Some Blue Scraps

 The Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month is light and bright blue. I used two inch scraps in all the shades of blue to make 62 little houses that finish at 3 inches. 

 I've been making these since mid year 2018. My goal was to make 540 of them. 

After I made those 62 blue houses I only needed 41 more toward that goal...

 ...so I made 43 more houses from other colors of 2 inch scraps and made my goal. 

Now I can start assembly! But my sewing machine flywheel froze up this week after I heard a big kerplunk. Last year when that happened my feed assembly needed to be replaced.  Of course my sewing machine repair shop has been closed and I'm not sure when they will reopen.  I do have an old Janome and even older Kenmore. The Janome was sewing along just fine and then it turned into a  tension headache (one of the reasons it was replaced with the Brother) so I may get out the Kenmore today. Or not. I may just do some hand quilting and binding and putz around in the gardens. Or not. 

I made more Wishing Rings that finish at 3.5 inches. 

I am now halfway toward my goal of 624 blocks. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

A Few Light and Bright Blue Scraps

This month the new Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color is blue...just the lights and brights though.  

I made a few Double X blocks and the alternate Snowball blocks. Since these blocks consist of both 1.5 and 2.5 inch pieces I cut a 1.5 inch strip and a 2.5 inch strip from a chunk scrap to make the blocks. Leftovers go into blocks I made from those sizes of scraps later on in the month. This quilt was inspired by a vintage quilt. Blocks finish at 4 inches. This project started last year and will continue until I run out of that minty green background fabric. 

Giant Churn Dash blocks that finish at 13.5 inches. Pretty wild, huh? But that's where the scraps took me. I'm sure they will look fine when combined with other blocks in a quilt.  All the parts for this block can be cut from five inch scraps but I don't have a bin of scraps in that size so I cut these from scrap chunks too.  Sometimes I cut that middle accent pieces from a 2 inch scrap. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

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Garden Watch 

Weather permitting I've been taking a garden walk every day. This time of year new things seem to sprout up every day in the flower gardens.  Scilla is a little blue flower about five inches tall.  Bees love it. 

I started with a few little bulbs several years ago and now it has naturalized in patches here and there throughout the flower gardens.  As soon as the Scilla finishes blooming Bluebells will bloom here. 

Mr. and Mrs. Frog enjoy the Crocus in the Fairy Garden. 

More Crocus in front of a miniature gazing globe that marks a rose bush. A lot of times I do not get to enjoy the Crocus because rabbits and deer eat the leaves and buds. 

Species tulips in bloom. 

Yesterday I planted lettuce, spinach, mustard, radishes, snow peas and sets for green onions and sweet onions.  The asparagus bed is cleaned up but no shoots yet.  And I do see lots of rhubarb leaves unfurling in the rhubarb patch. 

It's a Finish!

 It's a finish! 

A donation quilt. 

64 x 88

 The traditional block name is Arrowhead Puzzle.  Bonnie Hunter made an eight inch version of the block popular and called it Garlic Knot. 

 Last year I used 2.5 inch scraps and made eight inch blocks as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project. 

 When I sat down to quilt I had no idea how I was going to quilt it.  I first quilted in some lines on the diagonal between blocks and then just quilted some wonky lemon peels on the diagonal through the centers of the blocks but then decided that was not enough quilting so quilted in some of those wonky lemon peels on each side of the center lemon peels. 

You know it's not easy to wrangle a quilt this size through the 7.5 inch throat on my sewing machine but it is not impossible. 

 One of Murphy's Laws of quilting states that if you are going to accidentally zig or zag while wrangling large quilts it will be a zig with light thread in a dark space or a zag with dark thread in a light space. 

But if anyone is eyeballing a quilt for things like that and they aren't the quilt police then I say they have too much time on their hands.  After a good wash those things almost disappear and a recipient will never notice. 

 As I quilt I always have to put a pin where I need to bury knots. If I don't then I miss some places later on when I have a knot burying ritual. 

  

I take a long break after every bobbin is emptied in order to move around these old bones.

Oh...one last tip...if you have long hair be sure to wear it in a bun when quilt wrangling otherwise it might accidentally fall in front of the needle and get sewn into the quilt. 

 The backing came from a friend. 

Three cheers for finishes!

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More 

Pea Soup

 Pea Soup

It's a flimsy! (or a top, if you prefer)

64 x 80

 It is the third quilt to come out of a 16 quart bin of 4.5 inch parts accumulated over a number of years.  The first quilt was Whigmaleerie which is still a top. The second quilt which has yet to be gifted to my new grandnephew Evan born in February was an I Spy. 

For this one I first pulled out all of the green 4.5 inch parts and made a variety of 8 inch (finished) blocks from those parts. I ended up with 38 blocks. Then I decided on size. At first I was going to combine blocks into a 40 x 60 donation quilt but then looked at my green scrap chunks and decided to make an alternate hourglass block and go a little larger. 

I decided to make the Hourglass blocks out of a solid or tone on tone green plus another green scrap. It took almost all of the solid and tone on tone greens I had to make the 40 Hourglass blocks but I made do.  

I made the Hourglass blocks with a 4.5 inch scrap cut with the Easy Angle Companion ruler. When I use that ruler I cut the beginning piece with the Easy Angle ruler so I have an HST to use later and so that fabric doesn't go into a crumb box. 

 Then I just sewed blocks together.  

Sometimes you can see an Ohio Star formed and other times you can see an Economy Block. 

 And so it goes. 

 And here's the 4.5 Inch Parts Department after three quilts. 

Hmmmm...what next? Maybe I'll do something with the pink and yellow stack. 

 Scrap Management

 But first I need to clean up the leftover scraps. Remember those HST pieces cut from the beginning and end of the strip used for Hourglass pieces? I need to get those made into 4.5 inch HSTs. The should I put them back into the 4.5 inch parts box?? Or sew them into blocks for the orphan box? Or sew them into a strip for a border,strip quilt or pieced backing? 

And there''s a few scraps I need to cut into 4.5 inch squares and put them into the squares scrap box and then any pieces less than a 4.5 inch square will be sewn into a strip because I have a scrap box of strips in a variety of sizes and colors that will be used in a Chinese Coins quilt someday. 

And sew on.

The Plot and The Pile Thickens

The plot? 

It can be found in the mystery quilt at Laundry Basket Quilts. 

I've been making my blocks from rose themed scraps if possible. Otherwise I cut into rose themed yardage. I few in a few butterfly themed scraps too.  

The pile?

We are on day 9 of the mystery and I'm all caught up on blocks through today. I think that is a pile of 76 blocks.  

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.

Plus Postage

This week I worked with my blue-green 1.5 inch scraps and only had enough for one Plus Postage block. 

This pattern is from American Patchwork and Quilting April 2016 called Plus Postage. It is designed by Susan Ache.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

Speaking of the Red Cross...I recently finished reading The Beantown Girls. I'm a fan of WWII historical fiction but I had never heard of the Red Cross Clubmobiles and the Doughnut Dollies until I read this book. 

More Little Baskets

I've been working on this UFO for the last couple of weeks. When I blogged about this UFO on March 11  I had four out of a target of 35 eight inch blocks and now there are 20. 

Moving forward! Maybe I'll have 35 blocks by the end of next month. 

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts