I'm Not Totally Clueless

I'm ALMOST caught up on the clues given so far for Alycia's Mystery Quilt  *The Patriot*. 

This will be a Quilt of Valor when it's finished. 

 And I am caught up on the clues Libby (Life on the Hill) has given for her Magical Mystery.  

Two FQ pairs are supposed to make two different 8 inch blocks - four blocks total.  I used 9 FQ pairs so I will end up with a donation quilt with thirty-five blocks (5x7 layout) instead of four orphan blocks. 

So, as you see...I'm not totally clueless at the moment! 

It's a Finish! Roy G Biv's Coin Purse

Roy G Biv's Coin Purse

63 x 77

Hand quilted

I made this in response to an AdHoc Improv challenge in Jan 2017 to make a Chinese Coin quilt.  I'd made a couple of them ages ago (about 2008?) with Halloween fabrics for my granddaughters but that was it. 

Well, I like challenges but I didn't have any fabrics I really wanted to cut up and use in a Chinese Coin quilt.  So I hit the "Parts Department" looking for bits and pieces in rainbow colors.  Who doesn't love a rainbow? 

I had a few green postage stamp blocks, some blue four inch orphan blocks...

...red rails left over from a kaleidoscope quilt, orange ends I had sewn together into a strip from the ends of 2.5 inch scraps...

...green 2.5 inch strip pieces (yummy broccoli and cupcakes), blue crumb blocks...

...orange four patches, yellow crumb block stars, blue rails...you get the picture.   I used blue for the separator between colors and columns because rainbows go with blue skies. 

I hand quilted with perle #5 in variegated colors of the rainbow that I had on hand.  I stitched vertical lines without marking in rainbow color order.  I enjoyed a visit with all those bits and pieces of fabric as I stitched.  A lot of them made me smile.  

I used a light variegated gray fabric for the background so the rainbow stitching would show up on the back.  Solid colors of the rainbow served as binding. How about that...one strip of each color was the perfect amount. 

This was my goal #11 

for 

Q1 Finish-Along

and 

18 in 2018

I spent a lot of time Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts and 

Oh Scrap! the scraps I used!  Quilting is More Fun than Housework. 

It's a Flimsy! Camouflage

  

48 x 64

Camouflage

or maybe

It's a Jungle Out There

While I was quilting a big quilt on my DSM I took a lot of breaks from quilt wrestling and switched to an old machine and made Housetop or Quarter Log Cabin blocks from the box of brown, green and a few yellow strings.   I also added in a variety of green and brown critter fabrics  for the centers- odd bits and pieces left over from bug jar quilts, I Spy swaps, etc.    When I found I didn't have 48 pieces of critter fabrics I threw in some glow in the dark eyes from the Halloween fabrics. 

I originally intended to make 10 inch blocks but due to a very stupid mistake I ended up with 8 inch blocks.  I didn't figure that out until all blocks were made and I was at the square up stage, darn it.  I was thinking a 60 x 80 quilt would be a nice size donation quilt for a big guy but now it's probably a nice size for a little guy. 

In order to have the critters in the blocks oriented correctly I first made 12 top left blocks, then 12 top right, then 12 bottom left and finally 12 bottom right.  Then I assembled them into blocks of four blocks and finally into rows and columns 3 x 4. 

I see one block of four with some upside down frogs I didn't notice until I took these pictures. It bothers me enough to rip it out and orient it correctly.  The bird string ended upside down too. 

There might be another quilt in the left over in this assortment of strings but I think I'm going to re-sort again and add them in to different assortments - maybe add a few red and orange strings for a fall themed string pile.  I still have lots of strings to use.  A lot of these pieces are trimmings from quilt backs or odd sizes from the very end of a piece of yardage. 

Using green strings was my Rainbow Scrap Challenge challenge of the week. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

Gone Quilting: What's In the Hoop and on the Sewing Machine?

Pumpkin Peel is in the hoop. 

If I remember correctly this is 80 x 80.

Hand quilting with perle #8. 

Burgoyne Surrounded is being quilted on the sewing machine.  Today will be day 3 of being surrounded by Burgoyne Surrounded while quilting.  It's a BIG quilt.  I think it's 93 x 93.  I have to take lots of breaks. 

Sew, Stitch, Snap, Share

It's a Flimsy! Bohemian Roosters

 Bohemian Roosters

80 x 80

Sunburst pattern from Making Quilts by Kathy Doughty

I fussy cut the roosters for each center from Bohemian Rooster Click fabric by Susan Winget. 

 Blocks are all pieced and not appliqued.  I tried to use boho-ish looking fabrics from my stash that went with the background colors in the rooster centers and was surprised I even had anything that even sort of qualified. 

I haven't found a suitable backing yet. 

My husband had a Dr. appointment an hour away this morning but we started out and found the roads were too icy and slick so turned around and came back home. Guess I'll have to go sew. 

Mystery! Intrigue! Suspense!

 Clue 1 - Sixteen Stars in dark blue and white

The Patriot Mystery 

I have challenged myself to use my holiday fabrics this year and patriotic fabrics celebrating the Fourth of July, Veteran's Day and Memorial Day is included in that Holiday Cheer Challenge.    In addition I've been going through boxes, bins and bags of fabric and I am trying to clear some older fabrics and larger scraps out and use them up.   In that process I found a bunch of small muslin pieces and lots of bits and pieces of  dark blue fabrics just right for these stars.   Clue 2 uses red and white strings. How fortunate that I have some white strings left over and unused after I made those two pink and white string quilts last week.  So on to clue 2. 

Clue 2 - Rail Units for Magical Mystery

Clue 1 was fabric requirements and cutting. Remember I said I had a lot of bits and pieces of blue fabrics I wanted to use up? Some of these pieces are pretty old. (I guess that makes them "old lady florals" ? ) A couple of the pieces were left over from backings or borders of quilts gone by so I had to do a little creative cutting. 

I'm making 8 sets but think I'll add one more for a total of 36 blocks. In a 5 x 7 setting that would be a nice size for a donation quilt 40 x 56. 

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Green Scraps

 

March brings a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. We are supposed to use our bright and light greens and save darks for another month but I'm just using green scraps of any variety this month.   

And my first order of scrappy business was to dig into the 3.5 inch scrap box.   I made some six inch bow tie blocks.   They are a project carried over from last year.  I cut the snowballs which also uses 3.5 inch scraps but didn't get them made. 

Then I dug into the green chunks (less than a FQ) to make 8  eight inch Oh Susannah! quilt blocks for this month's Block Lotto. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday