End of the Blue Month

Today is the last day of January and therefore the last of the blue days, at least for a while.  It might come back to visit in combination with another color later.....

These were my blue scraps at the beginning of the month. A big pile of crumbs, a basket full of strips in three sizes and stacks of squares in two sizes. 

I produced some more scraps as the month went on, primarily from Anna's reach for the stars quilt which just needs borders.  The squares are gone and there are a lot less strips.  I have two blue projects done start to finish.  One is the Blue Sky quilt which has already been gifted and the other is a mug rug that I happily use every day.  I've got three projects almost done.  The blue snowballs are waiting for a border of nine patches which have been partially sewn.  There is also a place mat for Anna that just needs a border and fusible applique addition.  Baby pinwheels are done and layered, I've just been afraid to tackle the quilting for fear of messing it up.  I've still got some blue crumbs to go back into the jar, but most of them are sewn into bigger chunks than they were.  I'll hang onto the sampler blocks and let them build slowly as the year goes on.  That just leaves the tumblers and the crumb blocks.  They might sit for a bit longer as a collection or they might get stacked as leaders and enders.  Looking at the collage, I am amazed at how much BLUE I had!  I'm glad I got so much used up, but I am also so happy to begin thinking about RED for February. 

I'll put the mister linky below in case anyone else wants to sum up and share their progress for the month.  I have been so inspired and motivated by all the great blue projects that have been created or completed this month.  Congratulations to everyone who is participating!

Design Wall Monday January 31, 2011

Today is the last day of January and therefore the last of the blue days for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I am left with a hodge podge of experiments and ongoing projects.  There are three sampler blocks to be put into a rainbow sampler collection along with two sizes of tumblers to be sewn together.  Add to that a diamond block and a few leftovers from the blue sky quilt. 

The other wall has about 70 4.5 inch crumb blocks.  I think I'll save these until I have enough collected for an entire quilt.  I might be able to do it all in blue but I might wait until later months to mix in a bit of purple or teal.  I guess I could also wait for red and go with the patriotic route...... The possibilities are endless. 

Scrappy Sunday

Saturday was pretty booked this week with the Lego thing and the usual ice skating and trying to finish the sunshine quilt, so I tried to carve out some time on Sunday.  DH was kind enough to schedule an OM practice even though he is out of town, so that took up the middle portion of the day.  I took my iron out to the garage and pressed some strip sets while the kids worked on their machine. I also did some cleaning in the garage, though it doesn't quite look like it from the photo.  The other side is much nicer, you'll just have to take my word for it. 

After that the kids came with me to take the quilt to the hospital and deliver it to Meg.  She enjoyed all the signatures on the back and spent a lot of time reading through them all.   She said that she had never had a quilt before and was quite overwhelmed by having one to keep and enjoy forever.  Sydney was nice enough to explain to her that we have lots of quilts all over our house and even a giant one on the wall.  Kids are always good for lightening the mood. 
The kids wanted to stop at a special toy store on the way home to buy some hex bugs with money that they had gotten for Christmas.  By then it was almost dinner time, so we dropped by CiCi's pizza along the way.  I worked on the ironing again after that and made a startling discovery.  Despite a solid month of sewing steadily at blue scraps and producing several projects in various stages of completion, I seem to have more blue scraps now than I did at the beginning of the month.  That isn't really possible, is it?  I'll finish off what I can tomorrow and tidy up all the loose ends before getting an after photo.  How hilarious would it be to find that my scraps really do multiply in the dark of night?

Sunshine is Done

Meg's Ray of Sunshine is officially done. I will deliver it this afternoon after the kids are done with Odyssey of the Mind. They all want to come to the hospital because they think it sounds like fun. I think the last time any of them was at a hopsital was when Sydney was born. I'm sure it seemed like fun then. I'm going to try to come up with another plan for them. 

I used a pantograph for the quiling, it was called Dandy and I got it in a packet from Golden Threads. I used yellow thread in the middle and then switched to green for the border and quilted parallel lines on the DSM.

I love the way the back turned out with all the signatures.   

I made Lizzie pose for a photo while I was working on the binding.  Meg has owns of her siblings from an earlier litter, so obviously she is a pug person.  
So now I am off to do the usual Sunday things.  Laundry is started and the kitchen is scary.  I'm afraid to go upstairs, but down here looks reasonably clean.  I've got a test to grade and had better get started on comments for interims.  I think they are due on Tuesday.  Add OM and a trip to deliver the quilt and I think that will make up the day. Hope all is well out there.  I do plan to indulge in a little time today seeing what everyone got done on Scrap Happy Saturday.  I've still got some blue projects hanging out that I would like to  finish off or clean up so I can switch gears and get ready for a new color and a new month!

Tumblers in Large and Small

 One way to deal with scraps is to choose a shape and start collecting lots of them.  I used to collect shapes for charm quilts, but it was too hard to keep track of which fabrics I had or had not used.  These one block quilts are of the non charming variety, but I like them just as well.
I have been cutting old shirts into 6.5 inch tumbler blocks for a while now.  Old shirts make the softest and most cuddly of quilts. 

I just got the small tumbler die and started cutting smaller scraps into these 3.5 inch blocks.  Smaller blocks are so much cuter, but it will take lots more of them to make an entire quilt.  Maybe these blocks would like to be a place mat or a bag of some sort. 

Scrap Happy Saturday

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post today as my computer is going to be at the Lego Tournament again.  I've got Ray of Sunshine done to the binding stage and will work on hand stitching that during ice skating this morning.  After that, the girls and I will go up and relieve Kurt at the tournament so that he can catch a plane.  I'll have lots to post later though and will try to make a nifty month end collage very soon.  I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far, I'll try to keep up on my i-pad.


 

Back of Sunshine

So the quilt is now officially called Meg's Ray of Sunshine.  I took it in to school today to collect signatures.  Then it was blessed during chapel.  Now all I have to do is frame out the back so that it is larger than the front and load it onto the frame.  I think I'll use a pantograph that I've done once before.  I bought some yellow thread that I think will work well.  If I can get the binding on tonight I'll have lots of time tomorrow during ice skating and Legos to sew it down.  That's my plan.  Wish me luck. 

Ray of Sunshine

It is way too late on a school night, but I wanted to get this top finished up so that I could take it to school tomorrow.  I'm going to have the kids sign the back and then get it quilted up and delivered.  For now I'd better get to bed though. 

One Step at a Time

Slowly, slowly the week has been passing with very little quality quilt time.  Yesterday we started dog obedience classes.  I enjoyed a girls night out and caught up with a girlfriend for dinner.  Ryan had his first football practice of the new season.  Tuesday we had storms and stayed in to watch the State of the Union.  Monday we went out for dinner as a family and then the girls got thier nails done while the boys bought goodies at the sporting goods store. Sunday was Lego practice for the big regional tournament this weekend. 

Lizzie has been keeping me company while I finish the hand stitching on Double Delight.  There are only a few inches left, so I'll find a quiet moment for that soon enough. 

I've been trying to get the top for Kitty Korner Webbed.  I've made arrangements for the kids at school to sign the back before I do the quilting and I'd like to take that in tomorrow so that I can do the quilting on the weekend.  The coworker whom it is for is scheduled for surgery on Monday and I would sincerely like to have it to her before then.  I'll need to think of a new name though, she is a dog lover.  I don't think calling it the green and yellow cancer quilt is such a good idea either. Names are so hard.  Maybe something about sunshine or the grass being greener or something somehow cheerful and optimistic.......Any body have some ideas to share?

Nothing As Planned

I was thinking that I would have a nice quilty Saturday followed by the usual Sunday routine of cleaning up around the house.  I got a call from on old friend on Saturday though and ended up going off on a tangent for the rest of the day.  I did spend time this morning finishing up the tile in the entryway.  How do you like the before and after photo?  I stopped when I got to the hallway so I'll need to do that part at some time in the near future.  There were 60 tiles in the entry though, so scrubbing and polishing them one at time took up quite a bit of time.  Scrubbing floors is kind of meditative actually so I got to mull things over while I was working.  I've got some papers to grade this evening so I had better get started on that.  Maybe if I can get caught up on school work tonight I'll have some time during the week to get a little sewing done.  It sounds like a plan to me.