Sewing Blues

The color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is baby blue.  I guess I haven't been in a pastel mood the last several years since I don't have much baby blue. But, I do have blue scraps and so here's some blue spools. I think I have close to 300, all different. I haven't decided yet when enough is enough. 

I also made some 4.5 inch HSTs with some bigger blue scraps. I'll be swapping these three times a year on a Yahoo group and I haven't decided yet whether I will sew them into Broken Dishes blocks or...

...into a 16 inch Depression Block.  Last time I made HSTs I made a Buckeye Beauty quilt.  And when I swapped 3.5 inch HSTs years ago on a different Yahoo Group I made 12 inch Depressions blocks into a quilt I really love. I think I'll probably go with the Depression blocks again. 

I made some 3 inch 9 patches using some of the same light blues as the spools.  I've been swapping these for years with a Yahoo Group of ladies also. 

Now that I've turned the 9Ps into 5 inch Sisters Choice blocks and have enough for my large quilt I was thinking about what to do with all the leftover 9Ps and the new ones I will be swapping. 

I've been thinking about a Jack's Chain quilt for a long, long time but it looked like too much of a challenge. I decided to give one "block" a try. There's a few flaws and I need to perfect my own technique for assembly but it wasn't as challenging as I thought.  I think I see a Jack's Chain quilt with scrappy cream/tan background in my distant future. 

To see what everyone else is doing with their blues visit Scrap Happy Saturday when you get the chance. It's been a lot of fun to follow along with all the projects everyone has worked on every month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Nothing But Crumby

I've finished three more crumb quilts for Quilts Beyond Borders (QBB).  I first heard about QBB from Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict as part of her Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.  Since then the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild (the only guild to which I belong) has decided to also sponsor QBB in addition to Wrap-a-Smile.

I challenged myself this year to 1. Finish up some of my 73 UFOs and 2. To see how many donation quilts I can make this year from scraps.  I've been following along with the color of the month with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge  this year so that keeps me motivated. So far I've completed a donation quilt in all the colors of the month...hot pink, orange, purple, green, sapphire blue

The latest finish is a fish quilt- the Sapphire Blue Fish. Someone with Sunshine posted a link to a Flickr picture of a fish quilt and I knew that would be my next crumb project. 

With my quilting on plain Jane (my DSM) I tried to simulate waves and bubbles in the deep nether regions of the sea and did some loops in the fish.

Crumby Orange Stars is my next quilt.  You can see a secondary pattern and no stars at all if you look at it for too long.  I actually didn't think I had enough orange scraps for a quilt. Surprise, surprise! Where did all that orange come from? 

 I quilted with some orange thread I didn't even know I had in my thread drawer and made an attempt at stars and loops.  I can tell you I'm not an artist!

And this one I'll call Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Dream Quilt and it uses scraps of many colors+ muslin.

Oops...I hung it upside down! Oh, well. You can still kind of see the stars and loops I quilted it with.   And, now, after the fourth quilt I'm finally getting a little better at machine binding....just a little. Guess I'll just have to practice a lot more.

So, I've found a box just perfect for these three quilts and the Green Bear Tracks I finished last week. As soon as I get the labels sewn on they will be in the mail.

Feeling really crumby! How about you? 

May I get a Whoop, Whoop, please?  Others are whooping it up over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. What are you whooping about? 

This Memorial Day weekend I will be working on my Quilts of Valor Quilts and doing a virtual sew along with Heartstrings.  You are welcome to join in also!! 

Gone Fishin' (and Gardenin')

I finished 24 Blue Sapphire Fish blocks and have them sewn into a top. It will be another donation quilt. 

Sapphire Blue is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Visit SoScrappy's blog to see what everyone else is stitching up in blue. 

Not much time for sewing this time of year. We've been trying to get the garden in. Grandpa and the granddaughters planted beans today.  I usually take care of the flower gardens. 

 The azaleas have more blooms this year than I've seen in years.  I just love rhododendrons and azaleas. 

Are You Special?

Way down deep in the ocean depths dwells the Sapphire Crumb Fish that only special people can see. What do you see?


Fish inspired by a Flickr photo. A link to the photo was posted at the Sunshine Online Quilt Guild Yahoo Group in response to ideas for using floral fabrics to make "kid-friendly" quilts.  I decided it would look cute in crumbs too.  I've challenged myself to use my scraps this year for donation quilts. I'm anxious to see how many I get made and donated.

And, talk about challenges...the color of the month is Sapphire Blue  for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013.      (Pastel blue and teal/aqua/turquoise will be later). Do check out what everyone is doing with scraps now that they are feeling a little blue at the RSC 2013 linky party at SoScrappy. 

UFO Sunday

Last week I posted about a spider web/cobweb quilt UFO. This week I was hoping to get it pinned and quilted. Problem is that I have to get down on the floor to pin the quilt. (Oh, my aching back). Problem is that I have to clean off the card table next to the sewing desk in order to do any quilting. The card table carries the most of the weight of the quilt while quilting and I hate cleaning it off - putting scraps in scrap bins, putting projects in boxes, putting fabric purchased that week in the proper drawer. There are only so many hours outside of work left for hobbies so cleaning is not my favorite thing to do.

So, while procrastinating the pinning and cleaning I worked on another UFO to give me some sewing time I crave on the weekends to make things right with the world (and my mind).


 I worked on a Blue Double 4 Patch UFO. These blocks were from a "no stress" (participate or not each month) monthly swap several years ago on a list to which I no longer belong because I didn't like the direction/tone it was taking.  Anyway, each month for a year we could swap blue double four patch blocks and I don't think I missed a month. I love getting fabric in the mail. It was fun to see what everyone chose for blue fabric for the blocks each month.


Last January I laid them out on my design floor (oh my aching back) and picked them back up, labeled the rows and sewed 3 rows together, bought some backing fabric and left them all in a pile in the corner of the sewing room where they have remained a UFO until yesterday. (Well, actually it still is a UFO - just not in the corner anymore).

Evidently I didn't know how to multiply back in January. There are 90 - 8 inch blocks( finished size) but if there are 9 in a row and 10 down I think it would be a quilt would be 72x80 (not 90). Now, if my grown kids were to notice that they would think I was starting to get senile.

 Anyway, this UFO is now in the flimsy stage (72x90). So, now I have another UFO ready to pin (oh my aching back) and quilt.

I eventually got my quilt sandwich made and pinned (oh my aching back), cleaned off the card table next to the sewing desk so I could start quilting my wonky cobweb quilt. I wanted to try a spider web from Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project blog in each "spider web"/cobweb.  (Keep in mind I am an old lady with poor eyesight).   The left side got a little wonky down near the bottom. That is where I start to sew backwards and don't see where the next line of the web happens to be.  The seam throws me off some too. And sometimes my hands just plain shake.

This one was a little better but it's still a little wonky down at bottom left (see that green patch?).

I only made it through 4 webs before I decided to quit for the day when the bobbin ran out of thread. I can't sit at the machine for long before my back starts to ache.  (Hear a common theme to this post?  I need a new chair and/or a new body). 

 Spider man is on the back - scrappy quilt, scrappy guy - spider webs, spider man. The quilting kind of blends in to the backing.

You can't really see it but I just quilted some circles around the spider webs in the fabric in the star that forms between the cobwebs.

And that leaves me with the question....how does everyone manage to pin/baste together large quilts? I put mine on the hardwood floor in the living room and sit on top of it to pin it. It's not exactly easy on an old body. I'm not sure I have room to put two large tables together to lay quilts out on but I may have to find room one of these days or stop making large quilts.

Oh, and take a look at what other UFOs are being worked on at UFO Sunday at Free Motion Quilting Project.   And linking up to Linky Party Tuesday at Freemotion by the River. 

Sewing Blues

I finished 48 blue string blocks with black centers for Heartstrings Quilt Project.

I'll wait until I do another set of 24 kid's blocks before I mail them off.

 Also worked a little this weekend on sewing together my double 4 patch blocks I've had laying around for a couple of years from a swap with a yahoo group I no longer belong to because I didn't like the direction it was headed. 

And finally since  I like blue so much I am participating in a Double Disappearing 9 patch swap with the Block_swappers Yahoo Group.  I made 32 blocks (8 sets) for swapping and some for myself besides. 

And...maybe I will use up some of the blues I like so much and have more scraps for another blue heartstrings quilt. 

Favorite Things

The following are for my Hexie Rainbow Favorite Things Lap Quilt.

The color blue.  

More blue favorite things

All color favorites.

And more red favorites.

See Lily Quilts Hexalong in sidebar as well as Pigtales and Quilts How-Does-Your-Garden-Grow sew along.

Feeling Blue

I have finished my blue block sampler. It consists of 30-9 inch blocks from from a block swap. Since I like to finish my quilts from start to finish I did meander quilting on my sewing machine. I don't have a longarm quilter.

Speaking of Blue

I belong to a couple of sane quilting groups also. And we are also having a blue block swap. Make 6 copies of 6 different blocks, send them in and get 36 different blue blocks back. I made 1 for myself to keep of the 6 blocks I made for the swap so when all is said and done I will have 42 different blue blocks to make into a quilt. I will probably have to add other blue blocks to make a quilt to cover my bed. I have been hoarding blue fabric to do so.

"Singing the Blues" Crazy Quilt Round Robin

I have joined an online crazy quilting group and am now participating in a color study round robin - Singing the Blues. This is my block and I am sending it around to 5 other people to be embellished and then it will be returned to me. I, in turn, will receive 5 blocks from the group membersto embellish. All work is to be done in blue.