ScrapHappy Saturday - Farewell to Orange

I have quite a nice collection of 16 patch blocks. The 2.5 inch squares have been stacked next to my machine as leaders and enders since I put away the nine patches of Shine Like a Diamond.   Now to decide how to put them together. I like the pink quilt I made for mom here.  Or perhaps another four squared quilt like the ones here, here and here.   What are you pondering on this last orange Saturday.  Hopefully you are seeing a few finished projects on your horizons. Nothing is more exciting in the new year than new quilt projects!

A Friday Finish!

I finished the binding on the first of my hurricane quilts last night.  Here is Shine Like a Diamond.   Nine patches were framed in  black and white based on a quilt that I saw on Quilting is More Fun than Housework.    I can't seem to find the exact quilt right now, but I will look for it. 

 I added a black and white diamond fabric for the border and found a backing fabric with diamonds on it.  From the clearance rack!

 This stripe worked for both an inner border and binding.  There is something happy about striped bindings.

B-Day

No, its not my birthday.  It is a day of batting, backings and bindings.  If only I had a border to finish, it would be the complete quilting bee day.

 While picking Anna up from her makeup ACT yesterday, we made a quick trip to Joann's for sale backing fabrics.  They have all made a round through the laundry and are waiting for ironing.

 I also found a sale on batting online and am all stocked up for a while.

I got one and a half sides of binding sewn down on this nine patch quilt last Sunday during the Emmy Awards.  I think there is a new Star Trek on tonight.  Hopefully I'll be able to get this one finished off and move on to the other quilts waiting for hand sewing.  

 As far as machine sewing, I decided to use a twisted window setting for my crumb blocks.  I used google images for inspiration and finally decided on navy.  I think this setting will be a little less rigid than the lattice and cornerstones I was thinking about.  There are plenty of these blocks for a quilt.  This is the 5 inch collection.  with the setting they come out to 6 inches.  I also have a 6.5 inch stack, but I'm not sure there are enough of them quite yet.

Then, while I continued the clean up routine, I started turning leftover 9 patches into larger 36 square postage stamp blocks.  These were all leftover from earlier quilts.  Again, I suspect that there are enough for another quilt.  I might just sew these together as is for a true postage stamp quilt, maybe with an interrupter border and then some more postage stamps?  At some point, I might start an actual quilt that isn't the result of leftover scraps from another quilt.  Maybe, but maybe not.
I'm linking up today with Oh Scrap!  and Slow Stitching Sunday

ScrapHappy Saturday -- Welcome to Fall

I'm playing with mini log cabin blocks today.  I was originally thinking of grouping all the colors into groups of 4.  I think that is called sunshine and shadows.  But then I thought it would be fun to try this row setting - straight furrows.  Maybe barn raising would be more fun?  I printed some more of the paper piecing templates, so making more blocks can come before the making a decision part.  Share your progress using misterlinky below. 

Mini House Quilt

It didn't take long to get the binding sewn down on the mini house quilt.  It is placemat sized, so it was quick from start to finish.  The pink house is a little wonky.  I wonder if a hurricane blew off part of the roof?  We are full of partially blown off roofs around here.  It will be months before everyone can schedule repairs.  As long as we don't get another storm before then, it shouldn't be a problem. Still hoping Maria follows the models and turns north.  

Trying to get everyone back on track today was a bit of a trick.  So many people are still boiling water or lacking wifi or electricity. It gets better each day though.  I might try the grocery store again, eventually the shelves will be less empty.  As long as you aren't picky, it is possible to make a meal.  Just don't hope to go in with a list and plan find what you want.  Much easier to go and be happy with what they have.  Flexibility is a good thing in so many ways.   

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I was so excited to see that it is time once again for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  It is always so much fun to see so many beautiful finished quilts all in one place.  Inspiration overload!

It didn't take me long to decide that I should post about OMG.  It was the last quilt I finished before Irma, back when life was simpler.

I was lucky enough to find two volunteers to hold it up outside on a nice sunny day.   It can be hard to get good pictures of big quilts.  

 The border gave me no end of grief and had me dumping the whole quilt in a corner for months before I was brave enough to try again.  It looks great as long as you don't get too close.

This quilt started in 2014 as an attempt to put tiny scraps to use.  I was inspired by The Birthday Quilt and Omigosh to try making nine patches from 1 inch strips.   Making tiny little nine patches is a tiny bit addictive.  Once you start, it gets hard to stop.

After several years of making nine patches, I decided to try out an alternate block or two.

I worked up a few trial blocks and took votes before deciding on a churn dash block with a tiny nine patch in the center.

That led to a couple more years of making alternate blocks.  Look how cute and little they are!

 Eventually they moved to the design wall and I planned a layout using graph paper and colored pencils.  Truly my favorite design tools ever.  

 Thanks so much for reading about my quilt, be sure to visit Amy and enjoy lots of eye candy.  Get an icy beverage first, it can take a while to enjoy it fully.  

Weekend Roundup

 I was puttering around the sewing room trying to clear out some things.  These little house blocks were going to be a block a day quilt from 3 or 4 years ago.  I made a few, but decided not to keep going.  Since then, they have been sitting in a bin.  After just a little bit of puttering around, they are now a mini quilt ready for the hand sewing of binding stack.  Making mini quilts is instant gratification.  I might have to do more of them in the future.

I also got the rest of the postage stamp stars put together.  That brings the number of finished quilts draped over the dining room table to three.  I guess that ordering some more batting will have to go on the list of things to do.  Not that quilting will be high on the list as school starts again -- finally!  There are two more storm brewing out there, but hopefully they will end up twirling around the ocean instead of making landfall.  We aren't quite recovered from the last storm yet.  

Sunday Gear Shift

 First up on the agenda today is sewing down some binding.  Thanks to 7 missed days of school, there is a stack of 5 finished quilts awaiting my attention.

 Leap year now has a border.  I pulled out some potential backing fabrics, but as I am out of batting right now, I couldn't really get this one much further right now.

 Lizzie came to give it her seal of approval.

 She has to check out every quilt that is on the floor.

Speaking of quilts on the floor, the RSC16 row by row sampler got sewn together yesterday.

Still working on "holiday" energy, I pulled out this collection of postage stamp stars which have been finished for a while now.  They even had matching cornerstones, but just needed sashing strips.  I went with a grey star pattern.  Instead of extending it throughout the quilt, I decided that I would try some random 2.5 in strips to create a border feel.  I think I like it.  I was about halfway through sewing these all together yesterday when my sewing machine started acting up.  Maybe I tired her out?  I'm sure a little extra TLC will have her back at it before you know it.  

I'm off to check out Slow Stitching Sunday and Oh Scrap! before the day gets out of control.  School starts again tomorrow.  It is going to be a huge shock to everyone's system to get back to something resembling normal again.  

ScrapHappy Saturday -- Orange You Glad the Hurricane is Gone?

What a long strange week it has been!  I think that last week at the same time we were watching the weather forecasts as the hurricane approached.  Now that it has passed, we are watching the updates to see when everyone will have water and power again.  I am fortunate enough to have both of those right now, and am thankful indeed.
Being out of school for 7 days has done wonders for my quilting productivity.  My stack of orange squares has been turned into "twosies" ready to be turned into four patches and eventually 16 patches.  That isn't the big news though.  While waiting for the hurricane, and recovering from the hurricane, I've quilted and bound 5 quilts, finished one more flimsy, and have another ready to be have its rows sewn into a top.  What projects have you been up to?  Misterlinky is below, awaiting your report.

Race to the Finish

School starts again on Monday, so I tried to find some quilts which are close to the finish.  I'm on a streak now.  Crossing things off the list feels pretty good.

This one is the RSC16 Sampler Quilt.  I was never happy with the way it was coming together, but I need to get it finished up nonetheless.  There are lots of awesome hand dyed scraps that will be free when the top is together and ready for quilting.
 No more quilting for now, I appear to have run out of batting.  I'll have to take care of that eventually, but for now, there are plenty of projects to keep me going for the last two hurricane days.  

Circling in on a Finish

I finished sewing down the last circle last night while watching Barefoot in the Park on Netflix.  After spending most of the day crawling around on hands and knees, Leap Year 366 is finally a flimsy!  It just needs an outer border which is already cut out and waiting.  Then I can get it layered and basted.  The plan is to hand quilt this one.
First though, I'd better go and hop through the shower.  These hurricane cancellations are starting to feel a lot like spring break.  Ms. Johnson is having a teacher pot luck get together tonight and I need to think of something interesting to bring.  Food at the grocery store is a little sparse so it will be more about what they have than what I would like to make.
Anna has been working on college applications today and Sydney fell off her bike and skinned her knee and elbow.  We all went to Goodwill this morning to do a bit of shopping for spirit week.   Anna had all the themes from the senior chat group.  School starts again on Monday.  Getting back to normal is going to feel good.    

Circles

We are stuck in a strange holding pattern here.  School is always cancelled for just one more day, or until further notice.  Though the damage wasn't severe, it is still wide spread and recovery is slow.  And so I sit and stitch.  I am SO close to being done with the Leap Year Circle Quilt.  SEW close.

 I did venture out this morning to pick up the camera traps from Hundred Acre Hollows.  There is standing water from Irma.  Ducks have already discovered a new swimming sight.

The drive was less than pleasant.  About 75% of the stop lights are still out.  This one was working, just a bit askew.  Don't worry, I didn't take the photo while driving.  I made Ryan come along to get him out of the house for a bit.  Then this afternoon I took the girls out for lunch and a movie.  The mall was on a boil water warning, so no fountain drinks and everything was served out of takeaway containers.  Still, it was nice to get out of the house for a bit.  No school again tomorrow, not sure yet about Friday.  Monday, ironically, was scheduled as a teacher workday.  There is definite discussion of turning it into a school day instead.  So many things out of my control.  Until life gets back to normal, I will sit and stitch a bit more.  

5 Quilts

Here are the 5 quilts that I quilted during the hurricane.  From top to bottom: Noah's Ark, Blue Pinwheels, 9 Patches on Point, Orange Peels, Twinkle Stars.  The binding has been applied to three of the five, it won't take long to whip up a couple sets.  After that, it will be time for a bit of hand sewing.  I was hopeful that school would be back on for Wednesday, but it is still off cancelled until further notice.  Even though things look pretty good in the central part of the county, but there are still widespread power outages in most of the state.  I'll take full advantage of the extra time off, there are always plenty of projects that would enjoy a bit of forward progress.  

Post Hurricane

The power was out for most of the night, but it is up again now.  We might or might not be under a boil water alert, still trying to figure that one out.

Part of the fence blew over, so we went out this morning and propped it up a bit.  It didn't hit anything on the way down though, so all is well.

The kids got a bit stir crazy in the hour this morning before the power was back up and demanded to drive to Atlanta.  Silly children, it is headed there next.

I've been sewing circles.  Small, simple, not requiring much concentration.  Now it is just waiting for everything to get back to normal again.

First though, maybe a nap?  Not much sleeping happened last night.  

Slow Sewing Sunday

The sewing will be slow, but the wind will be fast.

 I finished the hand quilting on the Orange Peels last night!  The orange peels are quilted with coordinating colors of pearle cotton.  The border got a zig zag treatment in grey.  Now that this one is done, I'll have to get my Leap Year quilt finished up to be next on the list for hand quilting.

I got the binding cut out last night, so getting that attached will be first on the list today.

Then the nine patches on point need some binding as well.  I'm going to use the same striped fabric from the inner border.  It looks like there will be plenty of binding to keep me busy when the power goes out.  Until then, I'll keep enjoying the air conditioning and cable TV.  I'm linking up today with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday and Cyndi for Oh Scrap!  It was her nine patch quilts that inspired mine.  She works a bit faster though.  

Sunday Gear Switching

Tomorrow it is time to head back to school again.  As much as I want to jump back in again, there are still plenty of people without power, water and internet access.  I'm sure that it is going to take some time to transition back.  

 I am lucky enough to have this nice stack of 5 quilts waiting to have the bindings hand sewn down.  It is amazing what can be accomplished with 7 unscheduled days off of school.

 I wasn't quite ready to settle down yet, so I put an outer border on Leap Year.  This one is next in line for hand quilting now that the Orange Peels are finished.  The original plan was to use pearle cotton to quilt inside of each circle, but now that I look at it all together, I am thinking that diagonal lines might be fun?  Giving the effect of crossing days off the calendar.....

 Lizzie gave her seal of approval.

 She is always quick to check out every finished quilt.

Still in sewing mode, I put together the rows for the RSC16 quilt.  It was my first attempt at a row by row quilt.  It might need one more row.  The proportions seemed fine when I laid it out, but it got a little skinnier with the seam allowances gone.  

Still not wanting to call it quits, I pulled out a stack of postage stamp star blocks which had been done for a while.  They were all sorted nicely by color and pinned together with cornerstones just waiting to be webbed into a top.  I had originally planned to use grey sashing strips throughout, but as I worked, I thought it might be nice to try out some random colored strips instead.  I think it gives a nice border effect.  I'm about halfway done webbing the top now, but my sewing machine got temperamental.  Maybe I tired her out?

I'm linking up today with Slow Stitching Sunday and Oh Scrap!  Be sure to take a few minutes to visit before you get carried away with your day.  

Sunday Switching Gears

It is hard to believe that there will be school again on Monday.  It was originally a teacher inservice day, but after 7 days missed for the hurricane, getting everyone back is more important right now.

 For handwork today, I have a stack of 5 quilts waiting for the binding to be hand sewn.  These were all finished during those 7 missed days of school.  I've got the machine stitching part done, it will be nice to have handwork for the foreseeable future.

 I also got a border on Leap Year.  I pulled out fabrics for the backing, but as I am out of batting, this one can wait for a bit.  It is meant to be hand quilted.  I was originally planning to quilt with pearl cotton on the inside of each circle, but I am now thinking about diagonal lines through each block.  I'll have to think about it some more.

 Lizzie came out to help with the quilt photography of course.

 She is always the first to give her approval to finished quilts.

With that flimsy finish, I pulled out the RSC16 Row by Row Sampler to finally finish it off!  October is still missing, but I might leave it this way.  It was fatter before I sewed the rows together, it might need one more row now that I look at the proportions.

Then, because I was in a finishing mode, I pulled out one of the sets of postage stamp stars which had been an ongoing RSC project for a while.  They were pinned into rows with cornerstones already picked out in handy Ziploc bags.  I found a grey star fabric to use for the inner sashing. It was going to continue to the outer border as well, but I changed gears a bit and decided to pull random 2.5 inch strips instead.  I think that it adds a nice border effect.  I'm about halfway done with sewing all the rows together.  Hopefully that will be done before the end of the day.  

I'm linking up today with Slow Stitching Sunday and Oh Scrap! today.  Be sure to go and visit before your day gets underway.