Zip-A-Dee-Doo--Dah!

Zip!

It's a finish!

60 x 81

 I think I started making blocks in January 2022. 

The Zip block instructions can be found at Klein Meisje Quilts.

I finished the top July 2023

I quilted it on my sewing machine with vertical lines. 

The binding is scrappy and came out of the leftover binding box. 

The backing is bleeding.

I think this was the quilt from hell. And it is full of cuss words.  I ripped four rows of quilting out because there was a big fold in back.  Then when I went to sew the binding on I noticed that the quilted lines down the middle of the quilt pulled the quilt wonky. I quilt one side top to bottom and then turn the quilt and quilt bottom to top. Well, evidently when I turned the quilt I pulled the quilt wonky when sewing. I couldn't live with it even though I will give the quilt away so ripped out about ten rows of quilting and straightened the best I could and re-quilted. Then...I rarely have bleeding quilts but, of course, this one had to bleed.    In my defense I was not feeling well when working on this. I think a spider or something bit me a couple of times on the face and neck and one whole side of my face had a burning rash. Still today my eye is swollen almost shut, I have swollen glands, the rash is spreading and I have a terrible headache.  So, I think this poor quilt needs to have some good vibes put in it before I pass on this quilt from hell.  Hopefully in a couple more days I'll be back to normal with the help of ice, tylenol and diphenhydramine. 

****

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Nov. 17 - Finished a book! Happiness For Beginners by Katherine Center. This book is not my usual type of reading but it was recommended and happened to be available with my kindle unlimited subscription so I decided to read it. I enjoyed the book. It was light reading.

 “The more you register good things,” she went on, “the more you will think about and remember good things.”― Katherine Center, Happiness for Beginners 

Nov. 18 - A gentle rain that brings up the smell of the earth.  A guy who smiled, said "'good morning, ma'am" and held open the door to the grocery store for me. 

Nov. 19 -- This morning my husband John had an appointment with his pulmonologist. Good news! He is the first doctor  out of many many we've had that said there may be something that can be done for his inability to swallow! - speech therapy!  and maybe another esophageal dilation.  He needs to continue with his head and neck physical therapy exercises and continue to gain weight and overall strength and when he goes back for appointment in April the doctor will hopefully have reviewed all of John's records and consult with a few other docs and come up with a treatment plan. John says at this point he'd be happy just to be able to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning! 

 

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah!

Zip

It's a flimsy!

60 x 81

Squares and Rectangles

is the theme in my sewing room this month to move scraps and UFOs forward.

 

I pulled this Zip block set that fits the theme out of my SAR (Some Assembly Required) box and assembled a top. The block set has been in the SAR since November 2022. I think I started making blocks in January 2022. 

The Zip block instructions can be found at Klein Meisje Quilts.

Lots of scraps were used in this one. 

I made a few blocks each month in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. 

And sew on...

 

Zip To The Finish Line

Zip!

42 x 54

It's a finish!

I made the blocks in September 2022 when the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color was light blue because I had quite a few scrap chunks of light blue at that time.  

I used Lynn's (Klein Meisje Quilts) instructions to make the blocks that finish 6 x 9. 

I made the blocks into a top in November 2022. 

I quilted it on my DSM (Brother PQ1500). I tried something new - ribbons or maybe they are streamers.  I had just enough of the backing fabric for binding too. 

And sew on...

 

Zip! And Now Some Assembly Required

And now there are 90 Zip blocks -- enough for a twin sized or throw quilt 60 x 81. 

I used Lynn's (Klein Meisje Quilts) instructions to make the blocks that finish 6 x 9. 

When I went to put the set of blocks into the SAR (Some Assembly Required) box I did another count of the blocks and after counting three times I only counted 89 blocks.  I looked at the scraps left after I made the last batch of blocks and saw that a blue/gray one was missing.  I left that scrap on top of the pile and looked around a bit and could not find the missing block. I was going to wait a day and make another block tomorrow to replace the missing one. After lunch today I looked around again and found the block folded up and in with a little pile of fabrics I have been cutting in between sewing and ironing. 

And sew on...

 

What's In The Box?

I've been processing a flat of 2 inch width scraps. Some scraps were given to me. Some were from leftovers. Some I sorted out of one of my boxes of stuff I swept off of the cutting mat. Some were 4 inch scraps I cut lengthwise. 

Well, anyway, what was in that box?

I started with the longest pieces and made four 6 x 9 Zip blocks.

Then if a piece was long enough to cut 8 HSTs with the Easy Angle ruler then that is what I did. I used them as the corners on 4 inch finished Indian Hatchet blocks.  I have a little box of sets of four 2.5 inch squares that I also use to make these blocks.  These were inspired by a vintage quilt. 

Then while the Easy Angle ruler was out I cut some HSTs and made Broken Dishes blocks. With this batch I now have 105 of them. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these little 3 inch blocks. Maybe I will combine them with squares for donation quilts.  For now I just make them and they are in the Parts Department. 

Then I made 3 inch bow ties. With this batch I now have 520 of them. I'm thinking I need 900 of them for a BIG quilt. 

Then I cut squares. From L to R - stacks of single 2 inch squares; stack of pairs of 2 inch squares; stack of 4 identical 2 inch squares that will go into the Monkey Wrench workbox to be used with 3.5 inch HSTs whenever I get around to making them. 

The neutral pieces will go into the little drawer of neutral scraps. 

Anything less than a 2 inch square and greater than 1/2 inch was sewn into strips for a future Chinese Coin quilt. 

And sew on...

 

Two Tops

Two New Comfort Quilt Tops! 

1. Zip - 42 x 54

2. Windmill  - 40 x 56

Zip blocks finish at 6 x 9 inches. I made these with scraps when the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month was light blue. 

I've heard these blocks called various names. I chose to call them Windmills. I also made these as a RSC project but only ended up making them with blues, oranges, greens and purple 2.5 inch scraps. 

Now I really really really need to concentrate on getting some tops quilted and donated. Really!

And sew on...

 

The Green Green Scraps of Home

Old Italian (aka X Blocks)

3 inch finished

Light green or light neutrals is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month. I'm finishing up some scraps in all shades of green this month. 

The Old Italian blocks are a "cut and shuffle" type block- stack up 6 squares (I'm using 5 inch), make a few cuts, shuffle around the pieces and then sew together. I used a tutorial found at My Joyful Journey that includes instructions for X blocks in other sizes as well as the 3 inch. 

Zip Blocks

6 x 9 finished

QST Four Patch

6 inch finished

Broken Dishes

3 inch finished

The QST Four Patch will alternate with a plain old Four Patch when all is said and done.  I use an Easy Angle Companion ruler to cut the QST parts from a 2 inch width strip. The Broken Dishes blocks are a result of HSTs cut at the beginning and end of that same strip with an Easy Angle ruler. I'm aiming for 65 QST Four Patch blocks and I think I'm only a few blocks from my goal so maybe I'll finish those up before year end so I don't carry this project into 2023. (Gosh,, wasn't it just Y2K yesterday?)

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

 

September Blues Part IV

Zip Blocks

6 x 9 finished

Light blue is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color for September.

I finished up the last of my blue Zip blocks. I now have 42 blocks that I will set 7 x 6 for a child sized donation quilt. 

And then I used up all the 2 inch scraps left over after I made the Zip blocks.  I cut the QST (Quarter Square Triangle) pieces with an Easy Angle Companion ruler. The beginning and end of the 2 inch pieces were cut into HSTs with the Easy Angle ruler.   I made Four Patch QSTs that I will use as an alternate block with Four Patches I made last year.  With the HSTs I made some Broken Dishes blocks that finish at 3 inches.  I also cut some HSTs with the Easy angle ruler to use as the corners on the Indian Hatchet blocks that finish at 4 inches. 

I also made a few 3 inch Bow Tie blocks. I think I have over 450 Bow Ties in my collection now. 

Then I cut 2 inch squares for the Parts Dept. --- a pile with 4 squares the same, a pile with 2 squares the same and single squares. 

Then anything less than a 2 inch square but greater than 1/2 inch was sewn into a Chinese Coins strip. 

And sew on...

fyi - I'm going to be away for a few days. 

 

September Blues -- Part III

Light blue is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. Last week I decided I might have enough bits and pieces of light blues to make a child sized zipper quilt.  The goal is 42 blocks and now I have 32 and I have the remaining 10 cut out. 

This week I also added a few blue Chips to my stock. Blocks finish at 3 inches. 

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

 

September Blues - Part II

Zip Blocks

6 x 9 finished

Blue (actually light blue) is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. I'm using all blue scraps that I didn't use when the RSC color was bright and dark blues. 

Zip block tutorial at Klein Meisje Quilts. 

I made blue  Zip Blocks as well as a couple others I had cut out previously when I ran across 2 inch scraps long enough to make blocks. And, oops! ...now that I see the photo this batch was made incorrectly. I usually have the solid up in the top left. Maybe I'll just leave them as is and sneak them into the mix. These blocks are going toward an adult sized comfort quilt so when all is said and done I'll probably make 90 blocks so a few oopsies in the mix might not be noticed. And if I make two more the "wrong" way then all nine blocks could go into their own column and all "zip" along and dance to a different drummer than the rest. 

I had some lighter blues in my scraps so I started a different set of blocks for a child sized quilt with a layout of 7 x 6. I think I have enough lighter blues for that many blocks and will use white in all the blocks instead of different solids. 

Monkey Wrench

7.5 inch finished

I've been working on emptying a couple of shoe boxes of HST parts and came across quite a few sets of four HSTs with yellow. I previously made those into Monkey Wrench blocks. I also found some yellow HST halves and so matched them up with some blues to make more Monkey Wrench blocks. I'm aiming for 48 blocks for a child sized donation quilt. 

Four Patch QSTs

6 inch finished

cut with Easy Angle Companion ruler and 2 inch width scraps. I will use these as alternate blocks to some 6 inch Four Patch blocks left over from last year. 

I cut the beginning and end of the 2 inch strip with the Easy Angle ruler and make those into little Broken Dishes blocks that finish at 3 inches. 

With a few blue 3.5 inch scraps I made Snowballs that finish at 3 inches. These will be an alternate block to some 3 inch nine patches with light corners.   I cut 4 -1.5 x 3.5 inch pieces to make Switch Plate blocks with light centers.

Bow Ties

3 inch finished

Chinese Coins strips with 2 inch leftovers less than a square. 

Remaining 3 inch scraps got cut into squares. The pile on the left has four squares of the same fabric for the Monkey Wrench parts box. I'll be making those in three sizes all next year from scraps.   The pile on the right will go into the squares box for some as yet unknown future project. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday