For the Parts Department

Over the years I've found the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) has been a fun way to use up scraps of a different color each month. I used to keep my scraps in bins by width and finally last year I emptied the 4.5, 3.5, 2.5 scrap bins. For now I'm keeping the 2 and 1.5 inch bins.  Anyway...in previous years of the RSC I would pick a block or blocks to make with scraps from each scrap bin. Now that I've emptied most of my scrap bins I now am working with scrap chunks to make my RSC blocks. I store my scrap chunks by color and define them (roughly) as anything larger or longer  than a 4.5 square and less than a Fat Quarter (FQ).   

So...now that I'm using scrap chunks I cut off whatever I need to make my RSC blocks. Then I decided I would TRY at the very end of the month to use up whatever is left of the "cut off" after I make my blocks rather than store leftover "cut offs" away anywhere or put them back in with the scrap chunks. 

At the end of the month I've been making a variety of different blocks from those "cut offs" for the Parts Department.   

I've been making Nine Patches from the 2.5 inch leftovers or I've been cutting them into squares or I've been cutting them into 2.5 x 3.5 rectangles or I sew anything less than a square into a strip. 

The 3.5 inch leftovers get made into Four Patches for the Parts Department or into squares or 2.5 x 3.5 rectangles or squares or strips. 

 The 2 inch leftovers also get sewn into Four Patches for the Parts Department or cut into squares. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

Scrap Potpourri

Traditional Dove in the Window blocks.  

They finish at 10.5 inches.

I started these a few months ago to use scrap chunks. They will continue into 2021 as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project.  Most of my 2021 RSC blocks will use scrap chunks cut into 3.5 and 2 inch pieces. 

For years and years and years I've organized most of my scraps by width size. Now I'm moving toward storing scraps by color and using scraps as I go in a few units or squares or simple blocks so I won't have many scraps that will need to be organized in the future. This year I have cleaned out my 4.5 and 3. 5 inch bins and have almost emptied the 1.5 inch bin. I'll keep the 2 inch bin for awhile because I'll still be actively working out of it in 2021. Right now I've been working on cleaning out my big box of 2.5 inch scraps. I've been making nine patches, cutting squares, rectangles and making strips with what is left in the 2.5 inch scrap box.   This week I worked on red. 

Last week I mentioned I needed a few more light cornered Wishing Rings that finish at 3.5 inches. They are now finished. I now have 312 light cornered and 312 light cornered Wishing Rings and another set of blocks that can go into the "to be assembled" box. 

My quilt was inspired by this vintage one c. 1825-1875 from the Quilter's Guild Collection.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

 

Cleaning Out The 2.5 Inch Scrap Bin and Then Some

I mentioned last week that now that I have finished up my RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) projects that use 2.5 inch scraps I want to completely empty the bin   This week I worked on cleaning out the yellow and purple scraps.  I made nine patches, cut 2.5 x 3.5 pieces and 2.5 inch squares and...

...anything less than a 2.5 inch square was sewn into strips for a future Chinese Coins quilt. 

Ditto for the purple 2.5 inch scraps. 

In other news I finished up 44 Wishing Rings with light corners. That made my goal of 312 light cornered blocks that finish at 3.5 inches. Thursday I blogged about making 56 Wishing Rings with dark corners. Now after a couple of years of making these as an RSC project I only have 32 dark corner blocks left to make and I'll have meet my goal of 624 blocks. I'm going to TRY to finish those by year end. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

 

Irish Chain

 I have enough blue-green bits and pieces; odds and ends to make an Irish Chain quilt.  I also had a small shoe box of 2.5 inch black and white half width of fabric strips swapped long ago that I figured it was time to use. 

I think I have enough fabric to make it 11 x 13 blocks/66 x 78 inches.  I think an Irish Chain quilt is supposed to have an odd number of rows and columns starting and ending with the nine patches. 

I think I have all the 6.5 inch squares cut and 41 nine patches made. Maybe by next week I can begin top assembly. 

An Irish Chain is what you call a Nine Patch/Snowball quilt when you are too lazy to make Snowballs. 

This is a Trash Talking Irish Chain so named because I know someone who thinks Turquoise/Aqua/Teal, etc. is "trashy". 

I'm making this so I'll have some blue-green scraps to use in the future for: 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

It's About Time

 I finished six Christmas stockings. 

That was my goal #14 for 

Q4 Finish Along

 Forty years ago when my son was four years old and my daughter was two years old I made them these Christmas Stockings. Santa has filled them with goodies every year since then. They have held up pretty well except some of the stitches in the embroidery of their names are missing. 

Six years later another son came along and every year since then I've been telling myself I really need to make him a special Christmas stocking since he has worn out many a cheap felt dollar store stocking. 

And finally...this is the year now that he's 34 years old. 

Johnny has always loved cats. While going through Christmas and cat fabrics I found enough bits and pieces of  Laurel Burch fabrics to put together a stocking for him. Won't he be surprised. 

 I thought I had enough six inch Christmas nine patches to make six stockings but I only had enough to make four.  There's two for my granddaughters, one for my grandson and one for my son-in-law. 

I had some six inch squares of snowmen and snowflakes to make a stocking for my oldest son's girlfriend because I know that's something she likes. 

Now everyone will have their own special Christmas stocking for Santa to fill. 

And I know what they will all say on Christmas day when they see them...

"It's About Time". 

It's a Finish! Zig Zag Nine Patch

 Zig Zag Nine Patch

92 x 92

Actually I think it is one inch shorter on top width and one inch shorter on the left side. I measured all four sides several times and got different measurements each time so am just using the largest number and calling it good.  I have to confess I don't square up my quilts. I don't have the space or the tools and they serve my purpose whether they measure the same on top and bottom and on each side.  You can tell if a quilt has perfect measurements when a quilt is on a bed or on a person. 

 I like to find pictures of vintage quilts and try to figure out how to make them. 

I saw this one from the Darwin D. Bearly collection of Antique Ohio Amish Quilts at Plaid Portico and knew I had to make one. 

 I had a lot of three inch nine patches on hand. Some were from swaps over the years and others I just made when I felt the urge.   I also had the solids on hand so it was meant to be. 

I hand quilted it in different colors of perle #8. The quilting really shows up well on the solid red backing. I took some pics of the backing but they turned out pretty blurry and I don't feel like retaking any so you will just have to use your imagination. Even though I haven't washed it yet the hand quilting has made it all soft and crinkly already. 

This was my goal #1 

for 

Q3 Finish-Along

Snowball Play

 One of the blocks I've been making  in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month from 3.5 inch scraps for the last couple of years is a Snowball block.  Last year I made them with light corners and this year I've been making them with dark corners.  I have 230 of them with light corners and 150 or so with dark corners but the year is not over yet. 

I guess it's about time I try to figure out what to do with them so I know how many I need. 

 Originally I was thinking I would alternate light and dark corners - a look similar to a lozenge quilt I made a couple of years ago.  I love that quilt and it currently resides on the bed in the camper. 

But each month when I took photos and blogged about the blocks I began to be attracted to a nine patch block and started thinking this might be the way to go.  I think I like this arrangement better than mixing them up. 

But what if I changed some of the blocks out with some nine patches? I have a bin of three inch nine patches and have been looking for different ways to use them. 

I don't like how nine patch meets nine patch and snowball meets snowball sometimes. 

So what if I make alternate blocks? Dark corner snowballs in the corners of those nine patch blocks and nine patches in the corners of the light cornered snowball blocks. 

No...that doesn't say "make me" or does it? 

What if nine patch and snowball colors were just alternated? 

Snowball/Nine Patch quilts are too common. 

 Let's go back to keeping the same colored snowballs in a nine patch configuration but this time replace the snowball or little nine patch with a rail fence block. I've also been making these for a couple of years from my 1.5 inch scraps. 

Ok. I kind of like it but I think I like the nine patch blocks with all snowballs better.  Or do I? 

Let's mix them up. 

Seems chaotic. 

 Let's mix them up and keep all the rail fences horizontal. 

I think I like them mixed up with rail fences all vertical better.  Maybe if I just used the light cornered snowballs?  

Still undecided on layout or how many blocks I need. 

Still playing......

It's a Flimsy! With No Clever Name

 No Name

I forgot to measure it but I THINK it's about 78 x 78

It's a Puss in the Corner block set on point with 3 inch nine patches for centers and stripes for sashing. 

It was inspired by a picture of a Susan McDermott quilt found in Quilt magazine. 

I had the nine patches already made. I used some 2.5 inch scraps and scrap chunks for the sides of the Puss in the Corner block and all of the corners came from the 2.5 inch scrap bin. 

One of the things I loved about the quilt was the striped sashing idea.  I hunted around in my stash and found ONE larger pieces of striped fabric that I bought for a donation quilt backing.  Would it work? (Probably...I'm trying to make do and use stash for as long as possible). Would it be enough? (After piecing together some strips). 

This is the second flimsy within the last couple of weeks that used little nine patches. The other was a zig zag nine patch (which also has no clever name). 

  Someone suggested they would like to see how many nine patches I have left after I mentioned I would be off searching for more quilts to make that use them.   Well, here's what's left now - a 16 quart container of them. (Why not just label it as a four gallon container?)

 That's not counting some darker ones I have set aside in a project box...

...to complete a Jack's Chain.  

And now that I've taken it down from the top shelf I guess I should work on Jack's Chain again. 

Not Quite Blue, Not Quite Green 1.5 Inch Scrap Edition

Aqua/Teal/Turquoise and everything else in between blue and green is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month.   This week I used 1.5 inch scraps. 

3 inch Nine Patches

One  6x14 Whatchamacallit 

Sixteen 3 inch Rail Fence

After making my RSC blocks the rest of this size scrap has been going into the Spider Web UFO project box. 

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

Homespun Fun

I really like the Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilts. I've made a few of them but haven't made any the last couple of years. I thought this year I might join in but the more I thought about it the more I decided not to. I love the color scheme this year but don't have enough of those colors in my stash and I'm not good at changing colors unless I know what the final quilt looks like. I don't want to buy more fabric until I use a LOT of what I have.  I also don't need another UFO to add to my list.   So...  I do know that the Bonnie Hunter mysteries involve making a lot of individual units. I told myself I'd make the units she calls for in  each clue but make them for one of my UFOs in order to move a UFO forward. 

Clue 1 called for 50 nine patches.   I made 60.  Her clue called for 3 inch nine patches but I made six inch.   I used homespuns and muslin.  That navy on top is fabric left over from curtains I made for my youngest son's room when he was in high school and he's 33 years old now so that fabric has been around quite awhile. 

Long ago I participated in a Friendship Star swap. Stars are made of homespun fabrics with a muslin background.  I have thirty eight stars so will have to make a few more.  I'll use the fabric scraps left over from making the variety of nine patches. 

I will combine the nine patches and stars and move this UFO forward. 

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Moving it Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag

Of Irish Ancestry

Sometimes it's a holiday that helps me decide which of the gazillion UFOs I should work on. 

I made some 6 inch Nine Patches for my Emerald Isle quilt.  

Have I mentioned that my paternal ancestors were Irish? 

My maiden name was JOYNT. 

 I'm a descendant of David Joynt and Bridget McDermott of Ashfield Demesne, Beagh Parish, Galway, Ireland. 

(Genealogy has also been one of my hobbies starting way back even before there was a public internet, home PCs, Ancestry.com and back when  most microfilm readers were hand cranked). 

Did you notice the little Leprechaun in the nine patches? 

The employees I've supervised all these years gave him to me in lieu of a retirement card and they signed the back.  I was lucky to have hardly any turnover of employees...in fact most employees I've hired have worked for me anywhere from 10-25 years. I'll miss them. 

I have a little knickknack shelf of Irish whimsy and the Leprechaun has now joined the group. 

Well, anyway, back to the 9 patches and the Emerald Isle quilt. 

A few months ago (June 2016) I made my rendition of the ancestral home in Ireland. 

It's the center medallion of my Emerald Isle quilt celebrating my Irish ancestry.  The next part of the quilt involves lots of green nine patches.  

Here's a photo of the ancestral home in 1959...

...and here it is in 1976.    

Happy  St. Patrick's Day !