More Blue Scraps

 

Bricks and Stones

2.5 x 4 inch bricks + 2.5 inch square black stones

Started last year. 

Blue is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. I have so many blue scraps (scrap=<6 inch square) and chunks (chunks=>6 inch square and <FQ) so I don't think I will get them all made into blocks this month so will probably also work on my remaining scraps along with other RSC colors.  

Waffles and Rails

For two separate comfort quilts

5 inch finished

Both made from 1.5 x 5.5 rectangles and both started last year.

I have blue scraps for other blocks cut out so maybe I will finish up a few more blocks this week before we move on to another RSC color.  The theme this month in my sewing space to move UFOs forward has been "itty bits, fiddly bits" so I've also been working on blocks in all colors with itty bits. 

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

Bricks and Stones

Bricks and Stones

Two quilts 36 x 40

Someone gave me a big bag of the brick and stone units several years ago. I previously made and donated a larger quilt made with them. 

There was a problem with some of the units - most of the "stones" were 4.5 inch squares; however several of them were 4 x4.5 rectangles. 

I added a 1 x 4.5 inch rectangle to those that were short. I then put the units together into two small quilts. 

I quilted them simply with lines. 

The backs...

...feature some Llamas and some Kitties.

Now they are ready for donation!

A few weeks ago the Wrap-A-Smile coordinator ( Ann) sent out a plea for 40-50 "smalls":

"Hope y’all can help! I’m still on the outlook for even more very small, very light-weight children’s quilts for WAS. During the past year I have received an amazing number of gorgeous, beautiful quilts but the majority have been larger and heavier. Rotaplast treats a variety of ages and they need me to pack a mix of sizes. Plus they have weight restrictions on the supply boxes that go by air for the medical missions.

I would love to receive 40-50 “smalls” (36 x 45-ish) by the end of the year. "...Ann

If you would like to help with this international goodwill project, contact Ann at quilts7780@gmail.com

Wrap-A-Smile partners with  Rotaplast International, Inc.

"Rotaplast International, Inc. is committed to helping children and families worldwide by eliminating the burden of cleft lip and/or palate, burn scarring, and other deformities. Working with local professionals, Rotarians, and other organizations, Rotaplast sends multidisciplinary medical teams to provide freely reconstructive surgery, ancillary treatment, and training for the comprehensive care of these children." Wrap-A-Smile provides each child undergoing surgery with a quilt. 

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Finished a book! The Kaboom Boys: A Call To War, Book 1 by Elaine Hume Peake and Don Keith. WWII historical fiction. Adventures of an American bomb demolition team deployed after D-Day to France. I will have to patiently wait for book 2 of this series. 

Orange Scraps Part I

Four Patches

Orange is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color for June. This week I worked with the orange 4 inch width scraps. 

Four Patches

Made with 4 inch squares

Bricks and Stones

Made with 2.5 x 4 inch rectangles and black 2.5 inch squares.

Coins Strip

Leftover pieces after making this week's blocks from 4 inch width scraps. 

Will be future Coins quilt.

Yankee Puzzle blocks

Made with 4 inch orange and neutral squares following tutorial at Susie's Scraps.     (She uses 3.5 inch squares but I'm using 4 inch squares)

More Yankee Puzzle blocks made with 4 inch squares. This will be a separate quilt from the one above with neutrals. I'm trying to use up all the scraps in the 4 inch width scrap box so am using two contrasting scraps in that box to make these blocks. 

Other names for this block are Big Dipper, Hourglass, The Whirling Blade and Pork and Beans.

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

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In the last couple of posts I've shown the roses and peonies in bloom around here. This time I thought I would show pics of what's blooming in the veg garden. I forgot to take a pic of the strawberries in bloom. I've been harvesting and eating a lot of salad crops - butterhead lettuces, spinach, mustard greens. I did pick a few snow peas to make a stir fry along with some onions and sliced up pork chop. I made a little sweet/sour sauce to add to the mix. 

Potatoes are blooming. Can't wait to harvest! 

It seems a little early for the tomatoes to be in bloom but we have had some beautiful weather (except for the haze from Canadian wildfires). 

I start all of my tomatoes from seed and like the heirloom varieties - Brandywine, Big Rainbow, Black Krim to name a few. For making sauces I like Jersey Devil which a big meaty tomato. 

I like Green Beauty Snow Peas. Aren't the blossoms pretty? 

The Peppers are also starting to bloom. Again, this seems early in the season. I also start these from seed. I can't tolerate hot peppers and since John now gets all his nutrition via G-tube, I don't grow many hot peppers anymore. I do grow Anaheim which is mildly hot but I give a lot of those away.  I like an old variety called Jimmy Nardello for cooking and I like Baby Bell for eating fresh. One Baby Bell pepper makes a nice snack. 

 

Green Scraps Chapter IV

Crooked Rails

10 inch blocks

Green is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color for May. 

Crooked Rails

10 inch blocks

I've been making Crooked Rail blocks since about the middle of last year. I'm using a dark and light scrap in the RSC color of the month. I'm using 3 and/or 3.5 inch width scraps and cutting rectangles 3 x 3.5. Each block uses 8 rectangles each of two different fabrics.   I have several of Kathy Doughty's books and she uses these stack and whack wonky units in several of her quilts; however, she doesn't have any Crooked Rail blocks like these in her books. I make the units and have used them in lots of different ways. 

Wonky Windmills

8 inch

For the geometric,etc. pile of blocks.

Made with 4.5 inch width scraps; 4.5 x 5 inch rectangles. These are the same type of units used in the Crooked Rails. 

I made a bunch of the blocks in the RSC color of the month plus gray scraps. Last year I made a big stack of them and then divided them into piles for different quilts. I have already made the Wonky Windmill top with the novelty blocks but I need a few more blocks for the geometric, etc. pile and a few more blocks for the floral pile and then I will be finished with these blocks. My goal to use up a lot of small gray scrap chunks has been already accomplished.

Wonky Windmills

8 inch blocks

For the geometric, etc. pile.

I had a few multicolor scraps cut for the blocks so they alo got made this week. 

Wonky Windmills

8 inch blocks

For the floral pile

Bricks and Stones

2.5 x 6 unfinished

I've been using 2.5 x 4 inch scraps in the RSC color of the month and 2.5 inch black squares to make these units. Intent is to use shorter lengths of 2.5 inch width scraps.

Bits of Bricks

made with 3 x 6 inch rectangles

Hollow Nine Patch

10.5 inch blocks

Made with 4 inch squares

These are the final two blocks needed to complete the goal of 24 blocks for a kiddo comfort quilt. 

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

 

A Whole Lot Of Scrap Busting

Shoofly

10.5 inch blocks

Red is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color for this month so I've been mostly working with red scraps to make my blocks. Then I noticed I was close to my target on several block sets so some other colors crept in. 

Shoofly

10.5 inch blocks

I have been making these from 4 inch width scraps since last year. I have a box of scraps that width - most have been given to me by others - that I've been trying to empty. To make the Shoofly blocks I've been pulling out the longest strips in the color of the month and one other color. 

My goal was 35 blocks and now I have made that goal and I have a complete block set for a 5 x 7 layout. For now the block set will go into the SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin. 

Now I can mark this block off my list of RSC projects. 

Broken Dishes

7 inch blocks

With shorter 4 inch width pieces I've been making Broken Dishes blocks in the RSC color of the month plus one other color. I've also been making these blocks since last year. 

This week after I made my blocks with red scraps I noticed I only needed 12 more blocks toward my goal of 88 blocks...

...so I made 12 more blocks from the remaining scraps in the 4 inch width scrap box. 

Now this is another block set completed and ready to go to the SAR bin.  They will be set 8 x 11. 

Hollow Nine

10.5 inch blocks

These are made with 4 inch squares. 

I made 3 blocks with red squares and then decided to look through my cut squares to see if I had enough squares in any colors to make more. 

So that's all I could make with what was already in my 4 inch cut squares bag. My target is 24 blocks and now I have 22. I'll look through the rest of the scraps in the box and cut more squares for those two blocks and get them made so these can go into the SAR bin. 

So now I have completed almost all of the RSC projects I had going with 4 inch width scraps but I still have lots of smaller bits in the box. So now I need a plan for those. 

The smallest pieces will go into 4 x 2.5 bricks. I recently started making Bricks and Stones units using black 2.5 inch squares and 4 x 2.5 bricks as a way to use up some smaller 2.5 inch width scraps. 

The strip on the bottom I usually make with the pieces less than a square when I make RSC blocks. I save those up and eventually make a quilt with them when I get enough strips. I think my next one might have strips of varying widths alternating with strips of Flying Geese.

16 Patch

6 inch blocks

RSC color alternating with green scraps in the blocks. 

I think I have been making these as an RSC project for a couple of years from whatever shows up in my 2 inch width scraps that is long enough for a block.  When I started these I had a lot of green scrap chunks to use up so that is how I decided on green as the alternating color. 

I started the month with 111 blocks toward my goal of 120 or 130 blocks. After I made my blocks with red I noticed I only needed a few more so made a total of 19 blocks.  I must not have taken a picture of the other 7 blocks I made this week even though I propped them up for a photo.Well, anyway, I made my goal of 130 blocks to be set 10 x 13. This is another block to check off my RSC project list and will also join the other block sets completed this week in the SAR bin. 

Easy Breezy

6 inch blocks

I started making these at the beginning of the year with 2 inch width scraps. I now have 42 towards a goal of 120 or 130. 

Rail Fence

4.5 inch blocks

New Project

After I completed the 16 Patches made with 2 inch width scraps I assessed what was left in that scrap bin and decided to start making  Rail Fence blocks with black centers. 

Cheerios

10.5 inch blocks

I've been making these since last year and set aside any sets of 4 - 4.5 inch squares I come across to make these blocks. I think most of the squares I used in the red ones I made this month came from others. 

This is one of those blocks I make until scraps run out or I get tired of making them. Then I divide them up into different comfort quilts. I now have 73 blocks.  How about that...I could use 20 in a child's quilt and 48 in a twin sized quilt and have some blocks left over! Maybe that's what I'll do!

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

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***

REMEMBER, TREASURE, GROW, READ (my words of the year)

My husband John is the treasure. In June we will celebrate 52 years of marriage. 

John has dysphagia (difficulty swallowing food or drink) caused by radiation he had many years ago for oropharyngeal cancer. He ended up in the hospital a couple of times a couple of years ago and one of the times they put in a G-tube and the other time he was malnourished, dehydrated and had aspiration pneumonia. After they put in the G-tube he was bolus feeding (injecting liquid diet into tube with syringe several times a day); however, he could not tolerate that rate of feeding and was aspirating most of the liquid into his lungs.  Then they put him on a feeding pump to slowly pump liquids into him over a 12 hour period. And he has to stay sitting at about a 30 degree angle during that time and an hour or so afterwards so he spends most of his days and nights in a recliner. He is still weak but since he has gained a little strength and weight he is able to get around without a walker; however, a short walk outside or anywhere else wears him out. 

Yesterday he had a visit with the pulmonologist, who tries to keep him from more hospital visits with aspiration pneumonia, and Dr. said he is making a referral to a speech therapist. They are hoping he can start doing some kinds of exercises and work up to maybe being able to swallow soup without aspirating. In the meantime Dr. said to start reading out loud and/or singing in the shower. John seemed happy with the news that he might someday be able to swallow water or soup without aspirating or coughing it up. He is rather frustrated with being tied to a food pump for so many hours a day. 

Working With 2.5 Inch Width Scraps

I mentioned at the beginning of the month that one of my goals for April is to clean up and maybe empty out a box of 2.5 inch width scraps. 

So I've been working on that and thought I would show what I've done with those scraps so far. 

I made 8 - 25 Patch blocks. That was all I needed to reach my goal of 24 blocks. 

It all started with 6 (or was it 8?) blocks I received in a box of orphan blocks last year. Instead of using them as orphan blocks I decided to make a complete set for a child's comfort quilt. I hope I can assemble the top before month end and maybe even get it quilted. If not, well, then there's next month or the month after...

New Start - Four Patches

I already had a baggie of sets of 2 - 2.5 inch squares so last week I pulled out the red sets (because RED is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month) and made Four Patches.   Since then I have sorted most of that box of 2.5 inch width scraps and now have a little pile of pieces that I think will yield 2 - 2.5 inch squares. I cut all the red pieces and made more Four Patches. I will decide what to do with all the Four Patches when I've made all the box of scraps will yield. 

I was already collecting 2.5 x 3.5 inch rectangles and 2.5 x 4.5 inch rectangles for two different quilts I have in mind so added to those baggies. I also added to a baggie of 2.5 inch single squares.  Those are stored in baggies in a big baggie. 

New Start - Bricks and Stones.

While I was sorting the scraps into piles I noticed some 4 and 4 1/4 inch lengths. I didn't want to put those into the pile to be trimmed for the 2.5 x 3.5 inch rectangles so trimmed all of those to 2.5 x 4 inch rectangles. I cut some of the black scraps in the box into squares and figured I will make them into a bricks and stones quilt laid out horizontally. 

I haven't decided what size quilt they will go into and I haven't counted how many I've been able to make so far. 

I've also cut some 1.5 x 2.5 inch rectangles from the smallest pieces. They go into a baggie and go into the Potato Chip project bag. I already had quite a few rectangles in the project bag that I cut last month when cleaning up some 1.5 inch width scraps. 

For now I've been keeping all the projects and partss baggies in a flat next to the cutting mat so after I have a cutting session I can put all the parts in the right place. I still have more of those 2.5 inch width scraps to clean up but I stilll have lots of days in the month. I hope when all is said and done I only have 2.5 inch width of fabric pieces left in the box. 

And sew on...

***

REMEMBER, TREASURE, GROW, READ (my words of the year)

I shipped 10 quilts to Wrap-A-Smile. 

For significant savings on shipping costs I ship through PirateShip.com - you box up your quilts, measure and weigh box and input into that into PirateShip ap along with sender/receiver info. Then a list of ways to ship and the cost pop up with the most cost effective one recommended. Make a choice, buy a label, print a label for the box, apply to box and then drop off box which in my case is a UPS drop-off location near me.