ScrapHappy Saturday - The Beginning of the End of the Year

We are at the cabin this weekend because Monday is a teacher workday. It has been raining constantly in Florida and here it is crisp fall weather with meadows of prancing deer. We had spirit week as school and then had to cancel the flag football game yesterday. We will try again next week. My seniors should be busy finishing up early action applications this weekend. Three Florida schools have moved to October 15 deadlines which does a great job of getting the kids moving early. 

This was our sunrise this morning. We have some trees to plant this afternoon and then will take some time to enjoy fall color and perhaps clear the driveway a bit of fallen leaves. I also have a literature review to write for my dissertation concept paper, so there will be some inside time next to the fire as well. 

I love the end of the year at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Even though it hasn't been a hyper productive sewing year for me, I still love to think about rounding out block collections and finishing up quilts. 

Last weekend I finished sewing together my leader and ender project for this year which I think shall be called Starburst. Doesn't it look like the multicolored square candies? Also, the sunrise kind of colorwash idea is also a starburst. So it works on two levels. 

I also added some more hexie snakes to the collection and started to pay with the layout. I am thinking of rotating the dark sides of adjacent colors toward the center to create a kind of seam. Then the next thought was that I might run the rows vertically instead of horizontally. I didn't actually change them on the design wall, I just rotated the photo to try out the plan. Plenty of time to make those decisions though. For now I am just slowly making each row longer. The summer Alaska rows got a lot of love during days watching glaciers and riding on trains. The others will slowly catch up during quiet days at home. 

ScrapHappy Saturday - Fall Fun

 

Yesterday was flag voting! This was one of my favorites. I still need to tally votes. Several classes turned in paper ballots because of the new cell phone ban, so I still need to add those in to the digital vote tally that happened automatically. I will share photos of some of the winners next week. 

I realized last week that I had almost enough blocks for a complete quilt with this years leaders and enders project. I decided on a colorwashish sort of sun bust arrangement with amorphous edges. I didn't have equal numbers of all blocks because some months were busier than others. I realized that I needed a few more purple and blue blocks to complete my quilt and then whipped those up in a hurry. 

Then I failed to get a photo of the final layout before starting to web the top. I have three more columns to add before I can start sewing the rows together. It feels so good to see a random assortment of blocks collected throughout the year turn into a quilt. We need another not too large lap quilt for the cabin, so this one will get put to use right away. 

How are you blocks rounding out as we get a bit closer to the end? This was obviously not a hugely productive year for me with graduate school going on, so I am pretty proud to be able to make one full quilt from start to finish while moving a few more along the road. It isn't a lot, but it is what I can do  right now. On the graduate school front, I got my dissertation topic approved this week! Now I just need to flesh out the details today and start digging in a bit. It looks to be a rainy and windy day here. We worried last weekend about a hurricane only to have it go the other way and then some sort of tropical mess just popped up right over us. Sounds like a good excuse to stay in a sew!

ScrapHappy Saturday - Falling

I always start to think about rounding out my collections as the end of the year approaches. I was in a hand sewing mood last weekend and started to add to my short rows on the hexie snake quilt. It takes longer to see progress on hand stitching projects, but there are quite a few new blocks up there compared to last weekend. 

That had me digging through my drawers of squares looking for sets of four. I think I will dig through some more this morning to fill up my leaders and enders supply. I haven't really got a main sewing project going on right now. I was thinking about finishing up the flimsy for my log cabin quilt this morning? I also have a quilt on the frame. Maybe I should pull out a UFO bin and dig in?  So many options. 

I spent Sunday last week digitizing slides that Kurt's dad sent home with us this summer. Here is one of Kurt and I at my senior prom. We were so young! This was one of the more recent photos.

This is Kurt and his brother with their father in England when he did a research sabbatical in 1969. 

September is almost gone. A new month is always about a new color here at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and so as you tidy up the light and bright greens and blues, it is time to shift to the darker shades of fall. Brown and black are ready for their turn this month. I know that some of you avoid the darker shades in rainbow quilts, so this is also a great time play with your light neutrals or to start rounding out your collections. The goal is always to start assembling blocks in November so that quilting can commence in December. How are your blocks coming together? Mister linky is below. Please share your progress. 

ScrapHappy Saturday - a Pause

 There is a current moment of calm. A couple of weeks between classes, a lack of any unusual events. It is blissful. Last Saturday I did some sorting and organizing. Sunday I sat in a comfy chair and quietly hand sewed hexies. I started to rough out a plan for the hexie snakes. So far it seems wider than it is long. With hand stitching, there is always plenty of time for design decisions though, so I will let it evolve slowly like the stitches. 

Even though Kurt and I were both in town all week, he had a meeting one night and I had a meeting on a different night, so we didn't spend all that much time together. That seems to happen a lot, so it was nice to walk to one of our favorite date night restaurants yesterday. 

Then the sun came up beautifully this morning and I ready to head down to the sewing room and putter. Not a bad plan for a quiet Saturday. How is your weekend shaping up? Misterlinky is below, please share your progress and plans. 

ScrapHappy Saturday - Catching Up

 I spent most of this week at a conference in New Orleans for work. 

I was presenting with a coworker about a College and Career Readiness Survey that we use with all of the high school students in our district. 

I had never been to New Orleans, and it was fun to see the sights. 

There was an evening event at the House of Blues that was a lot of fun. 

I took along some hexies to sew on the plane. 

For today I have one last paper to turn in for my literacy class and then I think I have a two week break before the next term starts. Looking forward to every minute of that! How is your September shaping up? The linky tool is below, please share your updates. 

ScrapHappy Saturday - Fall Flair

 I have to admit that it doesn't feel like fall around here yet. School is in full swing though, so that makes it feel a lot les like summer. I seem to have a lot of blue and green on the wall. Why then are all of those scrap bins still overflowing? I think this is why people do monochromatic quilts. 

I have a beautiful all green quilt that I made using Bonnie Hunter's Jamestown Landing pattern. I could easily make an all blue quilt from what is hanging out in my sewing room right now. First though, I think that I will scavenge through this stack and make some hexies. I have a flight tomorrow for a trip to present at a conference in New Orleans and I will have some time to sew while in transit. How is your weekend shaping up? New months are full of new plans. I hope you have some scraps to work with. 

September Color

 Ready to circle back and catch up? Light and bright are ready to roll out in the blue and green bins. I know that we did darks in blue and green, but these are two colors that need a bit of a repeat to help to get them under control. This is also a great time to think about catching up and rounding out your prior months collections. 

ScrapHappy Saturday - Long Weekend

 

It is a lovely and long weekend for the US. I am hopeful that will leave me some time to sew. Since not a stitch was sewn this week, I have some random sunrise and flag photos to share. Here is Ms. McCormick's flag. They had an animal theme. 

And Ms. Nery's class had an army theme. They all dressed up in camo clothes for Wildcat Challenge which is a field day that the juniors and seniors do in the spring. 

I hope that you all have plans to sew this weekend. Monday is a new month and a new color to enjoy. Well, sort of a new color. It is a chance to dig back into blues and greens to focus on the pastel shades. I can never seem to get through all the blues and greens, so this a chance to add some of the lighter and brighter shades to add some sparkle to your quilt(s). First up today, I will drive to school to finish off my work for the week and then bring home my sewing machine. That is sure to make the rest of the weekend sewing go much more smoothly. 

ScrapHappy Saturday

Another week has zoomed past. We have now finished two full weeks of school and things are starting to settle into a routine. Days are busy, but all with good things. We had a nice trip to Sarasota last weekend to look at Anna's wedding venue. 

Sydney has started her last year of college classes. Ryan is doing well at his new job and Kurt was travelling for work. This week I had a quick half day conference in Orlando and open house night at school.  I also finished sewing flags and wanted to bring my machine home from school, but it was pouring rain when I was coming home. That means that I can spend a bit more time hand stitching though and get some of the hexies that I prepped in the car put together. I hope that you are finding some time to sew as well. Believe it or not, there is still one more aqua Saturday in the month. 

ScrapHappy Saturday - Ocean Hues

  Am I just in love with aqua because I live near the ocean? That may be true, but I am enjoying the range of shades that live between blue and green. I finished my school work early last weekend and enjoyed an afternoon of digging though the scrap bin and cutting out hexies. I have a few prepped, and the rest will come along today in the car. We are driving to St. Pete to look at Anna's wedding venue. Plenty of time to stitch and relax and enjoy. 

    How is your weekend shaping up? I hope that you are finding some time to relax and enjoy your fabric while exploring creative options. I am savoring some down time after a busy first week of school and looking forward to recharging to do it all over again. The teachers and kids were all so excited to get their felt for flags. I can't wait to see what the came up with. I was subbing for a new 7th grade homeroom all week and they want to be Abreu's Artists. Ms. Abreu should be here next week to help them move on the the next step.