Churning Through Plaids

Churn Dash Variation Top

40.5 x 63

For another donation quilt.

I mentioned a few days ago that someone gave me some homespun and plaid fabrics. I had a few of my own too. I set aside most of the reds and blues for a Quilt of Valor quilt to make later. For this one I used most of the brown and green plaids to make 13.5 inch (finished) Churn Dash blocks. 

In January I started out with the intention of using a pile of brown scrap chunks and I still had those chunks laying out so I added in a few brown scraps for backgrounds for the green plaid Churn Dashes and then I added in some green scraps for backgrounds for the brown plaid Churn Dashes. (Whew, that's a sentence! Hope you didn't get lost in there).

Then since I had aqua scraps out because aqua was the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for February I added in a bit of cheer in each block with some aqua scraps. 

It warmed up a bit yesterday and most of the ice has now melted so I'm back to clothesline photos even if the sun is not at the right spot for them. 

And sew on...

 

Spin-Off Top

 

A Sixteen Patch Spin-Off Top

40 x 60

The other day I made a Sixteen Patch top with strip sets.  With the strip set ends I made some Four Patches.  

Then I cut some squares from a little pile of multicolor scraps. 

Then I alternated Four Patches and Squares and made a top. 

I want to finish up a few more small tops and then piece some batting, find some backings and then finish up enough for a box of smaller sized donation quilts. 

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Blue-Green Scraps

Blue-green (and all the variants like aqua and teal) is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color for  February.  Good thing I don't have many scraps in that color because I just now got around to making some blocks. 

First up are 12 inch The Dandy Quilt blocks. 

5 x 9.5 inch scraps get made into Horizon blocks for donation quilts I'll make at year end. (Blocks in a couple of other colors snuck into there too.)

At the top are 3 six inch Hourglass blocks. I make those with 2 inch width scraps and the blocks will be combined with a big stack of Four Patches at year end for donation quilts.  I cut the Hourglass QST pieces with an Easy Angle Companion ruler. I cut the beginning and end of the 2 inch piece off with the Easy Angle ruler so it is not wasted. I made little 3 inch Broken Dishes bocks with those pieces. I finally got the red pieces cut last month sewn together too. 

And speaking of 2 inch width scraps and 3 inch finished blocks...well,, I made a few Bow Tie blocks from my blue-green scraps. 

And I made a few six inch finished Bear Paw blocks. 

And I made a couple of 12 inch Wonky Log Cabin blocks with 4 inch novelty centers with black backgrounds. 

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

 

A Sixteen Patch Top

Sixteen Patch Top

40 x 60

It will be a donation quilt when finished. 

I didn't take my usual clothesline photo because I don't want to brave the ice outside on the back steps or the icicles hanging on the clothesline. 

Someone recently sent me some plaid and homespun fabrics. Someone else recently sent me some scraps with some solids. 

I was looking for something easy to make - something that would not require much thinking - so decided to make some strip pieced Sixteen Patch blocks from some of the fabrics I was given. I decided on ten inch blocks made of 3 inch strips for a kiddo sized donation quilt. 

Today I will make some Four Patches from the strip ends and see if I can whip up another top.

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

 

Leftovers

 

I've had some 2.5 inch scraps left over, I think, from making a Sweet Happy Block top back in January.  For the last couple of years I've been trying to make leftover scraps into blocks instead of throwing them into bins by width size like I used to do. So I have some blocks in mind for almost every size of scrap I have left over from other projects. With 2.5 inch scraps (and 3.5 inch) if the piece is long enough for four 2.5 x 3.5 pieces I cut those and put them into a project box for matching up with other cut pieces to make these Eight Patch blocks. 

So with my Sweet Happy Block leftovers I cut pieces and matched them up with previously cut pieces in the project box to make a few Eight Patch Blocks. They go back into the box and when I have 49 of them I'll make a little donation quilt top. 

If I don't have enough 2.5 inch scrap left over but I have enough scrap left for four HSTs then I make Bear Paw blocks. I have a little drawer of neutral scraps I use  for the backgrounds and I have a little box with some 4.5 inch squares I use to finish off the blocks. 

I will probably make these all year long with left overs and at year end see how many donation quilts I can make with various layouts. 

And finally, if I have enough of the leftover 2.5 inch scrap for a square then a square gets cut and put in my Squares box that isn't square. And if there is not enough for a square but enough for a 1.5 x 2.5 inch rectangle then that gets cut and put into a Lego Quilt project box. 

And sew it goes...

Let's Have A Show Of Hands

My friends with the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild (SOQG) sent me flowers, cards, thoughts and prayers after the death of my granddaughter Kayla. To show their support some folks also sent me some handsome hands to hold. Oh, what fun! I will make them into a quilt as a remembrance of Kayla and to keep the loving support of my friends close at hand. 

I've got to hand it to them...they are a creative bunch!

I also received some Heart Blocks I will combine with the Hands. 

In my quilt I'll also use some of the scraps left over from making...

...those Friendship Star Quilts. 

 

Friendship Star Comfort Quilts

I've finished five Friendship Star comfort quilts for my recently deceased granddaughter Kayla's friends.

Each finishes at 60 x 72 and each consists of thirty 12 inch Friendship Star blocks. 

I made three quilts in a Friendship Star Variation because that is how many I figured I could make with a black solid I had on hand. I guess I estimated correctly because after I finished 90 blocks for these three quilts I had about a 3 inch wonky piece left over. 

I also used up most of my yellow chunks of fabric making blocks for three quilts.

I also used up a little pile of rainbow colored fabrics I had set aside for a donation quilt. Then I used up most of my multicolor peace sign fabrics I've had for ages. And I found a few other rainbow-ish looking fabrics and scraps to use. 

Then I made two Friendship Star quilts alternating dark and colorful backgrounds.  I had ordered a couple of bolts of fabric that took forever to get here and I originally intended to make Friendship Stars in just two fabrics (black with rainbow print and orange confetti looking batik) reversed in alternate blocks. 

While I was waiting for the bolts to arrive I continued on with my rainbow fabrics and used it for the background and a piece of black with rainbow polka dots for the Stars. I had that black with polka dots set aside as a donation quilt backing. 

Well, then my bolts of fabric arrived and gosh...I knew it had peace signs on it but I didn't remember that it had what looked like a marijuana leaf on it in rainbow colors. I guess I can play the old lady card and pretend I thought it was a beautiful autumn leaf.  Or I can put a disclaimer with the quilt that says just because the fabric has a marijuana leaf on it doesn't mean that this grandma condones the use of it. 

Well, anyway, I went ahead and used it as the background and the orange batik for the Stars in alternate blocks. Out of rainbow fabrics I used a few batik fabrics I had for the dark star backgrounds in the second quilt of this variety. 

I have a partial set of blocks made for the sixth and final Friendship Stars quilt but I wanted to get these five quilts out to her friends as soon as possible. The sixth quilt is for my other granddaughter Isabelle who is five weeks older than Kayla and Kayla's best friend. I'm thinking I will not only give Isabelle a Friendship Star quilt but finish Kayla's high school graduation quilt for her too.  I had just dug out Kayla's graduation quilt UFO to work on in December. Isabelle's graduation quilt has been in the hope chest for quite some time but I never got around to finishing Kayla's. 

I used a third bolt of fabric I ordered for the backings. I had enough for four quilts and I used the orange batik as a backing for the fifth quilt and for the binding on all of the quilts. I quilted all of them on my DSM with spirals in a variegated thread called Sunset. 

Labeled.

And I made a few pocket hugs to go with the quilts. I've made some of these in the past and also have called them pocket prayer quilts. 

 

Red Scraps Part III

I've had a bunch of Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) blocks laying on the end of my ironing board since mid January. I decided I might as well get them ironed and blog about them so I can put them away. 

I am making 12 inch Slabs With Heart for donation quilts.  

With strings I'm making Wonky Log Cabin blocks with 4 inch novelty centers on a black background. These are also 12 inches (finished) and are for donation quilts. 

I have the centers ready for the rest of the year. These were from several 4 inch square swaps I participated in over the years. 

I call these blocks Small Change. They finish at six inches and use 1.5 x 2.5 inch scraps. 

These are Rail Blocks that finish at 5 inches. I use 1.5 x 5.5 inch scraps to make them. Yep, for donation quilts.

I also sewed crumbs into a big long strip about 5 inches wide. I will cut and trim to 4.5 inch squares and make some flower blocks. I just have not gotten around to it yet. 

I also had started cutting red scraps into 1.5 x 2.5 pieces for Lynn's Lego blocks. I will just accumulate pieces until I get a big pile and then make a few more blocks. This is a slow going quilt. It sure takes a lot of time to cut up scraps. 

If I have 2.5 or 3.5 inch scraps that I can cut into at least four 2.5 x 3.5 inch pieces then that is what I cut. I also accumulate these pieces until I get enough contrasting pieces to make blocks like you see on the left. Guess these are Eight Patch blocks and for another donation quilt. 

If I have 2.5 inch scraps and I can get four 2.5 inch squares then I cut those and put that pile (on the right) aside to make into Indian Hatchet blocks. Otherwise I just cut 2.5 inch squares to put into my squares bin (those on the left). 

I was in the middle of cutting more red scraps but lost track of what I was doing when life was suddenly interrupted so I've put those red scraps away for now and will dig into the aqua bin when I get a chance. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday.