Block Lotto and MOD MOD QAL

This month's block at Block Lotto is called Diagonal Bars in true blue and cream.  I made 6 of the 7 inch blocks for the drawing. 

And Sophie of Block Lotto is also the creator of the Mod Mod QAL 

I need 12 of this month's blocks for my Full/Queen quilt.   

For my quilt I'm making the blocks in complementary colors and in fabrics from my stash. 

Pretty wild, don't you think? 

If you like to have fun and sometimes win some fun blocks why not join the fun at Block Lotto! 

And, I'm also going to join in the Tuesday linky party fun at Freemotion by the River. 

Design Wall-less Monday

No design wall here - just a cutting mat propped against the wall with a piece of leftover batting on it to which I stick blocks. 

Grandma had no design wall so what was good enough for grandma's quilts is good enough for me, I guess. 

BUT, if I did have a design wall you would see 26 baskets of something on the wall and not just these six new 10 inch blocks I just finished.  That makes 22 more blocks to go on this UFO.  I do know what the 22 will be filled with now...fabrics are all cut and ready. 

I'm off to see what everyone else has on their Design Wall, makeshift or not. 

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times. 

A Little Embroidery, A Little Crochet

I do most of my hand work in the evening after work or on weekends. But, if the weather is nice this time of year most spare time is spent outside gardening. 

I do still do some hand work...simple, quick projects that will still give me a sense of accomplishment. 

This week I finished up the embroidery on a couple of dishtowels and crocheted a couple of dishcloths. I like to give sets of dishtowels, potholders and crocheted dishcloths for Christmas gifts.  I have matching fabric for the potholders to the embroidery. 

Tonight after dinner I hope to either crochet or embroider and check out what everyone else is working on at Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching.  

Green - Lots in the Sewing Room, Very Little in the Garden

Green is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  

I got started on my green scraps last night and finished up some green kaleidoscopes. (It is not supposed to rain today and I need to spend nice weather days off work out in the garden instead of the sewing room).

Every month I make a 12 inch kaleidoscope block out of the RSC color of the month, color of the month plus previous month's color (green and purple) and color of the month plus color complement (green and red). 

(I didn't make that purple one...just stuck last month's block in the blank spot for the picture). 

The corners of the kaleidoscope blocks are made from crumbs so while I was feeling crumby I made a few extra 6 inch crumb blocks. 

I also made 5 green  14 inch Star Chain blocks...

...to go with the 15 I won from Block Lotto. 

Got Green Scraps? 

Sew them up and join the RSC ScrapHappy Saturday party every week. 

A Lovely Year of Finishes - Finished April Goal, Setting May Goal

I've successful met my April goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes  - Complete a top consisting of 120 six inch churn dash blocks made of civil war reproduction fabrics. 

(#86 at the goal setting party)

I knew I would be too busy to get it quilted and bound so didn't include that as part of my goal although I did purchase some muslin for the back, just in case.

My May goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes is to finish an ABC alphabet quilt for my niece Genevieve who is due in June.   I participate in an Alphabet I Spy swap every year and go ahead and make up Happy Blocks so they are ready when I need them.  I iron on textured letters.   I'm going to replace S for Spaceships with S for Seattle Seahawks.    Strange story about that.  Years ago I received the Seahawks fabric by mistake when I placed an online order. I was told to keep it and actual order was later sent.  I had no clue what to do with the fabric except to cut it up and use with other b/w fabric.   Funny thing...last year when my niece got married I read that she got engaged at a Seattle Seahawks game. Who knew her fiance that she met in college in IA was from Seattle and loved the Seahawks!!! 

Odds and Ends but Mostly Odds

I finished another 12 inch block for my Crazy Farm lap quilt.  The Crazy Quilt Journal Project somehow keeps me on track with getting at least one block completed per month.  

I embroidered a windmill in back stitches. On the sunflower patch I added a strip of ribbon with sunflowers on it. I tacked it down with some blind stitches and added some tiny sunflowers of straight stitches and french knots which look more like rudbeckia (black-eyed-susans) than sunflowers to me.  Then I crocheted a sunflower and tacked it on. (Note to self: maybe I should add some french knots in the center to make it look more like the sunflowers on the ribbon.) 

I didn't want to detract much from the printed fabric so just did a bunch of straight stitches in a v-shape. On the lime green section I did some lazy-daisy flowers in variegated thread.  The lazy daisy stitch is one of the first stitches my grandma taught me. 

And here we have a tractor (button) without a driver in the fly stitch field. 

Here I did a stem stitch in perle #8 in kind of a pea vine free form squiggly meander and then added some leaves.   

Finally, I added a feather stitch with straight stitches and french knots. 

And here is how it looks joined up with three other blocks. 

For Christmas I like to give sets of embroidered dishtowels, crocheted dish cloths and potholders. I finished up a dishtowel yesterday as well as a dish cloth.  That finished dish rag look wonky but it isn't. I'm in the middle of another dishcloth that I hope to finish today. (My retired husband does the dishes and swears by these.)

Slow Sunday Stitching slows down for me in the spring and summer months since I spend a lot of my time off work out in the garden but I still like to stitch a few minutes each evening after dinner and before bed so...

I hope to get a couple of blocks ready for CQ and another dishtowel stamped and ready for embroidery some time today, Slow Stitching Sunday. 

Join the virtual sewing bee, Slow Sunday Stitching, at Kathy's Quilts, if you are doing any hand work. 

Purple Scraps (String and Crumb Edition)

I've used up most of my purple scraps this month and just have several purple chunks left. 

This week I used strings in four nine inch wonky log cabins.  Even though wonky I used the traditional red center. 

I also made four 8 inch string blocks...

...Ten 6 inch crumb blocks...

...and my purple vintage Sunbonnet Sue from postage stamp sized (1.5 inch) scraps.  

Vintage pattern is from Q is for Quilter. 

Got Scraps? 

Use them up and join the Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday linky party each week.