Pink

Broken Wheels in pink. 

I'm in two different Birthday Clubs and Broken Wheels is my block of choice - maker's colors of choice on a neutral background.  If I also make 2 blocks each month in RSC colors I should have enough blocks for a large quilt by year end. 

36 Little Lozenges (Bitter Pills)

These finish at 2 x 4.5

I've been making them since last year and finally decided to take count.  I have 4 piles of 100 (50 with black corners and 50 with white corners)  and one pile of 80 and a few extras to boot.  I think that should be enough for a 50 x 70 quilt (if I calculated correctly  for a layout 25 x 18). 

In case you haven't seen it...I finished my Wild Little Monkey quilt - one of last year's RSC projects. 

Got Scraps?

Make something.  Then show us what you've done with them each ScrapHappy Saturday. 

Wild Little Monkeys

Wild Little Monkeys

81 x 97

I forget how many of these little 5 inch Monkey Wrench blocks are in this quilt.  I miscounted twice. 

I made blocks in the RSC color of the month every month last year.  I used scraps in the designated color plus a lighter, usually neutral, scrap for the HSTs and then picked through the 1.5 inch scraps for the rest of the block. 

I didn't do any fussy cutting but it's kind of amazing what will show up in a tiny 1 inch center square. 

I think I need this kind of quilt during the long dreary days of winter. This type of quilt, lots of different fabrics and different colors, works as a great anti -depressant.  It also keeps us warm since our house is heated by wood heat which sometimes goes out in the night.

I quilted it on my DSM with spirals in light green machine quilting thread.  The spirals don't really look like spirals in this picture now that the the quilts is washed and crinkly but that's what the quilting is supposed to be - spirals.  And a colorful quilt needs a colorful backing and binding. 

I can now check another UFO off of my list!! Wooohoo! 

Linking up to:

Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden

Oh Scrap at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.

This was one of my goals (#8)  for First Quarter Finish Along. 

and

At the end of the month I'll link up to Julie's Binding Blitz

Tulips for Thirties Thursday

 

I have completed nineteen nine inch Tulip quilt blocks.

And now I have a total of 56.

I'm ready to make them into a quilt top if I can find where I put the rest of the Kona Snow I need for sashing. 

Speaking of snow...it is...snowing...again. 

It will be awhile before I see any real tulips. 

Turning Over a New Leaf

 I told myself that this year I had to finish 5 quilts before I could even think of starting anything new. (If you've looked at my UFO tab you would know the reason why). 

Well, I've finished my obligatory 5 quilts. 

I've looked over my "wanna start" list.

I've enjoyed reading about Audrey's Tree of Life adventures. 

She even graciously shared a tutorial for HER Tree of Life.

I've been inspired.

I have a lot of fall fabrics.

I have a lot of fall fabrics with leaves. 

I have some blues I can use for the sky background. 

I started a Tree of Life quilt. 

I used this pattern for 12 inch blocks. 

I guess with my "finish 5, start 1" resolution you could say I've turned over a new leaf. 

And, you know...with that resolution I also feel like I have a new leaf on life.  

Leftover Pickles

18 inch Spinning Star block made from leftovers from the Pickle Dish quilt I finished early this year. 

It joins this block above that I made back in September. 

Ten more to go. 

Still Big Stitching

I'm still big stitching with perle #8 on my full/queen sampler quilt 

Sweet Dreams blocks.

The above blocks were paper-pieced and very troublesome for me. First I couldn't get the paper pattern printed to correct size, then the tension was off (too loose) on my machine and when I took the paper off a couple of the blocks fell apart.   As you can see from that first Sweet Dreams block (upper right quadrant) I had other problems besides...the seam should angle over to the corner and doesn't.  I made it fit to size.  So, right now I'm not a fan of paper piecing. 

The blocks and layout for the MOD MOD Sampler were all designed by Sophie of Block Lotto. 

Each month the Block Lotto block of the month was revealed and added to the layout. I challenged myself to use scraps (if I had them in selected colors)  and make blocks in complementary colors.  Since my scraps are pretty wild and crazy and I'm pretty much color-challenged I figured the complementary color scheme might give some cohesion to the quilt.    Well, whether the experiment was successful or not...I love the quilt top. (My 5 year old grandson told me "it's fun").   And now I've been big stitching on it in all different colors and having fun with that too. 

I thought crescent moon and star for the witch section would be appropriate and I used a template I used on my 30s butterfly quilt for the outside edges.

The watering cans got a simple flower shape quilted in the middle and you can't really see it all that well but the outside purple area has some zig zag leaf shapes quilting. 

There's mostly straight line quilting in these areas. 

And there's some heart shapes in these circles.   That one on the right looks a little lopsided but that's just the photo.  I wish I would have used a brighter shade of yellow for the background but didn't so I'll just live with it. 

I can say one thing...I'm not bored doing any repetitive stitching on this quilt...and I can say another thing...it actually lifts my spirits looking at all this color each evening when I get home from work and start stitching. 

And speaking of stencils...I want to give a shout out to Martha of Q is for Quilter.  She had a giveaway on her blog for stencils - some of which she is using on her gorgeous String Star quilt.  I was a winner of the four stencils above.   And now I know where to buy more stencils - The Stencil Company!   

It's Sunday and you know what that means...everyone is meeting at Kathy's Quilts for some Slow Stitching. 

In the Pink Again

Seven 8 inch Kaleidoscope blocks.  

From the kaleidoscope leftovers - a couple of 16 patches and lots of four patches. 

Same  3 inch block...just different arrangement of colors. These use 1.5 inch scraps. 

At the top are my nine inch "butterfly"  (aka beggar) blocks.  I plan on 56 blocks and I think I now have 34. 

At the bottom are spool blocks.  I think I now have 477 and plan on over 700 for a large sized quilt. 

Got Scraps? 

Use them up and show us what you've done with them each ScrapHappy Saturday. 

Looks like pink might be the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month for another week!

A Wedding Gift Needs a Name

80 x 80

16 inch Depression Blocks

A September Wedding Gift

I've heard tell that my nephew is getting married in September. 

He and his fiance have very few household goods so, planning ahead,  I decided to finish one of my UFOs for a wedding gift. 

Some of the 400 HSTs in this quilt were swapped and some were made from my scraps. 

I quilted it with a walking foot on my DSM with a sort of uneven crosshatch.

I had some brown polka dot in my stash that I used for binding. 

After a spin in the washer and a stint in the dryer the quilt came out crinkly, puffy, soft and cuddly. 

I need to think of a name for it. Depression Blocks doesn't seem quite appropriate for a wedding gift. 

This was my February Goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes (#8)

This was one of my goals (#7)  for First Quarter Finish Along. 

At the end of the month I'll link up to Julie's Binding Blitz

Also linking up today to:

Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden

Miscellany

3 Cupid's Arrows - the Block Lotto block of the month. 

2 - 12 inch bow tie blocks as requested for a Birthday Club exchange. (30s reproduction fabrics and Kona Snow). 

48 - 4.5 inch HSTs for a block swap...

...and 48 - 4.5 inch Four Patches for a swap. 

Big Stitching

I've been  big stitch hand quilting a very wild and colorful sampler top with perle #8. 

This is the back and is actually a very dark green fabric but the flash kind of washes it out. I wanted a darker fabric so the stitching would show up on the back. 

Here's the top I'm working on.  It was a sampler of all of last year's Block Lotto blocks designed by Sophie who runs Block Lotto.  I used complementary colors in all of my blocks.  It's a large 80 x 80 quilt. 

Doing any hand stitching? 

Join us today for Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts. 

Pink Chapter 2.5

Most of my scraps fall into the 4.5, 2.5 or 1.5 categories. 

Today I'll tell the tale of some 2.5 inch scraps. 

Most of the above scraps were left over from making a Pickle Dish quilt.  They were 4 inch pieces that I cut into 2.5 and 1.5 inch pieces.     I turned the 2.5 into some 4.5 inch hearts that will someday mix and mingle with a rainbow of other 4.5 inch blocks. 

In other 2.5 inch scrap news... I made 4 - 6.5 inch Twinklers, 2 - 8.5 inch Depression Blocks and a few pinwheels...

...and some other miscellaneous 4.5 inch blocks. 

Got Scraps? 

Join the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and each ScrapHappy Saturday show us what you've done with them. 

Two Tea Leaves for Thirties Thursday

Two Tea Leaves for Thirties Thursday.

How's that for alliteration? 

 Tea Leaf Quartet Quilt Blocks    

One of the Things I Do With 30s Reproduction Scraps - Version 1.5

I don't let my 30s reproduction scraps or my Civil War reproduction scraps play with other scraps. Don't ask me why because I don't really know. I guess I think reproductions are special - better than all the rest- a bit snobby maybe.  (Actually, I think more than 30s repros sneak into the 30s scrap pile because I sometimes don't know the difference).

Anyway, when I have accumulated a pile of 1.5- 30s reproduction scraps (or what passes for them in my head)...

...I make 5 inch blocks like these sixteen I recently  finished.   I use Kona Spring for the green because that's pretty close to the color of green my grandma used in the quilts she made. 

I use the tutorial at Molly Flanders.    For a larger size block there's a tutorial at Mary Quilts.  (I think I'm going to use my mountain of selvages and make the bigger blocks...someday)

I started assembling four of the 5 inch blocks into larger star blocks but since I make blocks intermittently depending upon scraps, I didn't want all of the same scraps to show up close together in a star block.  So, I have 17 star blocks completed and 110 single blocks.  Only 110 more single blocks and I'll have a large quilt...someday. 

It's the second Tuesday of the month and you know what that means! 

In the Pink

February's Rainbow Scrap Challenge color is pink. 

I made 4 Dresdens from my 4.5 inch pink scraps.  Each month I will make 4 blocks - one in color of the month, one with color of month and its complement, one in color of month plus b/w and one in color of the month in w/b.   I'm using a gray background and polka dot centers surrounded by gray rick rack. 

Four 9.5 inch wonky logs joined into an 18 inch Wonky Log block. I've been making these since last year and now have 11 blocks and want 20 for a large quilt. 

Two 8.5 inch string blocks.  I've been making these since last year also. I have a pile of them so need to make up a few donation quilts. 

From 2.5 inch scraps I made some 6 inch Pentland Crackers. 

Got Scraps?

Join us each ScrapHappy Saturday and show us what you've done with them.