Saturday, May 11, 2024

ScrapHappy Saturday - Pink is Peeking

 

I didn't make much progress on pink, but I took enough time to dig in and find out what was hiding in the bin.  There is one of the Hen & Chick Blocks, the others are planned, so finding some time to sew them up this morning is part of the plan.  It looks like I've got some partial blocks and crumb bits ready to go.  Sydney came home for a few days before the start of her summer classes on Monday.   After seeing Anna last weekend, we are almost caught up on visiting with kids. School is all about testing right now, but I get my steps in each day walking around while they do their thing. I've got a couple of days squeezed in to help juniors with college applications and then a few days of College Application Bootcamp right after school end.  After that, it will be all vacation all the time! Looking forward to long days with so much time to sew, relax and regroup!
I hope that you pinks are coming along nicely.  
Please use the linky tool below so we can all enjoy your progress.


Sunday, May 5, 2024

Hen & Chicks Block 17 - D4P

 




Double 4 patch is not all that different from Antique Tile, it is just a four patch rather than a modified four patch in each corner.  

It is easily strip pieced, and except for the center square, everything comes from just one size of strip.  That would make this one a great way to dig into your bins of strips.  I have quite a collection saved up and this would be a fun way to put them all to good use. Start with strips of pink and background. One super long strip will do it, or two or more shorter sets, depending on what you have on hand.  It never hurts to sew extra length on strip sets.  The lengths in the chart all have an extra half inch worked in for safety, but you can make yours longer depending on what is in your scrap bin.  
Sew the pink and background strips together and press toward the pink. Try to keep the strip straight as you press, it makes the cutting more accurate.  
You will need two sizes of sub cuts for this one.  The big one is a square and the little one is the same width as your original strip.  This is the 6 inch finished size and I started with 1.5 inch strips.  That means the big set is 2.5 inches and the little set is 1.5 inches.  Cut 4 of the large squares and 8 of the small units which will be combined to make squares. 
Sew the small units together to make 4 4 patches and iron as you like.  I usually spin the seams on the back of 4 patches, but the key is that the seams should nestle in the next step, so remain flexible depending on how the seam lie.  
Arrange these subunits as seen here. Notice that the pink 4 patches form an X and the pink on the two patch square is away from the background colored center.  Now sew as you would any nine patch, taking care to nestle the seams of the four and two patch units

I have updated the links on the RSC24 Sampler Tab. I hope that everything is correct now, I had a few bad hyperlinks before, so thanks to those who let me know.  Please keep me posted if you find errors.  I somehow went through a phase where all m 12 inch block measurements were too small.  I'm not making 12 inch blocks this year, so it was easy to loose track.  


Saturday, May 4, 2024

Its May!

 A brand new month always means a brand new color at RSC. I have so many pink scraps.  I really thought they were getting under control .  

I thought that using so many pinks in the back of my last quilt would help.  Instead it just moved the fabric from yardage to scraps.  
The big even this weekend was Anna's engagement party.  Jordan reenacted their first date and sailed them to the same beach where they sailed the first time they met. Anna's friend Lily was hiding in the bushes to take photos.  Those will be fun to see!  The wedding is planned for May of 2026, so no rush.  
I hope you have plenty of time to start digging into Pink this weekend.  I sure have a lot to play with, I hope you do to.