Happy Monday!

Got up this morning, walked the dog around the block and quilted a quick row before breakfast.  Not a bad day at all so far.  I'm doing a little scallop echo inside the white and then a quick meander on the pink.  About half done so far, so it should be off the frame before lunch.

We had a family movie night last night and Diary of a Wimpy Kid wasn't quite holding my interest, so I pulled out a TV tray and finished cutting a few more squares for the crossroads quilt.  After that is needs a solid border, any opinions on which green?  So far I've asked three members of my family and gotten three different votes.  I'm leaning toward the medium green at the bottom, Kurt wants the dark polka dots at the top and Sydney likes the bright green to the left.  I think about 6 inches should do it and this will go onto the list to be quilted.  I seem to be out of light blue thread so I'll pick up a spool after morning carpool.  Sand and Sea is next up after that.  

Flimsy Number Four

I tried to shift gears into quilting today, but it didn't quite happen yet.  Soon though.  First, I got the blocks put together for the green Crossroads Quilt.  I'm thinking of a border with 4.5 inch squares of green.  I almost have enough from the block drawer to make it happen.  Then maybe a solid border for size. I've got a lot of greens in my stash, so I'm sure something will work.

This quilt would look great with two complementary colors forming intersecting roads across the quilt.  Maybe next time.  Anna just finished making hummus and the house smells delicious.  Sydney is upstairs with a friend painting fingernails and Kurt is just back from a trip to the hardware store.  That just leaves Ryan, he had a friend over to play and has disappeared for some quiet time I think.  

Winning the Battle of the Bs

Look at my freshly made back for Sand and Sea!  Only took most of the day, but look at how crisp and modern it looks.  Not my usual style at all, but I think I like it.  There was just one small "oops" moment when I realized that I had cut the second blue band in half the wrong way, but I found a somewhat similar shade to add in and make the row long enough.

So now the big decision becomes, should I load this guy up on the frame and get it quilted, or keep working on another set of borders and backings?  I'm leaning to the second as the house is already a big mess of fabric.  If I finish off one more quilt then I can do a clean up before changing gears.  So, deep breath, little happy dance and back to work I go.

Just a few minutes later........

 The last back went together likely split.  Fortunately I had enough of one fabric to make it work.

Borders are on as well, don't you just love it when they fit perfectly with no stretching and easing?  That never happens for me.  

So now there are three finished quilts with backs draped nicely over a chair and waiting for a bit of clean up and frame assembly.  YEAH!

ScrapHappy Saturday - Yellow

Though I've been busy with lots of rainbow scrap projects this week, not all of them are yellow.  I do however, have a stack of 2.5 inch squares in yellow working through as leaders and enders.  There should be enough for a block before you know it.  What scraphappy fun have you been up to?

Basking in the "Bs"

Borders and backs are the bane of my quilting experience.  I have more flimsies in the closet hanging out waiting for the "Bs" than I care to admit.  It used to be batting and basting as well, but fortunately, the handiquilter got me over that headache.  So today I decided to just persevere and get some quilts past the awkward phase.  The orphan blocks got a leftover dresden wedge border.  Anna has called dibs on this quilt.  She wants to take it to sleepaway camp later this summer.  It sure is unique.

Here is the back, random chunks of floral fabrics that didn't go with anything else and another strip of the dresden bits.  Definitely one of a kind.

Next up I got the pink fabric cut that Anna had picked out for the border on the second chemo quilt.  I think I'll cut the extra 16 patches at a wonky angle and use them as cornerstones.  These just need to get trimmed to size and sewn on.  There is enough of a pretty pink print to make the back with no trouble.

Sand and Sea will have a simple border from a coordinating print that was bought special.  There is still a bit for the back to go along with extras of the tan and blue.  Maybe in horizontal stripes to represent a beach horizon?

 The kids wanted to go see the movie Epic this morning.  There won't be a lot of days this summer when all three of them are home at the same time so we took advantage of the opportunity for a group outing.  It was actually really good.  Ryan and Sydney have been playing together beautifully all afternoon.  They worked together to clean Ryan's room after lunch and then started a game of dino-opoly.  I think Ryan is winning after getting museums on Gigantosoraus and Seismosarous.  Kurt is just back after going out with some work people, I made a nice pot of chili in the crockpot which the kids said was actually very good.  They even said I should make it again sometime.  Some days are just really good all around.  I hope that tomorrow doesn't swing the other way to compensate.

Rainy Day Productivity

It was a long and rainy day yesterday.  There was a break between rain bands that allowed us to run out to the grocery store, but other than that, it was an inside kind of day.

 Sydney made pants out of pillows, nobody is sure why.

 Anna helped pick out border fabric for the second chemo quilt after I got all the blocks sewn together.

The Sand and Sea blocks made it together as well which means today should be all about borders.  I even got a few Green Crossroads pieced as leaders and enders between rows of blocks.  

The rain has moved on today and there is no math camp!  The kids have been asking to sea Epic and this might be the only weekday for a while when they are all available.  I am just back from a nice morning run (shocking right?)  so I will go and get the day started.  

Tutorial For Pink Crossroads

I'm always looking for ways to use my leaders and enders blocks.  Since the RSC started, I seem to have lots of monochromoatic four patches hanging out wanting to be put to good use.  The pink 16 patches take four of these blocks made from 2.5 inch lne (leader and ender) blocks.  Wanting a new alternate block to try, a little web surfing led me to the Arkansas Crossroads pattern.  This is a variation on that idea that could use the blocks I already had on hand.

 The alternate blocks are quick and easy to make.  Each block takes four background squares that are 4.5 inches and 8 pink squares that are 2.5 inches.  They come together in a hurry using flip and sew corners.

Not being a big fan of pins, I use the very fancy glue stick basting method.  Just a little dab in near the corner will keep all the parts connected until they can get through the sewing machine.  Draw a line diagonally across the pink block and sew on the drawn line.  You can "double sew" if you desire, to yield bonus blocks for later use.

Flip and iron the corners and then check to make sure they line up before trimming away the bottom layer.  Each alternate block needs four of these squares.  

I was looking for a nice "hanging out on the couch" size quilt.  With a finished block size of 8 inches, a six by eight block arrangement should yield at quilt that is 48 by 64.  With a generous 6 inch border, the finished quilt will end up at 60 by 76 -- very snuggly right?  So to accomplish this, make 24 of the pink 16 patch blocks and 24 of the alternate blocks.  Easy right?  Especially if you keep some parts and pieces waiting in the wings.

So here's the summary
1. Make 24 blocks with 16 2.5 inch squares in the color of your choice.
5. Make 24 blocks with 4 background 4.5 inch squares that have two pink flip and sew corners. 

Rainy Day Activities

Other people have rainy days, but when we have them in Florida, they come with names.  So this rainy day is brought to you by tropical storm Andrea.  Looks like the perfect day to stay in and sew a bit.

Here is a test block I worked out for a quilt that I would like to make for a someone who likes green.  I saw it pop up a lot when I was looking for inspiration for the pink Arkansas Crossroads Variation.  Sometimes it is called Crossroads and sometimes I have seen it called Linked Up.  Either way, I wanted bigger blocks than the ones I saw in tutorials, so this version uses 2.5 by 4.5 inch bricks of green along with 4.5 inch background squares.  I cut out enough pieces last night to put together a nice lap sized quilt I think.  I'm off to do the math camp drop off, but after that I was asked to make a quick tutorial for the pink quilt and I should get busy with some serious block sewing together.  Maybe with some nice hot tea to warm me on this cold and dreary day?

Thanks to Judy D. who let me know that Connie has a tutorial for this block in three sizes.  How cool is that?  The little ones would be super cute!

Next?

JUST finished the last block for the second pink chemo quilt.  I'll get these puppies pinned together and then have a little block sewing bonanza.  Kurt is taking part of the bunch to volleyball tonight.  There is a big grassy hill that they like to roll down and another family has a toddler that Anna love to play with.  Maybe I should clean up a bit, all this sewing has left scraps floating all around.  Hard to believe that the whole house was clean just yesterday.  

Pink Blocks are SO Close!

I had 20 out of 24 pink 16 patches ready to go already.  Believe it or not though, I was almost out of precut 2.5 inch strips in pink!  It feels so good to use things up.  What a strange world we all live in when there is so much of everything that using it up is an accomplishment.  I know some people would rather go out and buy a nicely coordinated stack of fabrics from the latest line, but for me, making something out of what I have feels so much better.  I still need 11 more of the white X blocks, but those go together really fast.  By the end of the day I should have another set of blocks ready to be sewn into a finished quilt.  I might want to shop for border fabric on this one. 6 inches all around will give me the finished measurements I'm looking for.  Then maybe a nice soft flannel for the back?
Kurt took today off.  He's been working a lot of evenings and weekends lately on this proposal he's been doing, so he was in desperate need of some down time.  He did do the math camp pick up and drop off though.  I love picking up, it is the best way to get all of the stories of what happened during the day.  Somehow by dinner time all the detail has been lost.