Tuesday - A Rainbow Quilt

I found bin of random 16 patches while clearing out the ongoing project closet. This isn't all of them, but there were plenty to put together a quick twin sized rainbow flimsy that can go and live on one of the bunk beds at the cabin. No rush on this one, but a flimsy is nicer than a bin of blocks. 

The quilt rack was the project of the day. That meant sorting trough the ongoing projects and extra bags of randomness. 

I have four empty project bins now and a better idea of which projects are ongoing from last year. 

 

Monday - T-Shirt Quilt Progress

 It is back to school today, but I have a few projects still from the break. 

The t-shirt quilt top is ready to go. I got backing fabric and restocked my batting supply, so all that it needs is a few hours of time. 

Sheets came up in the task list. I got these nifty organizers, but there were a lot of extra bits that needed to go away. I had an entire basket full of old pillowcases that were sadly the worse for wear. 

So now all that is left is complete sets, two for here and two to go to live at the cabin. The last one is for the fold out sofa in the study. Those can go away now. It isn't exactly a makeover, but bit by bit things are getting tidy. How is your Monday? Massive snowstorms seem to be the big story of the day. Kurt was supposed to be flying to DC this morning, but he left yesterday to get ahead of the snow. Hopefully he will be patient enough to sit tight until the roads clear. Patient is not his strength.  

Slow Stitching Sunday - A Finish!

 

I took the last stitches in the Leap Year quilt last night and ran it through the wash. I use Crayola washables to mark the quilting lines. Those are all gone now and all the wear and tear from being carted around for years and years is gone now.  I started this quilt in 2016, appliquéing a circle in each block to represent whatever was going on in the sewing room on that day. For the most part it represents the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors of each month. 

The quilting was done with perle cotton in a rainbow of colors. Diagonal lines form crosses through each block and then a scalloped half circle form the border. I love the way the quilting crinkles up after the wash. Even if it does take me years to finish a hand quilted project, it looks great when it is done.  I am going to link up with Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts today, so be sure to head over and see the lovely hand sewing projects that are in the works

I started an organization project for the new year. I brainstormed a list of all the projects that need to be done in house - areas of chaos, backlogged clutter, messes galore. Rather than trying to tackle them all at once, I wrote each on a piece of paper. The idea is that I will pick a random task when the urge strikes and then do that thing. Yesterday, the job was the downstairs bathroom. It is connected to my sewing room and doesn't get used very often. We redid it a couple of years ago, but never fully finished it off. So first I cleared out all the randomness before giving everything a good scrub. 

I found some bathmats that used to live in a different bathroom and made a plan for towel holders and a tile backsplash. 

Kurt is going to do the backsplash for me and hang the towel bars, but it all looks a lot better and should be more useable now that it isn't a dumping ground. I also added two more jobs for me to the stack, the door needs to be painted and the walls need a second coat of paint. Today's project is sheets. That is another dumping ground that needs a good clear out. Wish me luck! 

ScrapHappy Saturday - Starting Fresh

A new year is always such a great chance to think about finishing off old things and starting something new. This will not be a big year of new starts for me as I focus instead on paring down the list on long ongoing projects. First up is Leap Year. This is a block a day quilt that has been hand quilted over a very long period of time. Hand quilting is a long and slow process and it feels good to finally be stitching the binding on to this one. It is ready for a trip through a washing machine after that as it has seen a lot of love while being carted around from place to place. You can see the ongoing t-shirt quilt in the background, that will be next on the list of projects to move along today. 

I am up bright and early this morning thanks to the renourishment machinery that is beeping up and down the beach. We are usually up early, even on weekends, but I do feel badly for the people that came for a nice relaxing beach vacation only to be greeted by giant piles of sand on a closed beach. 

Here is my one new project for now, a set of two blocks to be done as leaders and enders. The plus blocks are sashed 2.5 inch squares while the dot blocks are framed 2 inch four patches. Together they make a nice and easy background project while I find the next thing to cross off my list. A bit of organization is sure to reveal a fun ongoing project in need of a little bit of attention.

What new schemes and plans are in the works for your new year? Pink is the color for January and I hope that you have some scraps to play with this month. Whether you are new this year, returning or ongoing, it is always great to see what beautiful projects and plans come from the simple idea of using up scraps, one color at a time. 

2024 Wrap Up

It didn't feel like I had much time to sew in 2024. Starting graduate school has been a lot, and work has been busy. The usual things seem to take up a lot of time. There were hurricanes and trips to the mountains. If you had asked, I would have said I finished a couple of quilts. That is why it is good to take a look back and get an overview of the year. I did more than I thought! I did more finishing of what I started last year, but if that means that this year I will finish off what I started last year again, then that isn't a bad cycle to follow. When I retire then I will be able to have more quality sewing time, but I am still managing to squeeze in enough for now. I used Canva to make a photo collage for this year. So much cuter than what I could have come up with on my own. 

1. Hen and Chicks - Rainbow Scrap Challenge Quilt for 2024 (flimsy)
2. Plus blocks - leaders and enders (flimsy)
3. Chaos tiny nine patch
4. Dancing Blue Crumbs
5. Carpenter Star - RSC22
6. Postage Stamps
7. Diamonds
8. Wonky Stars
9. Blackford's Beauty - RSC22

Last ScrapHappy Saturday of 2024

 

I sewed binding on this tiny chaos quilt on the drive here. The front is tiny nine patches leftover from another quilt. For a while I was entirely obsessed with tiny little nine patches made from one inch strips. They still keep turning up in my scrap bins from time to time. 

Here is the back, just randomly leftover green blocks from the orphan bin. I think that I love it even more than the front. Even the batting is pieced together from leftovers! I squeaked out this chaos quilt in just in time to count as a finish for 2024. 

Just three days until the beginning of RSC25! I think that I have settled on a simplified lattice layout for my new leaders and enders project. I very much wanted to use what I have on hand. So the 2.5 inch squares are always ready and waiting. I don't keep 3.5 inch squares on hand, but I will come up with those from either crumb fabric or existing scraps. Honestly, 3.5 is a reasonable size of squares to collect, I just usually focus on smaller bits. 

How are your 2024 wrap up plans coming along? I hope that you have cleared some mental and physical space for RSC25 projects! Feel free to share your plans for next year or your finishes from last year. Next week will be week 1 of the new year and PINK will be the color. 

Merry Christmas!

I got an email from Stephanie a few days ago saying she had used Chat GPT to make logos and had asked it to try making a logo for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2025. What a brilliant idea! I found some time this afternoon and started playing with the idea.  What do you think so far? It will only do 2 images in a 24 hour period, so I copied the image and started tweaking it in google slides.  I might try canva next, it makes some pretty images.  Until then, pink will be the color of January this year, so please go and see if you have any of those scraps hiding in your bin.  I know I do! It will feel good to work on getting them tamed and into some blocks.

We are in the mountains for a few day, but I found some time before we left to quilt up a flimsy that had spent quite a while hanging over the edge of the quilting frame. The front is leftover tiny nine patches and the back is leftover random green blocks from the orphan bin. I got about two rows into the quilting before realizing that my tension was way off and I had eyelashes on the back. So I undid all of that and started over with freehand Baptist fans. I got most of the binding hand sewn in the car before it was my turn to drive. I might finish up the last little bit sitting here by the fire this afternoon. 

I also got the border finished up on Hen & Chicks and pieced a backing. So that can be the next up on the frame as soon as we are back in Florida again. I am out of batting, so I will either have to piece together leftovers or go shopping. There are worse things than shopping I suppose. 

Ryan and Sydney went out with us to hunt up a Christmas tree yesterday. We scouted up the side of the mountain in the area we lovingly call, "the upper 7." Most of what was up there was way too big to sacrifice, so we went with this scraggly little portion of a tree instead that was hiding behind the shed. We don't have much for ornaments up here, but we found some baked clay that the kids turned into decorations last Christmas. Anna just got here today, so we are having festivities tomorrow so that we can celebrate together. 

After that Kurt and I went down to work on clearing out a fallen tree down by the lower driveway. Now that the greenery has died down, it is much easier to see all the random stuff that is buried back there. We found a big old pile of twigs that looked like a beaver damn. Kurt did a bit of research and thinks that it is the home of wood rats which are also known as pack rats. Behind it is a big stone wall. We might clear out the pack rat house to get a better view of the rocks. There are lots of rock walls hidden around here. All part of the fun when you are in the mountains I suppose.  
Here is the smaller version of the logo

Even tinier logo

 

ScrapHappy Saturday - December Wrap Up

So this didn't end up being my most productive year ever. It started out great. Then I decided to go back to graduate school and that took up my extra time. Also work, but mostly graduate school. I did get some sewing done though, and it is important to remember that fabric is patient. It was such a nice change to find sewing time last weekend. I played with some ideas for a new leader and ender project now that the plus blocks are done. I got a comment last week with the name of the inspiration quilt. It is Scrappy Lattice by Bonjour Quilts. The sashings are all the same but the blocks sizes are different. I like the idea of using the squares that I already have cut. Since I haven't cut the lattices yet, that would be the easier measurement to vary. I could easily replace the four patch with a single larger square as well. No final decision yet, but getting there!

I auditioned some sashing strips for the NC State T-shirt quilt and got a vote on where to go next from the customer. So that is ready to move forward. 

I got a calming border onto the Hen & Chick blocks and kept sewing random 2 inch squares together for that. I still need some more squares! That will keep my leaders and enders moving forward until I settle on a new plan. 

What end of the year wrap up do you have going on? Misterlinky is below. Please share your 2024 odds and ends or your new plans and schemes for 2025. 

ScrapHappy Saturday - Hatching new plans

December is for finishing and January is for starting. I am feeling motivated to finish some projects to make room for something new next year. So first with the finishing. This is my Hen & Chick Sampler which needs a good pressing and some borders. I've started sewing 2 inch squares together for that. I think that a 2 inch calming strip surrounded by 2 inch squares and then something to hold it all together. After that, my leaders and enders project for the  last couple of years was plus blocks. I am sure that I have enough of those for a nice large sized quilt. The hexies are so close that I can taste it. Sadly, the second half of this year just got hectic and sewing time has taken a big hit. This too shall pass. There is a cycle to all things. I am sure there is another saying I could use, but you get the idea....

That leads us to ideas for next year. I screenshotted this off of Instagram as an inspiration photo. I am not thinking of exactly this, but something similar. If I take 2.5 inch blocks and tic-tac toe them like this, then I could alternate them with larger squares framed out in a similar way. I think that I will play with that idea. I am thinking that what is here must be on a larger scale. The sashing strips on the split blocks need to be twice as wide as the ones on the combined block, right? Maybe I need to doodle some things to make a plan. If I use a solid block then all the sashing strips could be the same which would make it easier to do these as my new leaders and enders project. I will keep you posted on this if it works. 

ScrapHappy Saturday - December is for Wrap Up

So many projects in progress and so little time to sew! I know it isn't only me that starts the year with the best of intentions. There is always another year though and fabric is patient. My poor plus blocks are starting to fall off of the wall in neglect. These have been my patient leaders and enders this year. 

The hexies really are getting close! I got the top and bottom borders on and started to even out the edges on the side. Maybe some black half hexies on the outside? 

I have one more assignment to submit to finish off the last of my graduate school classes for the term. Then I will have a little bit of open space in my schedule. Work is fairly calm at the moment. There is a lull that is actually quite a nice change of pace. 

How is your December shaping up so far? Misterlinky is below. I hope that all is well.