Mid Week Chain Report

 Saturday I decided to work on five different UFOs in April that involve CHAINS. Since then I've worked on all of them and am going to report on them every Wednesday in order to hold myself accountable. 

Jack's Chain

I cut a lot of neutral hexagons and made five blocks. I've been using swapped nine patches with dark corners to make these. 

 I also made a long connector row. 

 Trail Mix

I made the 24 Double Nine Patch blocks required and cut pieces for the next set of 48 blocks. Can't remember the next block but it will be the last of the five sets to make and then I can start quilt top assembly. 

 Interlocking Chains

I made two more blocks and found fabric pairs for the rest of the blocks.  I think I have eight left to make. 

 Gallimaufry

These little four inch blocks are inspired by a vintage quilt. If there is a name for this block I don't know. I just figured out how to make the block by looking at pictures. 

Carolina Chains

7 with dark chains and 6 with light chains. 

And so it goes...

Yellow

Yellow Flying Geese from 4.5 inch scraps.  

Looks kind of like a hidden object game this month.

If the RSC color is a primary color I use secondaries for the geese sides and vice versa.    This project will continue next year. I have about 58 blocks and that's not near enough for a big, colorful, fun, cozy, scrappy quilt. 

Interlocking Chains

14 inch blocks from 2.5 inch scraps. 

By the end of the year I should have enough for a quilt

ScrapHappy Saturday...a division of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Red Potpourri

From red 2.5 inch scraps - 4 Sprouts, 2 Depression Blocks, 1- 4 inch pinwheel. 

Also from 2.5 inch pieces - 2 Interlocking Chains. Pattern can be found at Quilter's Cache. 

And I made lots and lots of red pyramids from 2.5 inch scraps. 

 I made them following the method on Molly Flanders Blog. 

They will eventually get sewn together on the diagonal - this is a pretty easy way to make a pyramid quilt - but now I have to figure out how many of these I need to sew together diagonally to make a big quilt. 

Visit ScrapHappy Saturday to see how others have used their red scraps this month.. 

Rails and Chains

Vintage Postage Stamp Rail

Block finishes at 10 inches

Interlocking Chains

Blocks finish at 14 inches

This is the last RSC week for Dusty Purple/Gray and then we will move on to another color. 

ScrapHappy Saturday

In the Pink 2.5 - Part II

Pink is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  This week I worked again with my 2.5 inch scraps.     I worked with 2.5 inch scraps at the beginning of the month but didn't get them all used up. 

I made some pyramid units for a 1000 (or more) Pyramid quilt following the tutorial on Molly Flanders blog.   I sew together end to end any pieces that will be big enough for a pyramid and that is why I sometimes end up with pyramids with more than one fabric. 

I also made some little 4 inch I Spy blocks with 2.5 centers and 1.5 sides. 

And finally Interlocking Chain blocks.

And now I'm a whole lot of 2.5 inch pink scraps lighter. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday 

Aqua, Blue-Green, Turquoise, Teal 2.5

Interlocking Chains

This week I worked with my 2.5 inch scraps.

  

First thing I usually do is look for four 2.5 pieces that are long enough to cut four links that will look good together for my Interlocking Chain blocks.  If I don't I will cut from my scrap chunks. 

Sprouts,  Happy Blocks, Depression Blocks

The next thing I do is see if there are any novelty pieces and, if so, I cut a 2.5 square and surround it with 1.5 inch scraps to make little 4.5 I Spy Happy Blocks. 

Then I cut enough squares for a few Sprouts.  After that I match up the RSC color with a neutral 2.5 scrap and cut some HSTs with an EZ Angle ruler. I usually remember that I need 16 HSTs for each Depression Block and 4 for each Sprout and make just enough HSTs but if the mood strikes I make extra HSTs and then sew them up into little 4 inch blocks like pinwheels or broken dishes.  The mood didn't strike this time. 

Pyramid Pieces

And finally I match up neutrals again with the RSC color of the month and make Pyramid Pieces following a tutorial at the Molly Flanders blog. 

ScrapHappy Saturday

Green

This month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge color is Loden Green (think Evergreen forest). Accent color is dusty brown. 

From 2.5 inch scraps....12 inch Interlocking Chains

From 1.5 inch scraps I made some Vintage Rails (inspired by antique quilt called Roman Stripes).  From 2.5 inch scraps I made one 8 inch Depression block and some 4 inch miscellaneous blocks for the Kitchen Sink pile. 

And, speaking of 4 inch blocks...I made some little 4 inch I Spy Happy Blocks from some fussy cut green 2.5 inch scraps surrounded by 1.5 inch scraps. I cut too many 1.5 inch pieces for the greens I needed to surround so a fat cat on blue background also snuck in the mix. 

And then there's the Sprouts that nearly depleted my 2.5 inch scraps. 

First I made my normal monthly sprouts. 

Then I made 5 Green Leaf pairs for this month's Block Lotto. 

And then I made four of the seven sets of Green Leaf pairs I need for the Old MacDonald Sampler QAL also going on at Block Lotto.    We are supposed to use whatever we chose for our ground cover for the background of these four. I chose green.  So for these blocks I made my background a dark green and the leaf a lime green.   It was really difficult for me to remember to use dark green instead of the neutral background (like pairs above) and lime green for the leaf when sewing them together! I hope there's enough contrast in these in the finished quilt

Go green...use those green scraps this month!

Link up on Saturdays in May and show us how you've used them.

ScrapHappy Saturday

Orange Chains and One Other Thing

This is the last day for orange as the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The only RSC project I had left to make was a pair of orange Interlocking Chains. 

And I have a few orange tulips blooming in the flower gardens. I have a difficult time growing tulips because the squirrels like to dig up my bulbs.  

ScrapHappy Saturday - a celebration of orange. 

Purple 2.5

This week I worked on the purple 2.5 scraps. 

First I start looking in the scraps for two long pieces for my two Interlocking Chain blocks.  These are 14 inch blocks. 

I usually find two pieces long enough for these in my scrap box but really had to scrape this time.  The one darker fabric on the left is probably more brown with bits of purple but I think it works with that lighter scrap which is brownish purple also. 

Then I look for pieces for my snakes.  I put the template on these going the long way on the scrap because the pieces are a teensy tiny bit longer than 2.5 but the width is not. 

I'm using brown backgrounds. These are snakes in the dirt...not snakes in the grass. 

Pattern is from Denyse Schmidt: Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration. 

Then I cut 2.5 squares for some six inch Twinklers. I've been making these the last couple of years and have enough for a layout 10 x 13.  I won't be using scraps for these anymore. 

Instead I'll replace the Twinkler project with Sprouts.   Last week Kathy of Kathy's Quilts  posted about her Sprouts and I decided that would be a great replacement for Twinklers.  So, I made two.   I also make 2.5 HSTs and make 8 inch Depression Blocks. I've been making them for the last couple of years also as scraps permit.  Maybe I should count them. 

Also, I found those wonky hsts in the scrap bag so made a wonky Broken Dishes block with them and the four patch fabrics were already sewn together so I just cut and made a couple of HSTs.  Those will go in the Kitchen Sink pile. 

Then - any small 2.5 pieces that are about Triangle size get sewn together into one long strip. I dig out some neutral pieces and then follow the tutorial on Molly Flanders blog.    I'm hoping I'll have enough triangles at the end of the year for one big Pyramid Quilt. 

The rest of the really small 2.5 pieces get sewn into strips. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these but didn't want to throw them back into the scraps. 

For now there's only a couple of purple pieces left in the 2.5 scraps. 

And speaking of purple I found an elf out back sitting in a crocus patch. You never know where you will find that sneaky elf.  Truth be told I've even found him sitting on my bed!

The color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is purple with yellow for accent.

 If you have scraps join in each ScrapHappy Saturday and show them off. If not, check out what everyone else is doing with their scraps in case you ever get some. 

For more scrappy goodness check out Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework. 

Brownies with Pink Icing

Brown is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. We can also use pink for accent.  Here are this month's 14 inch interlocking chain blocks - one in brown and pink and one in all browns. 

Here's some miscellaneous brown scraps - two 8 inch Depression Blocks to add to the pile I've been making for a couple of years, two 4 inch Broken Dishes blocks for the four inch Kitchen Sink pile and a bunch of 4 inch chocolate hearts with some chocolate pieces left over from Which Way to the Chocolate?  Not sure what I'll do with them...but they were quick and easy and used up some scraps. 

That concludes this week's brown scraps. I think I might have enough leftover for some blocks next week. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - ScrapHappy Saturday

There's always an open invitation to anyone with scraps! Be there!

Now Grandma's Nipping at the 4.5 Inch Blue Scraps

This week for the RSC I worked on my blue 4.5 inch scraps.

At the end of the year when I was taking stock I found some scrappy chevrons I think I made during RSC 2013.  I don't think I had many 4.5 inch scraps until this year so I've decided to resurrect this project.  I made one 16 inch chevron. 

I'm making geese this year.  I use the easy angle and companion angle rulers to make these.  I tried them out last year when green was the color of the month.  I decided that if the color of the month was a primary color then the geese sides will be secondary colors and vice versa.   I'm not sure what I'm going to do for final layout. I have plenty of time to think about it. 

I also made these, for want of a better name, fractured units.  Kathy Doughty of Material Obsession has many different layouts for these units.  I didn't see the one I happened upon on the right in her books but I'm thinking I kind of like that.  These are easy peasy units to make so I'm sure by year end I'll have enough for a couple of quilts.  If I had short pieces that was at least 4.5 x 5 I used them in these units. 

And then I have the 4.5 inch block kitchen sink pile - a few HSTs left from the chevron, a few 4.5 inch squares (both blue and neutral) and anything less than 4.5 inch square was sewn into a long strip.  I'll have fun with all my different sized strips at the end of the year.  And this might be the year I do something with that 4.5 inch kitchen sink pile...the sink is getting full. 

I think that's it for the 4.5 inch blue scraps. 

I know you don't remember when I said last week that I had saved a few long 2.5 inch scraps for this week so I won't ask if you remember but this is what I did with them - Interlocking Chains - a fourteen inch block. 

Got Blue Scraps?

Dig them out, sew them up and show us what you've done with them each ScrapHappy Saturday.