Saturday, May 4, 2019

Orange Scraps


It's always exciting to find out the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month.  It means I get to dig through my scrap bins and see what old friends (aka scraps) I get to work with.  This month the color is orange but I'm also catching up on my RSC aqua blocks. Last month I had lots of  scrap chunks of aqua so finished a few flimsies instead. 

At the beginning of the month I start with my scrap chunks I keep in a milk crate. Scrap chunks for me are scraps of fabric less than a fat quarter and greater than 4.5 inches.  I usually pull out the biggest pieces to make blocks that take bigger pieces and blocks that require multiple sizes of pieces. 

These cats take bigger pieces so they are usually the first things I make.  I'm using scraps of gray for the background.   And note to self...wow aqua and orange makes a nice color combo. 


New for me this year are these Double X  blocks and Snowballs inspired by a vintage quilt.  The blocks finish at four inches and I'm using a light mint green for the background because I've had a big piece of yardage around here unused for ages.   

These blocks take 2.5 and 1.5 inch pieces so I cut the scrap chunks to make these blocks and the remainder of the 2.5 and 1.5 inch pieces go into their respective scrap bins to be used later in other blocks. 

 Also inspired by a vintage quilt are these little 3.5 inch finished blocks called by a variety of names. Temecula Quilt Company is having a sew along and is the first place I saw the vintage quilt and the block they are calling Cathedral Window Hexagon Variation.  On other blogs I've seen these called Buttons and Doughnuts and Wishing Rings.   I really like the name Wishing Ring so that's what I've decided to call the block.   I cut the 2 inch center and 1.5 inch corners from a 3.5 x 5 scrap and the sides are cut from 1.5 inch scraps.     So I go through the scrap chunks and the 3.5 inch and 1.5 inch scrap bins to make these blocks. 
 I've been trying to make an equal number of light and dark corners since they will alternate in the quilt. I iron seams toward the darker color so seams will nest when sewn together.  Actually I haven't yet properly trimmed and ironed these corners yet.   I figured that's a job for a summer day on the deck with a glass of homemade wine. 
 With all the blocks that use multiple sizes of scraps out of the way I dug into the 1.5 inch scraps and made Bitcoins and Little Rails. 
 I've been making the 6 x 14 Bitcoin blocks for several years and have 61 blocks. My goal is 84.  I will set them 14 x 6 for an 84 inch square quilt. 
I've been making these Little Rails for several years too. I have no idea how many I have and no idea how big I want to make the quilt. I guess I should count and decide. 

After I make the Bitcoin and Little Rails I've been throwing any remaining scraps of that color into a shoe box to be used in a Spider Web quilt.   So, the 1.5 inch scrap bin is getting low but the Spider Web shoe box is overflowing.  

17 comments:

Auntie Em said...

Your scrap system is so organized! I think your orange cats paired with the teal cats does really make a "wow" color combo.

Scrapatches said...

What a beautiful display of scrappy goodness! Yes, orange and aqua are a nice combo. Thank you for all the wonderful inspiration ... :) Pat

grammajudyb said...

So enjoy following along with your scrappy journey. I really need to make note of all your ideas!

Linda said...

I am always impressed by your organised attack on your scraps. And yes, the aqua/orange combo works beautifully. What quilt idea will that trigger I wonder?

Sue SA said...

Love the orange cat blocks, such a perfect cat colour. Teal and orange do shine together.

Katie Z. said...

What a gorgeous collection of blocks!

Jenny said...

My goodness, you are so busy with all your scraps, such a lovely variety of blocks too. Your cat blocks made me smile. I have a quilt for our bed made from these blocks, grey cats on pink background. The quilt has warm wool batting, so I use it in winter.

gayle said...

Every time you point out how small those Double X blocks are, I'm freshly astonished. I keep assuming they're 8" blocks - that 4" is just jaw-dropping!
I love all your blocks so much that my RSC2020 list is already jam-packed...

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

You are so right, aqua and orange is a great combination! I am not as productive as you, but I did sew a rail fence block with aqua and orange today!

Louise said...

I'm drawn to that cat block every time you show it. Remind me what size it is, please?

Cathy said...

I always love your variety of scraps and blocks. It just wouldn’t be Saturday without your inspiration!

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Lots of lovely variety here for your RSC blocks! All your aqua & orange combine so well together!

Jo said...

You have got some great scrap projects happening. It will be good to see them getting finished too.

mangozz said...

Aqua and orange are a beautiful combination. It must be fun playing with the layout of all the blocks when you have enough.

Ruth L. said...

Your Villa Rosa Cat City blocks are wonderful. I hope to have one of these in my future but I'd never considered doing it in those gorgeous batiks. I'm in awe of all the RSC blocks I've been seeing and can't wait to see so very many of them come together, yours not the least. Thanks for taking me along on your journey.

Janie said...

So much fun going on here! Have 'they' threatened to tax you on that yet?
I enjoy turquoise and orange too. I've noticed everyone has a favorite name for aqua, some use 'teal' ( which reminds me too
much of the 80's when teal and peach were all the rage). 'Aqua' and 'turquoise' are my fav's. Kona cotton solids come in an amazing array of aqua colors, from 'aruba' to 'splash'. I just like going over the names and the subtle differences, ( too much info, I know)
Cathy your use of color is liberating!

audrey said...

I really love the orange/pink and gold combo. For some reason that blend always makes me sigh with pleasure!