ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC17 - Week 32

Welcome to Week 32 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  It was a action-packed week with LOTS of sewing time.  Those weeks are the best.  Does that mean that I got anything done???  "Let's go to the video tape!"  (Oh, wait.  I'm not a sports announcer.)  LOL!!

Anyway, here's how the week went:

SUNDAY - It was a lazy day in the life of The Joyful Quilter. Sometimes my body simply requires it.  Blog hopping and laundry occupied my time.  How hard is it to throw some clothes in a machine and push a button?!  LOL

I should have been working with these:

They will just have to wait.  Right now I need more color!!

MONDAY - Knit Group was followed by grocery shopping.  Not much else got done.  The only exception?  I cleaned my washing machine.  It was starting to throw spots on light gray shirts.  I even skipped the white load this past weekend because of it.  :o((

TUESDAY - The LAST Sew-In of the the Summer at my friend D's house.  We were all dragging in the morning, but everyone ended up having a productive day.

I started by cutting the yellow for my Sapphire Star Mystery:

Moved on to the red, followed by blue:

In the end, ALL of Clue #2 was cut and ready to sew:

Too bad that by this time it was time to go home!!  :o((

It's Boys' Night at my house with everyone responsible for their own dinner.  Knit Night was held at my friend Cindy's house.  It was a lovely, relaxed evening.  I spent my knitting time applying THIS label to its quilt...

... FINALLY!!!  (I had to take the quilt from its owner to do so.)

WEDNESDAY - My Wonderful Wednesday post went live before I headed over to Needleb's for another day of quilting fun.  I didn't have a lot of time to sew before heading out for my hair appointment.  Just enough time for THIS:

Along with settling on a design plan which is a bit different from Alycia's instructions suggest.  What can I say?  I prefer to change things up a bit and make a Mystery my own!

THURSDAY - Alycia released the 5th and final clue of her A6 Mystery yesterday.  The result?  See it HERE!!

Guess where I went this morning??

I visited with my weekly Quilt Group!!  It was a pleasure to see everyone, but then I had to go do my shift taking care of my friend for the afternoon.  This will be the NEW schedule... at least for a little while.

BEFORE all of that, I sewed the rows of my A6 Mystery Quilt:

Here they are,  hot off the machine bed:

This is what I took for Show and Tell:

Judging by the angle, I probably SHOULD have stood on a chair for a better view of my project.  Oh, well!  Maybe next time...

FRIDAY -  Knit Group has been meeting on Mondays AND Fridays this summer.  I've never been able to join in on the Friday meetings.  Today, that was SUPPOSED to change!  Unfortunately, a neighbor suffered a loss, so I had to go next door to help out (and then I had to go work my friend care shift.)  I can NOT believe how quickly the days of this week passed by!!

SATURDAY - It's LINK PARTY day over at So Scrappy!!  I was blog hopping last night and found something that you RSC Quilters are going to like.  YOU will NOT want to miss THIS Rainbow Quilt from Laura at Slice of Pi Quilts!!

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

Wonderful Wednesday - A Summer 2017 UFO Club Finish

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  I've been REALLY busy in the studio lately.  I even have a FINISH to share!  It's been done for more than a week now.  Oops!!

As you may recall, I went to CCLQ @ The Bluff Quilt Retreat in 2015.  (I'm SEW excited that there's another planned for 2018!!)  I presented a Mystery Quilt from about 15 years ago.  It's an oldie, but a goody!  Most of the quilters participated and one wasn't happy with her fabric selection when the quilt was done.

A year passed and she gave her completed quilt top to me (where it sat on the Project Shelf with mine.)

Fast forward ANOTHER year to the time (last week) when Bluff Quilt in Brown's number FINALLY came up for quilting...

That quilt was loaded onto the frame:

And quilting commenced:

But what of that gifted quilt top???

Well...

It WAS the same pattern as Bluff Quilt in Brown!!  That Double Baptist Fan template board quilting design would certainly look as good on Bluff Quilt in Blue.

SEW...

I loaded that one:

It got quilted, too:

It's a tricky one to photograph:

I took it outside and that was a bit better, but the quilting pattern didn't really show up very well:

Here is a close-up:

Along with one of the back:

Then came the time to bind the quilt, which came with a game of "Binding Chicken" because I was forced to get it out of the trimmings left from the quilt backing:

Fortunately, there was JUST enough:

THIS is a photo of the completed quilt:

But here's one that REALLY makes the quilting shine:

SEW...

Chalk one up for me.  I've got a finish to report for the Summer 2017 (Ravelry) UFO Club!!  Hooray!!!

The excitement continued when I got home from finishing the quilt at a Mini Retreat, I showed it off to DS2 and he REALLY liked it.

How could I tell??

Well...

The boy (who has been going through a tough time lately) asked, "Who is that one for?"  Followed by, "I like the color and the pattern."  This, from the one who said that he didn't NEED any more quilts (when asked about a T-quilt for graduation last year!)

What's a Mom to do??

Well, this one said, "Enjoy YOUR new quilt!"  And so he did:

Special thanks to my good friend, Candy!!  Your unloved quilt top provided me with another way to give my son a warm hug.

Until next time...
Life is full of surprises!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC17 - Week 31

Welcome to Week 31 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This week, I've got some good news to share.  A fair amount of progress may or may not follow.  Only time will tell...

SUNDAY - Guess what I found under THIS pile of scraps during my search for 1.5" strips for my Sapphire Stars Mystery?!?!?

Oh!  Happy day!!!  I found THESE missing background pieces to go with the BLUE scraps for the construction of my Scrap Jar Stars for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge:

This afternoon, I laid out all my squares:

And got a start on the block components:

Here are the 16-Patch centers for my Scrap Jar Stars:

MONDAY - I did some quilt work at Knit Group and knit a bit on my friend Tracy's sock.  She's always kind enough to bring an extra project in case someone forgets her knitting.

When I got home, I made my SJS blocks in record time!  Just when I was beginning to think that I wouldn't have them done by the end of BLUE month.

HERE they are... just under the wire.

Light BLUE:

And dark:

Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TUESDAY - It's a stay-at-home day!  Or is it???  Nope!  I'm off to quilt at Needleb's.  Productivity?  Yes, indeed!

First thing's first.  I joined the backing for my Rainbow Picnic Blanket Sew Along:

Next, we had to determine which one of these fabrics read as a light?  I'm sure that you would agree, we decided on the floral:

As I finished cutting the peachy "Dark 1" for Alycia's A6 QOV Mystery, I realized that I had enough fabric to make it my "background."  Hooray!!  Now, the gray can move into the Dark #1 spot and allow the juicy peach to shine.  Back to the cutting board:

Next came the sewing...

Medium/Dark #1 HSTs:

Medium/Dark #2 HSTs:

Medium/Light HSTs:

A combined shot of the fruits of today's labor:

Then, before bed I loaded that Rainbow Picnic back onto the rails of the longarm and chose batting.  You'll have to use your imagination since I was too tired to retrieve my phone for a photo.

WEDNESDAY - I woke up early (for me!) and was rewarded with Alycia's release of Clue #4 of her A6 Mystery Quilt.

I sure wish Angela would tell us what August's Color of the Month will be!  I really want to dig out the next scrap basket.  I don't recall her saying there would be a delay.  It's already 8 AM on August 2nd and there's STILL no word.  I hope everything is OK!!

Today is my day for quilt with my friend J!  Or is it???  Yep!  Just a little off schedule.  I started off by cutting some pieces for A6:

Small triangle pairs in the photo above.

Then went on to deconstruct some more ties:

I even managed to press my red scraps for Kevin's Sapphire Stars Mystery quilt.  The bits of ALL the colors for Clue #2 taken from my Birthday Scraps were pressed, too:

Hooray for progress!!

Depart early?  Or... stay and help with Quilt Camp?

Neither!!

I headed out just before the Campers arrives.  Back to Needleb's to work more on my A6.  :o))

Here's what I got done this afternoon...

The preliminary layout for the top half of A6:

And sewing the components for the top corners of the quilt:

After dinner, I checked, AGAIN, to see about August's Color of the Month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge...

SUCCESS!!!  The new color is:

LIGHT NEUTRALS

Cream/Ivory/Mixed Backgrounds
"Try to expand your range from snowy white to paper bag beige."
Apparently, the light pastels can be used here, too!
This could get interesting...

Angela had been so worried about the storm that she forgot what day it was.  Totally understandable!!  We're glad to hear that the storm fell apart before it made it's way across to you.  Whew!!

THURSDAY - My long day wasn't QUITE so long today.  My shift started a little later than normal.  SEW... I headed upstairs to see what LIGHT NEUTRALS my scrap stash could provide.

Survey says...

A stacked basket is OVERFLOWING with LIGHT NEUTRALS:

FRIDAY - RSC Quilters, check out THIS spectacular rainbow quilt!! The Knitting Quilter finished the top stitching last week, but I neglected to to mention it then.  Some of you may have seen it already (since she linked-up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Friday Finishes), but I thought it warrants a shout out just in case.

I sorted the TOP LAYER of the LIGHT NEUTRAL scrap basket:

Literally!!  The stacked bits shown above represent only the very tip of the LIGHT NEUTRAL iceberg!!

SATURDAY - Thanks for hosting the weekly LINK PARTY for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Angela.  YOU are responsible for emptier scrap baskets around the world... including in my very own sewing room!!  For that, I am truly grateful.

Now, I'm off to see what the RSC quilters are doing on the paler side of the rainbow.  Join me, if you are able.

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC17 - Week 30

Welcome to Week 30 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  Another fun-filled week here at The Joyful Quilter.  Shall we have a look? I'll give you a clue... Quilting was involved!!  :o))


It actually started off on Saturday, AFTER posting to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge Link Party:

More info can be found HERE.

SUNDAY - Today was spent packing up for an adventure.  I also pieced this little H block:

It's going to be the label of a recently completed quilt.
I made it in BLUE for the RSC (and it suits the quilt back.)

MONDAY - Adventure time!!  Sew-In Mini Marathon - Day One

My mantra was "Do something you NEED to do BEFORE doing what you WANT to do!!"

SEW...

Today, I trimmed my Bluff Quilt in Brown.  Selected binding fabric.  Made and applied binding.  Moved on to sewing the rows of my Rainbow Picnic Sew Along Blanket:

But...

I played "Binding Chicken" and LOST:

So... Bluff Quilt in Brown remains UNFINISHED.  :o((

TUESDAY - Sew-In Mini Marathon - Day Two

Once again, my mantra was "Do something you NEED to do BEFORE doing what you WANT to do!!"

SEW...

I trimmed up Bluff Quilt in Blue.  Made and applied binding. Machine stitched the binding down, as today's game of "Binding Chicken" went in my favor:

There was JUST enough.  Here I am closing up the last inch or so:

Details can be found in next week's Wonderful Wednesday post.

Moved on to assembling the scrappy top of my Rainbow Picnic Sew Along Blanket:

Only 3 seams remain:

The rows are sewn in "twosies" and the final row has been attached to the final set of two rows for a "threesie."  Progress!!  :o))

AND, if you can believe it...

Before dinner (a somewhat late dinner), I got the quilt top done:

As if THAT wasn't enough...

After dinner, I loaded a friend's Bicycle Quilt for quilting.

WEDNESDAY - Today's toss up was between a stay-at-home day or a Sew Day at Needleb's house.  What do YOU think I chose???

WRONG!!!

I stayed home.  :P

First, I did some blog hopping before getting to work. In my travels around BlogLand, I found that Alycia had posted the next clue (Clue 3) for her A6 Mystery quilt.  Now that I've got the fabric situation sorted, I hope to start my own A6 by next week.

Next came the basting AND quilting of this quilt in just 4 hours:

55 x 65

Then, I went next door to help my neighbor.  Whew!! What a day!

Here's another look at Maggie's Bicycle Quilt... as quilted by me:

And another.  What a FUN quilt:

And another.  Thanks for trusting me with your quilt, Maggie!

THURSDAY - A long day with friends and I was too tired to do any kind of sewing task.  Does it count that I actually THOUGHT about loading another quilt on the frame??  :o))

FRIDAY - My short day with friends.  Oh!  Guess what?  Today, Kevin released Clue #2 of the Sapphire Star Mystery.  Hooray!! When I got home this afternoon, I dug out the appropriately colored scrap baskets:

Let the sorting begin!!

While my scrap stash IS sorted by color, it is NOT -necessarily- sorted by size.  It was QUITE an undertaking to go through these overflowing baskets.  (Took the better part of an hour!)

What a difference THIS...

... Made to my scrap baskets:

SATURDAY - Hooray!!  It's LINK PARTY day for the RSC.  What a week it was!!  While working on the Bicycle Quilt the other day, DS1 made some sort of comment regarding the longarm and my productivity.  He asked, "Have you EVER quilted THIS many quilts in so short a time?"  The answer is NO!!!  I have NEVER BEFORE quilted THREE quilts in ONE WEEK!!!

This was DEFINITELY a week for the (personal) record books.

For the RSC Quilters... the color BLUE was involved.  Just NOT even in the production of Scrap Jar Stars.  I still haven't found the background pieces.  They've been missing for a month!!  :o((

Oh, and I'll have to catch up with all of you later today or sometime tomorrow.  DH and I are off to my MIL's.  We will be there to celebrate a happy day with her.  DS1 is already over that way and DS2 is at a party for his best friend, who is celebrating his own happy day.  I'm off to finish up making the cake.

Have a HAPPY day, you two!

Linking up with Cynthia for
Oh Scrap!

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!