ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC25 - Week 9

WARNING:  PHOTO HEAVY POST!!!

Welcome to Week 9 of the 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This week I have 3 deadline projects in BLUE to keep me busy.  Will I finish them all?  That remains to be seen.

Read on to find out what got finished and what didn't...

SUNDAY - ProjectQUILTING - 16.4 - Birthstone

I'm going to meet Britt at McKay's Bookstore in Mebane to exchange items after lunch.  I'll be bringing home this UFO, it's going to look a bit different than when I dropped it off...

But first, I spent some time with my Get Messy art friends at our Weekly Morning Art Zoom.  This morning found me working on a layered background in my Junk Journal January.  There are still a handful of pages to complete, but nothing photo-worthy today.

After dinner, I made the mistake of working late into the evening on my BLUE Donation quilt.  Things were fine...  Until they weren't:

MONDAY - The 100 Day Project 2025

Day Off Work

I switched with my coworker, so now I'll be off on Thursday this week.  I had grand plans for when I got home, but I went to bed with a 101.4 fever instead of completing any of the tasks on my project list.

TUESDAY - Day Off

Hoping for the best for today's quilting tasks.  What happened???  I was SEW busy!

In construction news, the next three foundations were poured today in the neighborhood next door.  They worked on pouring two at a time and made a muddy mess on the road:

WEDNESDAY - Wonderful Wednesday

Day Off 

In construction news, the "build kits" were delivered for the newly poured foundations:

Another day, another chance to knock a few BLUE projects of my To Do list.  I sewed until it was time for my Weekly Zoom with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color:

Not long after we finished our conversation, I headed off to Urgent Care per my surgeon's request.  DH had made me promise to call.  As it turned out, the surgeon wanted to make sure that the random fevers I've been having weren't from one of several ailments currently running rampant in our area.  Negative!  My fevers have no apparent cause (except, according to the Doc at Urgent Care, my gallbladder may be starting to become infected.)  She really hoped that the surgeon might fit me in sooner and asked me to call first thing tomorrow morning.

THURSDAY - Work Day Off

It was a busy day which began with spending some time with my (Weekly) Quilt Group:

When I got home, I was greeted by the following scene out the studio window.  That's right!  Our new next door neighbors have moved in:

I was a little late to Curiosity Collective, but did a bit of color mixing and some swatching in my Hangout Journal with Caylee's Body of Art class from 2023:

And...

Before the Artist Date was over, my phone rang.  I had a conversation with the Surgeon's nurse.  There would be no further evaluation, no antibiotics, and no moving the surgery any closer to this week.  I was told that if a fever was accompanied by severe pain and nausea that I should go to the nearest ER.  Fingers crossed that my poor gallbladder can hang in there for one more week so that I don't have to have emergency surgery!

A quick lunch was followed by Scrap Club with approximately 20 members in attendance...

An early dinner was consumed before heading off to my Monthly Evening Quilt Bee:

FRIDAY - TABLE SCRAPS Challenge

Work, but fortunately for me, Knit Group was canceled for today.  I went in late, so I headed up to the studio.  Since the next door neighbors moved in yesterday, the photo below shows the view out the studio window this morning:

There was time for a little bit of sewing before work.  I made these blocks for Many Hands Many Hearts hosted by Cynthia @ Quilting is more fun than Housework:

I made a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home.  Once everything was put away, I went up to sew this pair of blocks for Kat @ Kat and Cat Quilts for Covered in Love:

After dinner, I headed up to my Weekly Evening Art Zoom where I completed the NEWSPAPER prompt for Junk Journal January:

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.  (A portion of ) The Scrappy Strips QAL with Kristen @ Scrap Fabric Love is what kept me busy:

I was late to this week's party because today was a busy day...

Which started with a breakfast knitting meeting with Tracy...

Followed by a late morning Zoom with Knittingsuek:

After a quick lunch, I was off to the Opening of the Season of Consistency at Get Messy...

Where I created the following page in my Hangout Journal:

Afterward, Britt and I met on Zoom to do some art and figure out a quilting plan for March:

It was a very, VERY busy week.  Thank you to those of you who read through to the end of this post!  Some weeks are like this one.  I appreciate you taking the time to follow along.

Until next time...

Get SCRAPPY!!

Sew Some Love Sunday - Compassion Quilt Block Drive - Three Blocks in Three Weeks???

Welcome to another edition of Sew Some Love Sunday!!  Cynthia @ Quilting is more fun than Housework runs a Compassion Quilt program for her local hospital.  The most recent Block Drive is for Veterans in shades of red, white and blue.  I have a fair amount of patriotic scraps so wanted to help out.

I took the slow route in completing these blocks.  I cut block parts one afternoon a few weeks ago, sewed units another day and finished up the large Churn Dash block last week.  The other night I stitched up the little blocks.

Fortunately...

One of the fabrics I selected includes a bit of gold for this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, too, as it's the only YELLOW sewing I've done thus far!  :o))

Unfortunately...

I read patriotic and focused on the patriotic prints, completely forgetting that she wanted to stick to white-based neutrals for the blocks.

Fortunately...

She is flexible and will find a way to use whatever you send her!

Here are the FOUR blocks I made:

Although...

The two 4-Patch blocks will need to be replaced, or forwarded to Cynthia for some other project, as I misread the cutting instructions.  Whoops!  I'm sure she will find a use for them.  The blocks will be going in the mail on Monday or Tuesday.

Until next time...

SEW Some Love!!!

Sew Some Love Sunday - Covered in Love - Potato Chip Block Drive

Welcome to another edition of Sew Some Love Sunday!!  It's been quite some time since the last post in this series.  I'm writing to let you know about an opportunity shared by one of the blogs I follow.

Read on to find out more...

Kat @ Kat and Cat Quilts Covered in Love often offers a quarterly Block Drive.  She announced the Spring Block Drive in this week's blog post HERE.  In that post, Kat showed a couple of quilts recently dropped off for donation.

Here is the block that I made yesterday based on the farmhouse vibe requested:

Thank you, Kat!  I have been waiting for a for a reason to try this block.  I dove into my 2 - 2 7/8" scrap drawer and chose the appropriate colors and sized scraps.  The instructions are thorough.  The block layout is very easy and the block goes together quickly:

I am thrilled to have used some scrap fabrics for a good cause.  If YOU have some scraps that fit the theme, I'm sure that Kat would LOVE for you to make a block or two ( or ten!)

Update...

If you want to use bigger pieces and make a quilt instead of a block, check out super cool video by Sew, Yeah on YouTube using 6.5" x 12.5" pieces or check out Stephanie's video @ Quilting with Stephanie's Stitches HERE for a 60" x 72" quilt.  You might want to check with Kat before you send it off to her, as I can't recall the finished size she likes for the hospitals served by her charity.

Until next time...

SEW some love!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC23 - Week 42

Welcome to Week 42 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  As you know, I'm a fairly busy person.  I like to joke that the less I'm home, the less I have to do housework.  Well, this week, even I'm tired from all that was on my schedule!

SUNDAY - It was a whirlwind of a day!  It started off with...

Taking a photo of my Nest Journal that Britt and I collaborated on.  The Nest Journal is a term coined by a fellow founding member of The Roben's Nest art membership:

Then my Easy Like a Sunday Morning Get Messy Hangout. Next, I was off to brunch with several of my knitting friends.  Sadly, I neglected to take a photo of the brunch bunch.  :o((

When I got home it was the to Zoom with Knittingsuek:

Then I enjoyed a vitrual quilting workshop with Brenda Gael Smith of Australia.  I couldn't resist a class called FUNdamentally Circles:

(Channeling my RSC Quilter friends) Here are the fabrics I chose to work with:

This is the view that bid her students farewell.  It's the incredible view out her studio window:

After dinner, I finished the quilting on the final QOV for local veterans:

MONDAY - This morning I took some time to make use of the collage clusters that I make over the weekend:

The 2023 Neighborhood Challenge was due tonight at Quilt Guild.  More on that in next Wednesday's post.  One of the entrants was my friend Diane.  Lucky me!  She also brought along another Bag of Joy filled with fabric scraps:

TUESDAY - I was thrilled to get a photo of these beautiful Light NEUTRAL flowers in my neighbor's garden this afternoon.  Great for art and my RSC Quilter friends:

WEDNESDAY - I had just enough time before work to join the International Art In for Peace + Unity...

Inspired by my friend Britt's MOSAIC prompt for Day 60 of the 2023 ICAD Challenge, I finally worked on this collage:

Zoom with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color:

THURSDAY - I raced home after work to join in this month's Winging It meet-up with my Get Messy friends.  This month the hostess read a children's book titled "Virginia Wolf".  It's about a girl who paints a world to bring her sister out of the doldrums.  I came in just as she was asking participants to share a color, symbol, or word that helps brighten their day when they find themselves "down in the dumps".  Once everyone everyone shared, we were encouraged to make art using some of the mentioned items.  Here is what I made using a stenciled page in my Flowers Magic ArtFest journal that seemed like a good jumping off point, as the black paint could easily represent the doldrums:

Can you believe I use every one of those supplies on that 3" x 5" page?!?!

FRIDAY - I'm so glad that my schedule is allowing me to attend Knit Group before heading off to work!  We had a guest this morning and I forgot to get a photo.  :o((

After FIVE MONTHS, the construction crew FINALLY added erosion control to the hill they created across the street and just in time, by the looks of those clouds:

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 plan on spending the day trying to figure out what projects will get packed up and carted off to the mountains with me next week. This is what I have gathered this is what I've gather so far.  Here's hoping that I can make some good progress at the Quilt Retreat:

Internet connectivity is spotty, at best, out in no man's land near the North Carolina - Virginia border.  Please leave any comments, but know that I may not get back to you before NEXT weekend.  I feel SEW sure that you understand.  Thanks for that.

Until next time...

Get SCRAPPY!!

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!!!

Sew Some Love Sunday - Compassion Quilts - Color Stix Block Drive

Welcome to another edition of Sew Some Love Sunday!!  Many of you know that Cynthia @ Quilting is More Fun than Housework has started a Compassion Quilt program for her local hospital.  It's modeled after Covered in Love hosted by Kat @ Kat and Cat Quilts.

The link to the original announcement can be found below:

Color Stix Block Drive

Photo credit: Cynthia @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

I scoured the stash for lengths of solid fabric... a rarity in my studio.  I found exactly ONE that would work and paired it with some leftover backing fabric from a 2022 T-Quilt.

Here is my block, waiting to be pressed and squared up...

And this is the completed block, pressed and ready to be folded and shipped off to Cynthia:

It headed off in this week's mail.  Cynthia has been alerted, but boy was I shocked when the new postal worker tried to charge me $5 and something to mail it!!  Thankfully, my usual attendant set her straight and my total came to less than $1.50 to send the envelope.  Have YOU mailed off a block or two or 10???  I'm sure Cynthia would appreciated your support.

Until next time...

EVERY block helps to build a quilt!!!

Sew Some Love - Positivity 2023 QAL

Welcome to another edition of Sew Some Love Sunday!!  I'm stopping by with a quick reminder for those of you who might have missed the following announcement out on the interwebs.  I wouldn't want you to miss out on something SEW special!

Doesn't this block look like fun???

Photo credit - Preeti @ Sew Preeti Quilts

Preeti has posted a tutorial for this sweet Flower Block on her blog in an effort to entice us to make quilts to benefit Mercyful Quilts.

The links to Preeti 2023 Positivity QAL tutorials are listed below:

The full 2023 schedule is posted HERE.

Other posts in her series can be found at the following links:

Fabric Requirements

Imagine the Possibilities

Find Preeti's tutorial for the Leaf Block HERE.

The Flower Block instructions ca be found at THIS LINK.

Here's hoping YOU jump on board Preeti's Quilt Along!

Until next time...

Be SEW Positive!!!

Sew Some Love Sunday - H2H 2023 - Quilt Link Up

Welcome to the 2023 edition of the Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge Link-Up!!  Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict is the mastermind behind the event.  I signed up, as I have the last 5 years.  Today is the day that participating quilters are supposed to share their completed quilts.  How many of you readers believe that is what will happen here??  If you guessed yes...

Well...

Not exactly!  When I went to join the Link Party, I realized that it was LAST WEEK and the link-up was already CLOSED!!  :o((

Shall I tell my tale, anyway???

OK.  This is the quilt top that I plucked out of my UFO drawer:

For the record, here is a closer look at the fabric:

Lots of memories in this one!  Of course, there's a story that accompanies many of them and with the quilt top itself, as well.  Any number of gifts, donations, and challenges in the mix.  If the stars had aligned, it would have been ready to donate at last month's Quilt Guild meeting.

Unfortunately...

Two things thwarted that plan.  An extended trip to Florida in the middle of the month and the fact that my longarm is holding another quilt hostage:

That one will be given to a Hometown Hero.  It will serve as a comfort quilt for a local traumatized teacher.  Additional photos will be provide when that quilt is complete.

For the purposes of H2H 2023, the Back Front Quilt has been given to another longarmer to be quilted.  (Special thanks to Stacy @ Over the Moon Quilts for taking on the quilting of my donation!)  This was the night I handed it over:

Stacy will be using a guild-provided backing and batting for the quilt and returning it to me for binding.  My apologies for the delay, Sarah!  The local Crisis Center needs quilts throughout the year and the Guild will happily accept it whenever it is completed.  That doesn't do much for this year's H2H totals even though it was my intention for them to be included.  I'll try to do better next year.

Until next time...

Quilt to GIVE!!!