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