Wonderful Wednesday - UFO Club Finish

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  I'm pleased to share my latest UFO Club finish.  It's my first (and possibly only) completed project for the Summer 2023 (Ravelry) UFO Club.  You may have seen a teaser on Instagram or seen the quilt and read a snippet of the story, if you are a member of the Quilters Knitting group on Ravelry.  For the rest of you...

This is the story of the Back/Front Quilt:

I made this YEARS ago!  It was a bunch of random scrappy 4-Patch blocks that I put together for a quilt back of a long ago project. Too bad for me, it insisted that it wanted to be a quilt TOP!!  (Or maybe I ran out of the sashing fabric before it was big enough to cover the batting.  Who knows, at this point?)

Lucky me, my friend Stacy @ Over the Moon Quilts agreed to quilt it for me. It's going to our guild's charity program at the upcoming meeting.  The coordinator was kind enough to find backing, batting, and binding in the guild's stash of contributed supplies.

Here are the photos:

Make sure to click (or double click) on the photo to see the fun quilting design that Stacy used to stitch the layers together:

Right side up...

Or upside down...

It's finished!!!

That (finally) satisfies my promise to Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  (Or @fabricaddictquilts on Instagram.)  The quilt was my entry for this year's Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge.  She graciously accepted my donation, knowing that it would be waiting to be fit into Stacy's quilting schedule, as my own longarm was out of commission this Spring.  Thanks for your patience, Sarah!  

I have arrived...

While sitting in my living room one morning, I suddenly decided that I had arrived at the point in my quilting career that I didn't need to KEEP ALL THE QUILTS!!!

WAIT, what, Joyful???

That's right!  I've been quilting for 30+ years and (for the most part) unless I specifically make a quilt as a gift or for a donation, most of the quilts remain here with my family.  Let me tell you, that's a LOT of quilts! 

Donating this quilt was a HUGE step for me...

You see, this quilt holds SEW many memories.  It includes fabric scraps from a number of significant projects in my quilting journey.  My MIL's quilt, the quilts I made for our boys, wedding gifts for friends and family members, along with squares from the quilt challenges that I've participated in over the years are all represented.

The deciding factor???

Storage.  It's an issue in the house we moved into two years ago.  (Unless you ask DH, as he'll tell you there is plenty of storage here, but he's wrong.)  There are only so many corners available for wedging in another quilt rack and only so many closet shelves with empty space to house another quilt.  Therefore, the lesser-loved/under-used quilts will be systematically prepared to leave the nest.  They deserve to be displayed and/or snuggled with, not just shoved in a closet waiting to fulfill their quilty destiny.

In closing...

I'll end this with a BIG thank you to those who helped me complete this quilt and leave you all with a porch swing picture:

Until next time...

Mark another UFO off the list!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC23 - Week 34

Welcome to Week 34 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This month Angela called for YELLOW scraps to be used in our projects.  The question is...

Did you get any sewing done, Joyful???  Let's have a look...

SUNDAY - Ut-oh!  My use of small scraps seems to have transferred to the paper stash!  I made this tiny booklet with a 5" piece of gelli printed paper from my friend Britt:

Another Roll-the-Dice Art Prompt game at the Easy Like a Sunday Morning Get Messy hangout.  I was the one with nothing in particular to work on and requested assistance to get me going.  This spread was created using the prompts gold, maps, paint drips, doodling, and splatter:

My weekly Zoom call with Knittingsuek was scheduled for early afternoon.  It was an abbreviated session due to the Get Messy Retreat going on over the weekend:

MONDAY - Work and...

Wordle.  I haven't been sharing my experience recently, but this was just too good:

After work, I swung by home to grab my stuff and headed off to dinner.  Check out the quilt block tiles on the wall of the ladies room...

At Alpaca Chicken.  My current favorite food stop before Quilt Guild.  Tonight's presenter, Brenda Gael Smith, came to us from Australia via Zoom:

She shared class samples for the workshop that I've signed up for in October.  If you've been reading my blog for very long, you might know how much I like circles, spots, dots and curves.  I'm looking forward to trying out her improv techniques:

TUESDAY - Before heading off to work, I was inspired Claire Formalin's prompt list of book paper, the color PINK, and FLOWER.   This piece of index card art is what came from her list and my supplies and her example.  It's my entry for Week Two of the  Rolodex Challenge.  Except...  I don't have one of those:

Autumn is on the horizon and this Pumpkin Swirl donut is (delicious!) proof:

How funny that today's Wordle is feeling the Fall vibes, too:

WEDNESDAY - My day off.  What a fun day it turned out to be!  First...

Knittingsuek came over to the Joyful Hair Salon:

For a snazzy new haircut:

After lunch...

 I Zoomed with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color

THURSDAY - I finished up this little quilt before work:

FRIDAY - ABC (Table) SCRAPS Challenge

Work was preceded by Knit Group:

Yarny friends, get a load of the fun skirt that Tracy found:

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.

Until next time...

Get SCRAPPY!!

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

Welcome to the August 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.  My apologies for the delay in publishing.  I'm not sure WHAT went wrong.  The post was written.  It was scheduled to be released at midnight, as per usual... But... I was tired last night and must have missed the final step of the process.  Again, I'm sorry to disappoint my early birds.  Here we are now.  Carry on!

In my part of the world, the heat of Summer is still hanging on.  Have the cooler temperatures begun to arrive where you live?  With September just around the corner, we will begin have cool mornings, but most afternoons will be hot enough for me to want to stay inside and quilt. What about you?

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.

August's letters were:

X and/or O

It was fun to come up with a design to include both letters, as well as the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Color of the Month.  August's color was YELLOW.  As you might have seen earlier this month, I've got PLENTY of that in my (overflowing) scrap basket...

I sorted through the basket shown above, but noticed a few (long neglected) solid strips on my cutting table...

But WHAT could I do with them???

I was in the midst of an online art retreat when inspiration struck:

Yes.  That IS acrylic paint!  Why do you ask?  :P

Here's what happened next:

Fortunately, there were a couple leftover bits of the solid YELLOW strips I had used, so an expansion project occurred.  I was running out of time by this time, but suffice it to say that the undecorated strips need to be "perked up" a little.  I just MIGHT have gone a little overboard with that effort.  You will have to be the judge of that:

As you can see, I neglected to get a photo of the unquilted expansion project.  Here are the binding options:

It's a small quilt and was quick to bind.  The YELLOW came from my stash and the black came from the Magic Binding Bag that my friend Diane collected for me.  (Thanks, Diane!)

SEW...

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

This is the back of the little quilt:

AND...

It's hanging on the gallery wire in my studio:

How does the quilt fit this month's theme, Joyful???

It's probably fairly obvious:

X = I used the X's from my favorite stencil and quilted in a big X.

O = Oh, my! I finished My Entry with ONLY 14 HOURS to spare!!

You will also notice the O's stamped on the front of the mini quilt.  I used a soda cap to make the large circles and an empty Gutermann thread spool for the smaller circles.  Did you spot the big O in the quilting?

What's next, Joyful???

The month of September is still nearly a week away.  Angela probably won't announce the new Color of the Month for a few days yet, but I'll update this post and the 2023 Challenge page at the top of the blog as soon as it's been revealed:

AQUA 

September's letters are:

P and/or Z

NOTE:  This one may be our biggest challenge yet!  What will YOU create???

And now...

It's time for YOU to link up your X and/or O projects in the LINK PARTY below.  All entries MUST be submitted by Wednesday, September 6th @ 11:59PM (EDT).

Until next time...

USE those table scraps!!!

#ABCtableSCRAPSchallenge2023

#tablescrapschallenge2023

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC23 - Week 33

Warning:  Photo Heavy Post!!!

Welcome to Week 33 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This week was a mixed bag of art, quilting, work, and friends.  I hope you enjoy the stroll through my days.

I'm starting us off with last Saturday's...

ART-venture Day with Britt.  We had a ton of fun interpreting a journal page by @supermamadesvosges and experimenting with layering a variety of art supplies:

SUNDAY - Thanks to my friend Candy, one gorgeous YELLOW fabric scrap (with a number of other colors) wove its way into my heart and my art journal today:

I also enjoyed my weekly Zoom call with Knittingsuek:

MONDAY - Work

(Fabric and) Floral Paper Weaving inspired by @leacayoungart's work was a fun challenge:

TUESDAY - Work

But first... The construction workers dug us a swimming pool.  Or the new roadbed.  Whatever!  It's a mess:

WEDNESDAY - Today was my day off work and I had big plans!  However, this new "lawn ornament" made it challenging to leave for my breakfast date with my friend Hilary:

Eventually, the driver noticed me and I was on my way.

Breakfast was delicious!  As we chatted, I mentioned that I haven't had a proper manicure since February of 2020, so we decided to visit our local nail salon:

It was a day...

With a completely new landscape at home, as that big machine dug into what had been our level approach to the garage:

Lucky thing I wasn't planning on heading right back out once I got home...

I was busy working on this Botanical Bubbles page inspired by @camilagarciaart:

Later...

I Zoomed with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color.  Amazingly enough, that happened at our regularly scheduled time and it felt so, SEW good:

THURSDAY - I squeezed in a visit with my Weekly Quilt Bee friends before work this morning.  It was SEW good to see these quilt friends:

After work I joined the Wing It hangout and made this little zine made of vellum...

Featuring "smooshed" paint butterflies:

FRIDAY - Knit Group was made possible by another delayed work schedule:

After dinner, I enjoyed working on this little garden snapshot during the TGI(A)W hangout on Get Messy:

Yesterday's zine found a home in this page of my Flowers Magic journal:

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.  I'll check in after my art retreat.

Where's the quilting, Joyful???

Oh, right!  I used a handful of YELLOW scraps to make this small Quilted Scrap Basket:

It took me ALL DAY to finally finish my post.  Sorry for being such a slow poke, today.

Until next time...

Get SCRAPPY!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC 23 - Week 32

Welcome to Week 32 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This week was filled with a nice mixture of activities.  Art, quilting, and friendly get togethers all played a part in filling my time.  Would you care for a detailed account?

Read on...

SUNDAY - A schedule shift in my day found me spending the morning taking a tour through my YELLOW Quilted Scrap Basket.  There MIGHT be enough to do something with:

After lunch, I enjoyed my weekly Zoom call with Knittingsuek:

MONDAY - Work

Yesterday, I attended my first GM Hangout on Zoom:

This is the page I completed in my 2023 Flowers Magic Journal using the prompts designated during the meeting:

Tuesday - Work was preceded by a bit of YELLOW scrap sewing:

Wednesday - The day was my own!  I started it off by (finally) changing out the quilts on my studio gallery wire:

Thursday - At work...

I discovered a new-to-me word game, Octordle:

I won the regular game AND the sequence version for the day:

After work, I enjoyed a brief visit with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color:

Friday - Before work, I stopped by Knit Group.  Stacy was on vacation, but the rest of us enjoyed meeting Beth's new crafting friend:

Later...

I tested out Octordle to see if yesterday's wins were a case of beginner's luck...

Nope!  Once again, I won both versions:

After work and dinner, I met up with Britt at yet another GM Hangout:

This scrap of YELLOW paper was transformed into another page in my 2023 Flowers Magic Journal:

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.  I'm off on an ART-venture, but will catch up with everyone later.

In the meantime, here's a little preview of more YELLOW sewing I did this week:

Until next time...

Get SCRAPPY!!

Joining Cynthia

for

Oh, Scrap!