Flying

Where in the world did the week go?  It is Friday already and I can barely remember back to Monday.  School is back in full swing already.  We are working through mole conversions in Chemistry and plodding gland by gland through the endocrine system in Anatomy.  The kids are getting adjusted and trying to get back into their usual routines.  I've been working on the blue quilt in the evenings, though I couldn't resist cutting a few more string blocks.  I am loving the GO cutter for squaring everything up.  I'm not out of blue scraps yet, but I have made a definite dent. 
Kurt's parents are visiting tonight on the way to a cruise.  I made a nice roast for dinner and we all played cards.  The kids stuff will keep us on the run tomorrow, but I am so grateful that Kurt is here to help with the juggling.  I think Sunday looks good though, and I'd like to get the cancer quilt finished up.  I should think of a better name than that.  Are there any positive hopeful sounding words that mean blue?

Slowly

I'm slowly taming the blue scrap jar. As I was digging through, I found lots of bits and pieces that were big enough to turn into squares and triangles for other ongoing projects.  I fished those out and spent part of the afternoon yesterday cutting them down.  Most of the remaining strings and crumbs have been sewn together.  Those got ironed this afternoon and grouped by size.  It is a slow process, but it is starting to look a little less chaotic.  Maybe by tomorrow I'll be ready to start squaring up some more finished string blocks. 
Kurt came home last night with news that one of his good friends from work had some bad news about his wife's cancer.  She has already been through a round of chemo and radiation and was given an 85% chance of full recovery.  Unfortunately the treatment didn't work and the cancer has advanced.  I offered to make a quilt (it's what I do) and had him look up the ribbon color for colon cancer.  It is blue.  Having a variety of blue projects to choose from, I pulled him in to the studio and we decided on one of my blue scrap patterns from the Rainbow Challenge.  That one has obviously moved up on the priority list.  I think I'll rearrange the order of projects for scrappy Saturday and finish the top off this weekend.  The good news is that I used up ALL my 2.5 inch squares and had to go to the strips to cut some more.  Step by step I'm taming the scraps. 

Design Wall Monday January 3 2011

It is the first design wall of 2011!  My wall is full of scraps from the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I am either going to need to get a bigger design wall or finish something off to make room for more scrap projects.  I think  the snowballs are about ready to be put together but then I need to decide whether to leave the string blocks alone or turn them into stars.  Given the number of blue scraps I'm trying to use up I could do both!  Make sure you head over to Judy's blog to see what everyone is up to in the new year.   

More Scrappy Progress

Anne P. doesn't have a blog but was kind enough to send me this photo of her blue scrap project so far.  I love the movement of her blocks.  She says the blocks are complete and she is working on the sashing today. Way to jump in Anne! 
I just counted the number of Satrudays in January and it is 5!  I'm so thankful that I have a large supply of blue scraps.  Speaking of all things blue, Cabin Quilter has a quilt themed calendar for your computer desktop each month and January is BLUE.  You should go take a look so you can completely immerse yourself in the color of the month.

So Much FUN!

Thanks so much to everyone who posted a link yesterday.  There are so many good scrap busting ideas out there.  I may run out of blue scraps!  The post will still be there, so feel free to add something any day this week.  I'll put up a new link post next week so we can start fresh again. 
I was playing with scraps yesterday and have ideas ready for the rest of the month.  I'm not sure if I'll double up on ideas or work ahead for next month.  That would mean pulling out a whole new color though.......
Today I may pull out my UFO for this month, ironically, it's blue!

Trying Out Mister Linky

 I am testing out a Mister Linky post.  If you have done anything scrappy today, please post a link to a post about your scrappy Saturday below.

2.5 Inch Square Inspiration

I had been through a couple of ideas as to how to use my 2.5 blue squares, but hadn't firmed up my plans until I saw this quilt on Candace's Blog.  I think this is my favorite scrap pattern of all time.  It uses tons of random squares with just enough contrast to keep it all cohesive.  So now I've matched up my blue squares and I'm off to sew for a bit. 

Feeling Blue

We told the kids we would celebrate New Years on Greenwich Mean Time which is 8 our time.  (Well, not really, I thought it was close enough).  They had a hard day at play though and were all done in before then.  By the time I was ready to ring in the "New Year"  this is what I saw:

We are all such party animals, aren't we?  So while they slumbered to a movie, I squared up the bonus blocks from my snowballs.  I was thinking of a cell phone cover, but they are almost big enough to cover my new i pad.  Did I mention that I got a new i pad for Christmas?  Kurt is hoping that I will stop borrowing his. 

The sew behind triangles squared up to 1.25 inches each. How cute are they? If I had made the seams a little skinny I could have gotten them to 1.5 inches, but I like them this way. I think I've got a few more on the ironing board. I'll take a look after I get back from my morning run.  Today is Scrappy Saturday, so I hope everyone is digging into those blue scraps to see what they can come up with.  I am thinking about flying geese.  Hmm..... so much blue and such a short month. 

Scrappy Mug Rug

My cupboard is overflowing with blue scraps, but making an entire monochromatic quilt each month is probably a bit much for most people.  Small, bite sized projects are also a great way to use up scraps.  Especially if you make lots of them.  I'm already thinking ahead to gifts for next Christmas.  After amassing a stack of nine patches and snowballs, I decided that one of each would make a nice little mug rug.

Step 1: 
Gather Supplies:
13 2 inch squares in blue
1 5 inch square in white.
blue scrap for applique, I used a 3.5 inch square
8 or 9 2 inch by 8 inch strips for the back
1 long 2 inch strip for border, about 40 inches
scrap of blue binding or fabric strips totaling about 45 inches. 
scrap of batting about 6 x 10 inches

Step 2
Assemble one 9 patch and 1 snowball block using directions from last post and sew them together.
Step 3
Cut an applique shape out of the blue scrap.  I chose a star.  Microsoft office has shapes you can print and trace or you can just go freehand.  I think a snowflake would be cute too, but it seemed too complicated.  A bit of embroidery would also work well.  I used a buttonhole stitch around the edges to finish this off in a hurry. 
Step 4
Press the seams toward the nine patch and measure for the first border. It should be about 9.5 inches. Cut 2 2 inch strips to this length and sew one to the top and one to the bottom. Press and repeat for the side borders. These should measure about 8 inches. Press to finish the top.

Step 5
Sew the 2 inch by 8 inch strips together to make a scrappy back.  I pressed the seams open to avoid excess bulk.  Check to make sure the back is a bit bigger than the top. 
Step 6
Layer the back, batting and top together.  You could use spray baste here if you like, but with these tiny little projects, I have had good luck basting them with regular straight pins. 

Step 7
Quilt as desired. Tiny little projects are a great chance to practice machine quilting. I did a meander on this one, but random straight lines are pretty cute as well.

Step 8
Apply binding. I used a scrap of blue binding from my extra binding drawer. Just for fun I practiced finishing it on the machine. I'm always hesitant to do this for bigger quilts, but it worked out just fine for this little guy.

Scrap Happy Saturday

After surveying my blue scraps, I decided to dive in to the 2 inch squares first. Four patches are easiest to do as Leaders N Enders, but they seemed a little small to work with in this size.  Maybe I'll save those for 2.5 inch squares.  Instead I decided to put together some nine patches. Although you can make nine patches by adding onto a four patch, I thought it would be easier to make three three patches instead.  These are still simple enough to do as LNE, and the seams nestle nicely.  Don't worry about whether you are using light blue or dark blue or teal blue, remember, the goal is to use up your scraps, so anything goes. 

Blue makes me think of ice and cold, so I decided to alternate the nine patches with snowball blocks.  The nine patches com out to a handy 5 inch size which allowed me to pull some white charms squares out for these blocks. I took the same 2 inch squares I had been laid them on the corners of the white squares.  Some people like to draw a line diagonally across the small square and sew along the line.  I'm too lazy for that though and just line them up in the machine and hope for the best.  After sewing a square to each corner, I double sew each seam so that I can trim behind and harvest the extra HST units.  They are tiny, but will make something highly adorable I am sure. I could use a little cell phone holder......

This is what I have so far. Blue is my biggest pile of scraps, so I could easily let this turn into a whole quilt.  I also thought about place mats, or potholders.  The project I ended up making though was an adorable little mug rug.  I'll blog about that in my next post.