Playing with Scraps on a Rainy Sunday

I did some organizing and sorting over the break and made a mental list of block collections in need of love.  The two inch squares bin had a lot of randomly scrappy nine patches.  I was thinking that I could add some consistently colored star points to turn them into Sister's Choice blocks.  Here are my test blocks.  I will let them simmer until the green month comes up.   

I have made as many Irish Chain blocks as will fit onto one design wall.  I'm almost out of the partial blocks.  I'll need to do some math now and figure out how many to make.  I think enough for a twin sized quilt.   If 63 by 87 is a standard twin size, then that is 9 by 12.  I'll need a border as well, so I should make the center 8 by 11.  88 blocks divided evenly between the two types makes 44.  It looks like I've got 30 right now.   So I'll make a note that I need 14 more of each block and set this one aside for now.   

Finally, the red wall!  I spent most of yesterday on crumbs.  I was thinking of turning those into placemats and potholders.   I've finished most of the main projects for the month and was working some cross blocks through to alternate with random scrappy 16 patches.  I think that I will move those over to the empty wall and continue on those as leaders and enders.   So I guess that I have a lot of background projects and should think about a main project, but I always seem to get carried away with scraps instead.  It is a cold and rainy day in Florida, so staying inside where it is warm and dry sounds like a wonderful plan.   Sydney and I are seeing the hand surgeon tomorrow.  Hopefully he will have some good news for us.  She is doing pretty well with just one working hand so far, but patience is not her strong suit.   I'm off to Oh Scrap! for more scrappy inspiration and will catch up on yesterday's ScrapHappy Saturday posts as well.   I got pretty carried away sewing yesterday and never took a computer break.  

ScrapHappy Saturday -- Week 3

 

What a long strange week it has been. Today I am thankful for three day weekends. It means I might make it though next week. As you might guess, COVID is in full swing here. Because the schools are prohibited by law from doing anything to mitigate the spread, it is running through fast and hard. Some kids choose to wear masks, but mandating of masks and quarantines are both forbidden here. And so we cover for sick teachers when the sub pool has been depleted and hope that it gets better soon. There is a daily influx of emails from students about makeup work.   I am also thankful for Google Classroom so that I can post everything digitally.  I can't imagine trying to keep up with emailing work to 20 kids every day with three different preps.  For the most part at least one member of each lab group has been present and able to share lab data with those at home. I am also thankful that they all stay in contact digitally so the absent kids are aware of what we are doing.    

 Just as I was settled into the new COVID routine at school Sydney decided to fall down at Lacrosse practice and may have fractured her wrist. They had her casted and ready to discharge before the radiology report came back. He thinks it is a bone spur and not a fracture at all. So on Monday we will see a hand surgeon and he can break the tie. A fracture would probably be the end a season yet to begin.  She is in good spirits and finds it all incredibly funny so far.   That might change it it last for longer than the weekend.

I am caught up on my reds for the most part and hope to make some progress on these Irish Chains.  I need more alternate blocks and then I can dig into the partially assembled nine and four patch bins to puzzle some more of the main blocks together.   It is strange to work with randomly scrappy blocks after spending so many years on one color at a time.   I also have a bag of red crumb blocks for placemats and some tiny scraps to use for little log cabins.  

I hope you have some fun sewing plans for the weekend as well.  Mr. Linky is below.  We would love to see what you have going on with your red scraps so far.   

  

Sunday Wrap Up

The sunrise was subdued this morning.   It is a bit chilly so far but promises to warm up as the day progresses.   

I am making good progress on my red scraps.  I dreamt last night about making placemats out of crumb blocks.   Here is my wall so far:  starting at the top, I've got bulls-eye blocks which are a courthouse steps variation from 1.5 inch strips, Carpenter's Star, which is just HST units from 2.5 inch strips with a few squares, and finally Blackford's Beauty blocks from 2 inch strips.  These are my 3 main Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects for 2022.   I've saved the tiny scraps for paper pieces mini log cabin blocks.  

While working through my red scrap bin, I've also been adding some alternate squares to these scrappy Irish Chain blocks.   So many scraps all used up!  How is it that I haven' run out yet?  Visit Oh Scrap!  for more scrappy projects.   

 

Day 3 of 2022

 I guess I will keep counting days until I get too busy to post on a day and loose track.  Most likely when school starts again on Thursday.   Not looking forward to the Covid fueled mess that is going to be.  We have no authority to mandate vaccines, masks, testing or quarantines.   With no way to fight back, it will just be a matter of watching it work through the students and staff.  I pray that no-one else will die before it is done.   

The sunrise this morning looked like an egg, sunny side up.  It was hazy and drizzling.  Almost before it had cleared the horizon, the sun was behind clouds for the rest of the morning.   

The afternoon turned beautiful though.  Here is my friend Linda who retired this year.  Look how relaxed and refreshed she looks!   We had a nice long beach walk at low tide and caught up on all the gossip.  

I am spending my last few days of vacation working through and inventorying of WIPs, UFOs, PIGs and orphans. 

Bins 1 though 4 are my designated Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects for this year.   That is one for each week of the month.   

1. Courthouse Steps from 1.5 inch strips
2. Blackford's Beauty from 2 inch strips and squares
3. 2.5 inch HST units now designated for Carpenter's Stars
4. tiny paper pieced log cabin blocks are ongoing

Here is the plan for the Carpenter Star blocks.  It is my third try for the HST units I've started.   I saw this post at Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting and was inspired.     

5 is my only official WIP that isn't part of the RSC.  It is aqua churn dash blocks meant for Ryan's bed which he took with him to college.   I might turn it into something smaller instead.   Bin 6 is a collection of pieces for a double wedding ring quilt that I started cutting with an Accuquilt die that I haven't gotten out since the move.  I might try to make space to set that up and focus on starting some collections of fabric pieces ready to sew.   Bin 7 isn't a UFO at all but a collection of 10.5 inch squares to use for quilt backs.    

Bins 8 and 9 are also not quilts but collections of blocks from 2.5 and 2 inch squares. 

Pulling out the bin of 2 inch squares inspired me to take stock of the Irish Chain blocks that were leftover from an earlier quilt and should be enough to start the next one.   I don't often make the same pattern again, but I think this will be my third iteration of this quilt.   

That just leaves this one drawer of orphans.  Thanks to a bit of organization and sorting, it is able to close again.  Most of these are extras from trying out new patterns or writing tutorials.   I will try to focus on turning these into smaller quilted projects.  Quite a few potholders, placemats and table toppers could easily come out of this bin.   That will allow me to participate in the Table Scraps Challenge with The Joyful Quilter who is always such a great cheerleader for RSC.   

If you are also on an organizational quest, Stephanie has been kind enough to make tracking sheets for us again this year.  They are available in editable as well as PDF formats.  Feel free to make a digital copy or print one out as you track your own RSC22 projects. This can be especially helpful if you are carrying over projects from last year that only need certain colors.   

Tracking Sheet in editable form

Tracking Sheet in PDF printable form

I will also add the links to the RSC22 page as well as next weeks linky party to make sure everyone gets a chance to see them.   

Happy Friday Quilt Parade - Irish Chain

It is officially the first time I've been home during daylight hours this week.  That makes it the perfect day for a Friday finished quilt parade.  Here is a daylight view of the Scrappy Irish Chain. 

The quilting on this one was feathered wreaths in the open squares. 

The back is an wild assortment of floral prints that cleared out my stash and prompted my husband to ask if I wondered whether anyone ever looked at the back. 

Design Wall Monay September 24, 2012

It was a busy weekend with little bits of progress on lots of projects rather than lots of progress on one.  Made quite a few geese and finished up two more Hawaii Sunset blocks. 

There are 108 Midgets up on the wall.  Its full now, so I'll have to add another section to get the extra three rows that I would like to make fit.  I am thinking that a square quilt would be nice in a 12 by 12 setting.  I should really sew those together, they keep falling off. 

Last night we settled in to watch a movie as a family and I finished (finally) hand sewing the binding on Irish Chain.  I got a good start on Orca Bay binding as well which got quilted Saturday, but no photos of that till I take the last stitch. What else?  Cut a scrappy back for Sydney's Teal Crumbs.  Loaded Smith Mountain on the frame.  Didn't even get my school work out of the car.  I'll be regretting it later today I am sure, but I enjoyed the weekend full of quilting fun.  Head over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is up to on Design Wall Monday.  There are always lots of fun projects for inspiration. 

Handwork Sunday

 I was on a roll with machine quilting and thought I would take on the Dear Jane that has been sitting in a cupboard for a while now waiting for hand quilting.  I got two rows done before deciding that it just didn't look good.  It looked like a child had drawn all over my quilt.  Instead I switched the machine to a long basting stitch and basted the rest for hand quilting.  I'll be out of town for training next week and this will make a nice take along project for the hotel room.  This really is a quilt that calls for hand work, and it isn't all that big with only 48 blocks. 

The rest of the day was busy with binding.  There are now 7 quilts in my stack waiting to have the binding hand sewn to the other side.  I guess I won't be bored during TV time for a while!  4 of these were quilted during my weekend marathon, the other three were already done and waiting for the binding to be made and sewn on.  Now I need to go reassemble the sewing room and get things put away so that I can pack and get ready for my training tomorrow.  Shifting gears is so hard to do.

Fresh From the Frame

The scrappy Irish Chain sat on the frame for a couple of days while I worked through all those feathers.  Binding is next.  First though, Sydney wants to go to the paint store to pick out chips so that we can redo her room.  Quilting is definitely coming in small bursts this summer in between driving the kids around. 

Remember This?

One of the fun things about being a Girl Scout leader is revisiting the games and crafts of childhood. I get to play and make things and get messy as I introduce the girls to all of the fond memories of my youth. Last night we learned to make friendship bracelets. I had to find a youtube tutorial to remember how they worked, but I got the hang of it pretty fast, and so did the girls.

Look at the concentration of Phoenix's face as she works on hers. I had the girls all put their strings in rainbow order so that I could use the colors to give directions. "Everyone pick up the red and make a 4 as your cross over the orange. Now pull the red under the orange and back up through the loop. Pull tight, good. Do it again. Now put down the orange and pick up the yellow." Some of the girls got it right away and even started to anticipate the next step. We didn't quite get finished, but I told them I'd have a special treat for anyone who brought back a finished bracelet next time. Now I'd better think of a special treat.

Nothing quilty last night obviously. I am going now to dig up some scrap binding for the Happy Chain quilt. There is a division meeting this afternoon and then I promised one of my students I'd come watch the softball game. The house is a mess and the laundry needs folding, but I guess that's all part of life as usual.

A Day Late

If this were a leap year I would have been right on time with my February project. Still, I'll take one day late to be able to check off a finish. The grid quilting took a little longer than I thought, but I'm happy with the way it looks. I tried some feathers in the border and they are well.... interesting. I still have to put on the binding and I will be officially done with my second UFO of the month. I think I'll pull out buttons and bowties for March. It is also full of bright, random colors.

Any suggestions on a name? I've been calling it Scrappy Irish Chain, but that isn't a terribly creative name. Maybe something simple like Happy Chain or Happy Scraps? For some reason Just the Scraps Ma'am pops into my head, it must be the pun wars we've been having at dinner.

Anna has broken out with some sort of hives, maybe an allergic reaction to a different bodywash I bought. If it isn't better by morning she'll have to stay home from school. We've given her some benadryl, which helped the hives, but made her pretty sleepy. I'll get some sub plans together just in case. I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Plugging Along

I got all the Irish Chain blocks put together to the flimsy stage tonight. I'll see what I have for backing and batting so I can get this puppy put together by the weekend. I think I'll quilt with diagonals thru the chains and maybe a little design of some sort in the open white space. I don't think I'll do a border, but I'll check the size first to make sure it looks OK on a bed.

Blocks Done

Say yay to me! I finished off the blocks for my leader and ender Scrappy Irish Chain. I think I could have finished quite a while ago if I hadn't made twice as many blocks as I needed. I guess I need a quick math lesson -- or a stern reminder not to do math after 1 a.m. Still, the blocks are officially done. I'll get them picked up into rows so I can chain the top together tomorrow. Check out the subtle variations of light medium and dark -- impressive right? The four patches are medium and dark with two patches holding them together in a medium and light arrangement. Then another pair of two patches are joined with a dark square to hold those two rows together. I think I could have strip pieced these puppies lickety split, but that would have defeated the idea of leaders and enders I guess. And on the bright side, I've got enough four patches to make at least one more quilt, I saw one in a catalog with poison green sashing and thought about trying that out. I'm still pondering the shelter quilt project, if I do end up taking it on, this one could be number one out of 23.

Today was a busy day at school, I was getting obseved for my anual evaluation. The student were a little edgy to have someone else in the room. As much as you try to do things the same way you usually would, it is hard to do when you know someone is watching. Kind of like trying to breathe normally while thinking about breathing. There are some goings on at school that might impact the scheduling for next year, I'm not sure how it will all work out yet, but it could result in some changes in my course load. We've got a short schedule for Ash Wednesday tomorrow and all the seniors are gone on Thursday for a field trip, so the week is almost over even though it's only Tuesday. 5 more weeks and 3 more days 'till spring break, not that anyone is counting of course.

February Goals

My UFO for February is this scrappy Irish Chain that I started ages ago using Bonnie's leader-ender system. I started with just 4 patches in darks and lights before deciding to do a double Irish Chain that needed 4 patches in dark and mediums. I wasn't exactly consistent with the value placement, but I decided I should just go ahead and get it done. Maybe a simpler pattern would have been easier to keep track of. Or maybe I should just limit my leader-ender escapades to one quilt at a time. I have 3 different block sizes going, and each is a different pattern, thus requiring different combinations of colors and values. Maybe I should make a little post-it note and stick it on the side of my machine. Anyway, I've got all the chain blocks done with plenty to spare, I just need to whip up a few of the alternate squares, which go together in a hurry. It's the 23rd today, so I should be able to get this put together some time in the next week. February has been a little hectic and it's been interesting trying to fit this in. I haven't even started on the Garage which is supposed to be my room this month, I might switch to an easier room so I can feel like I'm making some progress. I think I'll choose a quilt that is further along for March so that I can find some time to work on something that isn't a UFO. As much as I want to get my old projects finished up, I don't want those to be the only things I'm working on.

Quilt Show

I was surprised when my mother-in-law wanted to go to a quilt show together, but I was happy to oblige! had so much fun looking at all of the beautiful patterns, colors and techniques. "Mom" seemed to be having a good time too, and asked questions about the different methods we were seeing. Before long she was able to tell the difference between the hand and machine quilted tops and separate the pieced blocks from the applique. She seemed drawn to the earth tones and didn't care for the "art" quilts at all, preferring the more traditional blocks. I found myself drawn to quilts with careful value placement that gave shaded effects. I liked the way the different yellows and golds made this quilt seem to glow. I think the green contrast adds nice movement and the reversal of the color placement in the sashing strips is a nice touch. It was quilted with lots of straight lines following the diagonal.

This one had fabulous quilting in each of the stripes and gave a cool woven effect. I keep thinking I'll try a bright and black quilt sometime, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

Ryan was anxious to have an OM practice today to begin preparing for the state competition, he even volunteered to make the snack and worked diligently on blueberry muffins for everyone. They got a little carried away with the spray paint today, but started working on a box city for their dinosaurs to demolish.

Last night I got busy organizing and putting away all of the scrap squares I've been producing lately. I've used lots of two inch squares, but I still seem to have more to spare. I went ahead and sorted everything into colors because I've got a leader ender thing going that's called crayon box. It's a 16 patch with a solid ring around a white center. I am thinking about alternating it with a yellow and green square of some sort to suggest a crayola carton. I made good progress on the Scrappy Irish Chain, but in the wee hours of the morning realized that I might have made a small math error causing me to make twice as many blocks as I need. I looked up the size of a standard twin quilt, and compared that to the finished block size to determine the number of columns and row. However, I think I forgot about the fact that their are two types of blocks, thus requiring only half as many of each. I think the mistake is still recoverable, as I only got about half done with the blocks. I can put the two halves back together and end up with about the right number.

Anna and Sydney both came to cookie booths with me this morning and then wanted a picnic for lunch. I'm not sure how they managed to eat their lunch on the swing set, but they were having fun and playing well together, so I can't complain.
I was planning to stay up tonight and watch the academy awards while cutting some more scraps, but I 'm tuckered out from my late night. I think I'll curl up in bed and watch the arrivals until I fall asleep.

Crazy Person

It's been crazy busy around here, and any sane person would have buckled down and started working on the list of things that must be done now. Instead I'm puttering away on this and that, as if I had no deadlines ahead. My school (for the first time ever) is taking a winter break next week. Just like spring break, but this year we get both. My husband and I scheduled a cruise, and my mother-in-law has been wonderful enough to volunteer to come and stay with my kids who don't get the week off. Vacations should be relaxing, but instead, I'm trying to get everything finished off before we leave --thinking that the house should be in some sort of reasonable shape before I hand it over for the week. The guest bedroom has started collecting everything, not just my quilting, but now the OM junk as well. I had it all beatiful, and then we started doing stuff again. That's always the problem. The doing stuff makes the house a wreck.

I've been plowing steadily through my scrap basket during the odd down moments this week. I got a bunch of stuff ironed last weekend and started slicing it. I was lucky enough to inherit bunches of scraps from our neighbor who moved away recently. I'm focusing on 2 inch strips to go into my scrappy irish chain. I've picked this one as my February project. I think I will make it into a twin size quilt because I'm contemplating a new charity project. Another Girl Scout troop is working on their gold award and helping to get a local shelter ready to open again after a recent transformation. They are cleaning and painting and decorating. Before I even knew what I was thinking, the first thing that popped out of my mouth was, "Do they need quilts?" We made 40 lap sized quilts for Christmas, how hard could 23 twin sized quilts be? This one is still in the planning stages, but I've been turning it around in my head for a couple of days now. I have some vauge idea about kitting up a bunch of happy square blocks and hosting an intermediate quiltmaking session for the girls who enjoyed the first quilt making experience.

I am seriously a crazy person. I've just lost a girl scout leader at my school, another troop is having a crisis, my own cookie mom dropped out on me, so I'm frantically arranging all of that while trying to get ready for a cruise and a visit from my mother-in-law. I'm giving two tests tomorrow and I'd better get those written or my students will be seriously disappionted. So how did I spend my evening? Any reasonable person would have been handlling the urgent list. I was peacefully ironing some yardage so that I could get it put away before the weekend. I'm not just crazy, I'm also oblivious. Not exactly an effective way to deal with stress, but I guess it's better than freaking out.

Leaders and Enders and Odds and Ends

We had a nice visit with Mom. She's in Orlando at meetings for the next couple of days and then we'll take Anna over to spend a few days with her. Of course it's hard to accomplish any projects with company in the house. The guest room is my usual sewing place, or the dining room table which I clear off when the house is supposed to be clean. I did get a stack of leaders and enders ironed and put away as well as sorting and laying out a new batch.
After I get a new batch of leaders and enders laid out, I tend to just power through and sew through them all. I'm not always the most patient of people I guess. Mom wanted to watch the season finale of The Bachelorette, so I also got some more cutting done on the Dad's plaids quilts. While I was at it, I cut 12 blocky stars blocks out the same fabric. They both use 2.5 inch strips, so I thought I might as well. I needed to be social and sit with mom, but I haven't been watching the show, so I needed something to occupy my mind. The show was 3 HOURS long, so I had plenty of time to sit and cut.
Last night we celebrated Ryan's birthday. His big day is two months after the girls and I have ours, so we are always a little hung over with birthday party fun by the time his comes around. He chose lasagna for his birthday dinner. Actually he chose leftovers or lunchables first, and I talked him out of it. We've had three birthday parties in the last week, so I'm a little done with cake by now. Ryan chose white Funfetti with white Funfetti frosting. Maybe I'll freeze half for later. With Jamaica coming up in a few weeks I'm trying to avoid too much birthday cake.

Leaders and Enders

I went ahead and finished up a couple of Irish Chain blocks from my leaders and enders project with extras from my mystery quilt. I wanted to see what the colors looked like together and get an idea of how the pattern was working out. I think I need to pay more attention to value as I put the four patched together, but I'm still seeing the overall pattern as I look at the layout. This isn't a finish now sort of project. I'm happy to keep it going as leaders and enders, and now I have an idea of how many dark, medium and light squares I need to restock my 2 inch basket. I think this quilt could live in the toy room when it eventually gets done. The bright colors would be happy there.
I went to a quilt show this morning put on by our local quilt guild. Both of my running partners came with me, which I thought was incredibly nice of them, as they are not even quilters. There were so many really beautiful quilts there. I saw several in Bonnie's pineapple star pattern, but not any Carolina Crossroads. Asymmetrical log cabins were very popular, as well as at least four prairie braids. I think someone must have offered a class for so many of the same pattern to show up in the same year. Even so, the color choices and designs were completely different and gave each of them a very different look. I love how you can take a traditional pattern and make it your own.