and I couldn't quite determine if the thread I brought went well enough with the project:

No worries!!!

There were SEW many more projects where that one came from!  :P

Fast forward to the Thursday morning following that retreat...

Out came the skinny runner since I had a little while before I needed to leave for work.  Of course, you can probably guess at I forgot to stop quilting long enough for a photo. Whoops!

I did take a picture once the binding was on:

~ 6" x 28"

I even remembered to get a photo of the luscious apple print (of unknown origin) that I used for the back of the little quilt:

This project was chosen from among those on my list because it's PURPLE month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The blue-purple of the background squares totally qualified!  I love nothing more than finishing up UFOs in the Color of the Month (while most of the other RSC Quilters are busy making blocks for MORE quilts.)  The PURPLE batik paired well with the glorious Autumnal prints.  I can't take credit for that, though!  If memory serves me correctly, bits and pieces of this runner came to me as a small set of orphan blocks and some spare parts.  Thank you to Diane (or possibly Michelle) for sharing your scraps with me!  I thoroughly enjoy putting them to good use.

Here's an actions shot (shown below) with the skinny runner gracing the coffee table in our living room:

Sorry for the delay in posting, but it does have a lot of ORANGE in it for this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge Color of the Month, as well.  This runner was originally meant for my April 2023 ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge entry, but another project stepped into that role.  You can find it HERE, if you missed the Link Party last month.

NOTE:  There's still time for YOU to come up with an F and/or L project for May's Challenge link-up beginning on Friday the 26th.  It will remain open through Wednesday, May 31st at 11:59 PM.

Until next time...

Mark another UFO off the list!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC23 - Week 19

Welcome to Week 19 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  No sewing, but just maybe a bit of fabric shopping will happen this week.  That remains to be seen.

Here's how this week passed...

SUNDAY - A special dinner at Yabba Island Grill... 

With this lovely man:

Special thanks to this generous couple... 

For one of the most amazing meals EVER:

MONDAY - Mom had a doctor appointment and we went to the pool this afternoon.  In the interim, I took photos of the scenery from the lanai.  Shadows on the rocks... 

Along with sunshine on the palm trees for LeeAnna:

NOTICE...

Preeti's 2023 Positivity QAL Prize information post has been released .  Find it at the following link: 

https://sewpreetiquilts.blogspot.com/2023/05/positivity-qal-2023-sponsors-and-prizes.html?m=1

TUESDAY - Today we are off to Tampa...

There are moments in life that we simply cannot miss.  This was one of those times.  We made this trip to honor one of the best friends my father ever had.

WEDNESDAY - The reason we are here?  A funeral mass for a dear friend.  My "adopted Dad" who treated me like his fourth daughter when I stayed at his house during the summers growing up.  Our wedding photographer captured this photo nearly 35 years ago - it's one of my favorites:

photo not currently available!! 

Missing my weekly Zoom with LeeAnna, but gathering bits of sunshine (through the clouds of this day) to send her way:

Dinner at "The Columbian".  I'm not sure why I always called it that, but through the years, it was a place for celebrations.  Tonight, my "sisters" and I, celebrated the life of "Pop."

THURSDAY - Heading back to Naples with a stop at Venice Beach:

Lunch at the marina... 

Included lobster two ways.  A tasty lobster roll like Mary Quilts shows when she goes to Maine and a rich lobster bisque:

Dinner was from Tacos and Tequila, but this photo is for Knittingsuek:

FRIDAY - Another trip to the pool, but today there was a special guest.  Zoom in to see the heron:

Meanwhile...

Back at the ranch... Er ... Construction site things are looking quite a bit different:

Thanks for letting us know what to expect when we get home, DS2. 

SATURDAY - We head home tomorrow. Our last day here brought one more day of relaxation.  We're going for another pool day, if the weather cooperates.

It's LINK PARTY day for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  I hope to Angela @ So Scrappy to see what the RSC Quilters have been up to this week... Once I return home.  My apologies for not providing a direct link (ETA... fixed that.) and I'm hoping to find time to visit tomorrow evening.

And then it will be time to pack!!!

At least, it's easier to pack for the return than for the departure.  :o))

Until next time...

Get SCRAPPY!!