Time Travel

Okay, first things first. I started a post back on Feb. 11 apparently. I was interrupted so I "Saved" it. When I finally went back to complete it I decided to redirect the focus of the post. I added to, deleted, and rearranged the elements and hit the "Publish" button. Rather than publishing on the date I pushed the button Blogger placed the post back in time on the eleventh of February. So unless my readers scrolled back in time no one has seen that post. I invite you to take a few minutes now to go back and see what you've missed. I'll wait here. No hurry. :- )

So here we are on the last day of February. Also the last day of Pink for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Because I was making African stars there haven't been a lot of pink blocks this week. There are a few you may not have seen though. The Hole in the Barn Door blocks and the Ohio Star are six inch blocks. The Churn Dash or Wrench blocks will finish at ten inches.

And here are all of my 12" Ohio Stars in blue and pink (for January and February):

The color for March has been announced. To my delight it's Yellow! I have a bit of a head start with these two blocks:

I do wonder how well my yellows are going to show up on the white-on-white background fabric I've chosen for the RSC blocks. When they're mixed in with all the other colors it will probably be less of an issue but it will require an act of faith on my part to combine yellow with white. Don't be surprised when other colors creep into my yellow blocks. ;- )

I need to get a little more ambitious about posting. There are other things I haven't shared yet and if I don't do it soon I will forget altogether. You have plenty of time to go check out what everyone else has done with pink during this last week of February though. Click on over to the RSC 15 page to find links to all the other blogs.

In the Pink

Sheesh! I'm not doing very well at posting lately. Part of it is because I haven't quite wrapped my head around the fact that I'm only making blocks at the moment. It seems like there ought to be a quilt in progress. So far I'm making blocks but without a specific plan for their use. I have vague ideas but no more than that yet. It's just kind of a weird place for me to be. I mean, I'm used to making blocks for my Parts Department but they have nearly always been small blocks out of small scraps. Now I'm making 12" blocks out of remnants and smaller blocks out of the smaller scraps!

Here are the most recent blocks featuring the color of the month, pink.

I've also been making 12" Ohio Stars in other colors:

I made a few more in January's color too, blue.

During this past week it has occurred to me that I could use these RSC blocks to create the twin size quilts I want to make for my twin granddaughters. That alters my original scheme for their quilts but I have to confess I find this new idea more appealing than the original plan. We'll just have to see how things develop!

Do take time to check out what the other quilt makers are doing with this challenge. Click over to So Scrappy's blog to see who else is involved.

Your Thoughts?

I've been working on a commission I accepted late last summer. I meant to have it completed by now but that shoulder injury slowed me down considerably. I was given some blocks that had been made Stack 'n Whack style and the leftover fabrics but no pattern or other directions. I do, however, know where the end product is going to be used and displayed. Essentially I am creating an oversized table runner that will be hung from the ceiling, horizontally, to buffer the wide open space between a kitchen and eating nook in this wonderful bed & breakfast/retreat center.

I have struggled to figure out how to fill in the area between the blocks. It's been a long time since I last worked on point. Nor have I made many table runners. In the end I came up with this layout for the Stack 'n Whack blocks:

This picture was taken before I sewed the parts together. I've added the tulip print on the ends too, to square them off. Now I'm working on the reverse side of the runner. There wasn't much of the tulip print left but I had enough to make a 12" focal star for Side B.

My plan for this side of the runner is to put 12" Tulip Lady Fingers blocks on either side of this star. The question is whether to group the colors of the tulips all together in each block or scatter them throughout the blocks. Here the colors are consistent in each block:

And here I've mixed them up:

Here they are again, with the star this time...

What do you think? Should I keep the colors consistent in the tulip blocks or mix them up?

Remember that the blocks will be stretched out. I need to make the runner at least six feet long. Which also means there will be some kind of sashing between the blocks. I'm open to any ideas you may have!

African Stars

I heard some extra rustling in the scrap basket the other day. When I looked under the table all I saw was this:

A little while later, when the basket had been vacated, I felt around in the scraps and found this:

It seems Leah has found a handy place to stash her own treasures! What's a studio for after all? ;- )

And how in the world can this be comfortable?

It looked even less comfortable in the moments before I snapped this photo. She had rolled over by the time I grabbed the camera.

I've been pretty uncomfortable the last couple of days too, due to migraines. Under their influence I made these Ohio Stars out of more of the African prints in my stash. (You can see the first top I made in this post.)

My goal was to use the prints in a simple, familiar block but in a way that did not scream "traditional American quilt."

The next day I was feeling a bit better and recognized the need for at least a few blocks that would actually read as Ohio Stars.

I'm also thinking there may be a pieced sashing when I finally put these blocks together into a top. I want the blocks to be a little obscured but nor do I want to give anyone a headache when they look at the finished quilt!

Scrappy Sunday

Because I'm a day late and a dollar short as usual!

I've made four 12" Ohio Star blocks in pink for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2015.

Not a great picture but it will do. Maybe I'll get a better one later on. There will be (already are) more pink blocks to share with you but they haven't been photographed yet. Life itself has been a challenge for me lately.

Click on over to Angela's blog to see what everyone else has been making out of their pink scraps. There's a lot of amazing stuff to be seen!

Works in Progress Wednesday

Getting involved in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge has borne additional fruit (just as I hoped it would!). I've been wanting to start making blocks for twin size quilts for my twin granddaughters. The Ohio Star blocks I chose to make for the RSC inspired me to make some stars for the girls too.

The first pair I made are Twin Stars (how could I not?!).

The second pair are Variable Stars.

I was able to make another 12" Ohio Star out of a couple of remnants and a 9" Ohio Star out of my pre-cut scrap patches. These and the 9" and 6" Shoofly blocks will go into the Parts Department for later use.

I took an opportunity to visit my Local Quilt Shop to get more white-on-white prints for my RSC stars. I haven't been in the habit of using completely white prints as backgrounds for whole quilts. Even though my Ohio Stars will all have white-on-white grounds I'd still like as much variety as I can manage. While I was in the shop I fell in love with a Timeless Treasures mini polka dot. I bought a yard of it, then sent my husband back later in the day to polish off the bolt for me. There was only another yard and a third. I was hoping there would be at least two yards. Oh well. Hopefully there will be enough to pull off the quilt plan I came up with after my first trip to the shop. If not I'll come up with a new idea!

I'm not necessarily going to follow the color suggestions for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for this set of blocks. The goal is to use up more of my larger scraps and remnants. To that end I'm making 10" Wrench or Churn Dash blocks. Here are my first three:

I think the mini dots add whimsy to these traditional blocks. My prints won't be exactly traditional either!

Last but not least are a pair of 8" Basket blocks made mostly out of scraps. These may or may not end up in the quilts for the twins. When it comes to basket blocks it's almost easier to make a pair instead of just one.