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

Welcome to the June 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, Summer has finally arrived.  Have the warmer temperatures arrived in your neck of the woods?  With the heat of the season, I am (even more) inclined 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.

June's letters were:

D and/or I

I'm enjoying stretching my creativity to come up with a design to include each letter, as well as the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Color of the Month.

June's color was Light GREEN and/or Light BLUE.  Plenty of that in my scrap basket(s)...

I was SEW excited about piecing that you only get a few process photos...

I sorted through the baskets shown above, but ended up digging in this BOJ:

Here's the little quilt top that I coerced out of the little Bag Of Joy:

I was having SEW much fun that I also pieced the backing:

Soon enough, the quilting was DONE and you know what time it was, don't you?  The next step was to finish the edges.  This may have been the very first time EVER (in my 30+ years of quilt making) that I've done single-fold binding:

SEW...

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

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

It worked like this:

D + I = DI-ane!!!  The components for my entry were in a scrap bag from my friend Diane.  SEW... Yes, I cheated - SHE gave me the idea upon seeing this month's letter prompts!  :P

Thanks, Diane, and thanks again for sharing your lovely fabric scraps with me!  :o))

Or broken down into each letter...

D = Double Sided because the backing scrap I chose wasn't quite big enough.

I = I Finished My Entry with TWO Days to spare!! 

What's next, Joyful???

The month of July arrives tomorrow.  Angela already announced a new color for us:

RED

July's letters are:

A and/or G

NOTE:  What will YOU create???

And now...

It's time for YOU to link up your D and/or I projects in the LINK PARTY below.  All entries MUST be submitted by Wednesday, July 5th @ 11:59PM (EST).

Until next time...

USE those table scraps!!!

#ABCtableSCRAPSchallenge2023

#tablescrapschallenge2023

Joining Alycia for

Finished (Or Not) Friday

and

Linking up with Cynthia

for

Oh Scrap!

Mini Monday - Home for the Holidays

Welcome to another edition of Mini Monday!!  Today I'm here to share the last Gallery Wire quilt of 2020.  It was done in DARK Neutrals, of course (since that's the RSC Color of the Month.)  Let's not forget to infuse some holiday cheer:

The top came together quickly once I started sewing:

Candy canes and spots:

Paw prints and dots:

Circles were added to the mix because I love circles, spots, and dot:

Building my Composition one log at a time...

... Until it finally felt done:

Next came layering with the backing I had chosen:

Then, I dropped in a few pins and called it basted:

Finally came the quilting:

After posting that last photo, I decided that I wanted to make those shiny circle POP!, so quilting down that background area needed to happen.  Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as well as I envisioned:

I squared it up to 7" x 10" which fits my display space nicely:

Thanks for stopping by...

... My "Home for the Holi-daze":

This quilt never would have happened without the inspiration I received from Suzy Williams @ Suzy Quilts.  Her energy and enthusiasm is contagious.  Thanks, Suzy!  The improv techniques you taught were SEW much fun to incorporate into my project.

Until next time...

Be SEW merry!!!

Design Floor Friday - A Very 2020 Christmas

Welcome to another edition of Design Floor Friday!!  This week I did a bit of DARK Neutral sewing.  Not just any old sewing...  More improv sewing from the Craftsy class that I took in October with Suzy Williams of Suzy Quilts.

It started with an idea and a little stack of  scrap fabric:

The plan...

Using the Unconventional Lines lesson from Sewing Mojo Minis patterns found HERE.  I planned to combine DARK Neutral scraps with Christmas prints.  A pop of red going one way and a touch of green going the other would be just enough to give this moody little mini a bit of a holiday flare.

I plucked out a few of my favorite black and gray fabrics:

Then began designing on the fly with a handful of short strips:

Sewing followed:

Then I started again with the longer strips:

The panel of shorter strips needed additional length (or would that be width?) added before being joined to the other section:

The longer strip panel waited:

And then the two were merged into one:

The piece was layered and pinned for quilting:

Black thread on the DARK Neutral strips...

... A few lines of green thread on the green pieces...

... And red thread on the strongest accent strip before I could move on to choosing a binding fabric:

This scrap was the obvious choice:

Be careful when trimming threads.  Disaster struck...  

I was using a different pair of scissors than normal and snipped the binding along with the threads:

Since this was a wall hanging and wouldn't be washed (paired with the fact that the cut bit was mostly tucked into the fold), I left it:

Here is the finished piece, hanging in the kitchen:

Whoops!  It's a little bit crooked:

In case you'd like a closer look...

... Or maybe you'd like another perspective:

Even though I designed it as in the last photo, no worries about which way is "right side up"!  I'm sure it will be turned a different direction each time I hang it up (because that's how I roll.)

Linking Up with Kelly

for

Needle and Thread Thursday

and

Sharing with Cynthia

for

Oh Scrap! (on Sunday)

Until next time...

Design outside the box!!

Wonderful Wednesday - Pathway to a Quilted Gift

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  Today, I'm pleased to share my latest finished project.  It was begun at the end of June and was (finally) finished last week.  Honestly, it sat for the duration of the summer because I hit a road block.  Does that happen to you, too?

Things started out well enough...

Christina Cameli's self-produced video was clear and concise.  Her assistant occasionally gave a different perspective through the camera's lens, but that only added to the experience.  I talked about it somewhere, but haven't located the post.  Here is the LINK to the post released just after the class.  A few days later, I had arrived at a completed top:

I wonder why my project doesn't resemble any of her examples???

Oh!  That's right!  It's because I expanded on her technique.  I have sewn curves before, so this wasn't my first rodeo.  Plus, I really wanted to create a unique gift for a special little friend.

Would you like to see how I did that???

I got an idea and THIS is the image that I came up with for the pillow I would make:

Testing the alterations was (hastily) done with paper and pencil:

Then came the fun part...

Playing with scraps in the colors deemed appropriate for the recipient:

Shading from light to dark, just because I could:

Too bad I didn't notice a problem in the photo below:

Pressing...

... And sewing ensued:

You might think the "F" is for FINALLY finished, but not quite! Somehow, I couldn't bring myself to trim it up and the cross bar was still waiting to be attached to the pillow top:

Plus, there was that road block that I mentioned...

A backing was still needed.  While waiting to choose the perfect backing fabric, MONTHS passed!  By choose, I mean gather enough courage to go to Goodwill in the lingering pandemic to find button down shirts in the right color for my recipient.  Eventually, I delivered a batch of donations and stopped by the storefront to procure these options, which each combine two of her favorite colors:

They were then presented to the Junior Quilter (via text message) for a decision and the girl obviously has high standards...

... As she selected the Tommy Hilfiger without hesitation:

Wait a minute, Joyful, I thought you were looking for backing fabric, NOT shopping for new-to-you clothing items!!!

Bear with me while I applique the cross bar and share it on Instagram...

... I'll address your concern momentarily...

... But first, I'm ready to quilt the pillow top.  I started with the letter:

Next, adding texture to one side panel...

... Followed by the other:

Once the quilting was complete...

... It was time to trim to size:

Suddenly, the project was assigned a hard deadline.  The end of October was approaching so YELLOW month (for the RSC) was coming to a close and I wanted this DONE!  Securing top to back was the next order of business...

... So that turning (above) and stuffing (below) could take place.  The pillow required a LOT of stuffing!!!  It is as full and firm as can be:

Once full of fluff, stitching the opening closed was the only thing that stood between me and a ready-to-gift pillow.  Sewing that 1/4" guideline was smart thinking!  It really helped when matching up the edges of front and back:

About the backing...

That's what makes this pillow SEW special!  The shirt selected by my recipient was a bridge between the toddler she was to the preschooler she has grown into.  It brings the blue from the front, her old favorite, and adds in her new favorite color... Purple:

Here is the completed pillow by the much photographed, currently fading, last Black-eyed Susan in my front garden.  Appropriate, since yellow was her first favorite color and it matches her sunny disposition:

I still stink at selfies, but the perennial sunflowers are in fill bloom and there would be nobody to take pictures before nightfall:

Have another look at the front of my version of The Pathway Pillow...

... Along with the back, which incorporates that shirt I bought because her mother loves all thrifty things:

Plus, the MAGIC of this pillow is in that shirt!!!

Front AND back are sewn together to form the reverse side of the pillow because that makes a SECRET POCKET to hide treasures...

... While the shirt's pocket serves to make this a Tooth Fairy Pillow:

One thing I know for certain, the Junior Quilter is absolutely going to LOVE her special birthday gift:

Another thing I know is that a couple of my readers are going to be SEW happy to see that this project has been completed!  Back in June, after I posted about the class, Kate @ Life in Pieces and Louise @ Quilt Odyssey both expressed interest in seeing how I would interpret Christina's class project.

Speaking of Christina @ A Few Scraps...

Thank you, again, for creating that AWSEOME class for The Pathway Pillow.  I enjoyed the instruction AND the project!

Sharing with Kelly

for

Needle and Thread Thursday

and

With Cynthia (On Sunday)

for

Oh Scrap!

Then later, because I love it...

I shared it with Sarah

for

Show Me Something That's a Gift

Until next time...

Make it. QUILT it, Gift it!!!