Puttering

I'm very much looking forward to finding out what the prompt will be for the next step in the liberated medallion quilt along. I've got my medallion ready to show and link up on Friday. In the meantime I've pretty much caught up on friendship block requests for members of my local guild. I didn't get pictures of all of them but here are two:

Those who didn't hand out a specific block to make seem to be getting sawtooth stars from me! These will finish at eight inches.

I've made a few other stars out of scraps too. Technically I guess the green Ohio stars would qualify for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for the month of June. ;- )

These Ohio stars are nine inches each as opposed to the 12" blocks I made last year for the RSC.

I also dug an assortment of crumb and crazy pieced blocks out of the Parts Department and sewed them into a 24" x 40" panel.

I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet. My first instinct is to use it as the beginning of another medallion style quilt for a child. We'll have to see what the Parts Department coughs up next!

I'm linking up with the other Rainbow Scrap Challenge bloggers over at SoScrappy Saturday morning. There's a world of wonderful scrappy goodness to be seen. :- )

Guided by the Stars

I've had my head down, working on two separate projects this week. When I wan't suffering from debilitating physical circumstances that is. Let me express my appreciation for the positive feedback I've received on recent work. I haven't been able to face a computer screen most of the week.

To begin with I finished up the child's quilt top I was building out of my Parts Department. This is how it looked when last you saw it:

Those postage stamp stars in the corners of the ship round bothered me. They seemed too big and awkward in those positions. My first thought was to carry the blue of the water under the ships around the corners. That made it imperative that I use smaller blocks in the corners. I considered my 6" Shoo-fly blocks but they also seemed too large and somehow inappropriate. So I quickly made up 4" pinwheels out of scraps.

Oh yes, much better!

This is the completed flimsy. The quilt will measure about 40" wide by 56" long. I also made backs for this one and the heart medallion top I created a week or so ago. All we need now is batting. (Honestly, sometimes making backs is more challenging than piecing quilt tops!)

I'm linking this post to the RSC party this weekend over at SoScrappy since this top features blocks made out of my rainbow scrap blocks. Stay tuned for a sneak peek at the other project I've been playing with. ;- )

Parts Play Continues

I didn't make any new blocks per the RSC color palette this week. However, after completing the quick quilt top out of the Parts Department I had the urge to see if I could do it again. There are still a few 12" Ohio stars remaining from my RSC efforts in 2015. I put four of them on the design wall.

The colors are a bit washed out in this photo.

Next I went through the 8" blocks because three 8" blocks also equal 24" like pairs of 12" blocks.

I began with the baskets and then filled in with postage stamp stars. It works but... feels a bit crowded.

What if I used some of the ships I've been making lately?

Oh, I like that! Let's see, to make that row work I'll need sashing between the ships and something to bring those rows up to 8" overall.

Now the basket cornerstones don't make sense. Ships and stars go together but baskets seem out of place. And if I add one more row of postage stamp stars on the top and bottom edges I'll end up with a nicely rectangular quilt top for a child.

I haven't yet sewn these rows to the center square but that's what I plan to do next. There's room for a narrow border all the way around the outside. We'll see whether I have enough of something to pull that off!

I'm linking up with the other Rainbow Scrap Challenge bloggers via the link party over at SoScrappy.

Scrap Happy in June

After building the back for the wedding quilt, and having made two larger quilts just prior to that one, I decided to play around with a smaller project for a change. I've had my basket medallion out and I know what I want to do but I haven't been able to give it the attention I want to due to a series of headaches. When all else fails, go to the Parts Department!

I opened the box of 12" blocks and pulled out the ones in brighter prints and colors with a quilt for a foster child in mind. I put what I had on the wall in a basic grid. It became evident right away I wasn't going to be able to get away with something that simple. A medallion setting was the next thought that occurred. (Gee, I wonder why?) Pretty soon I had a 12" heart framed with 6" bow ties and whatever those pinwheel-type blocks are called.

So far, so good. But I want this to be another rectangular quilt. That's when I remembered the hourglass units I'd made some time ago. A string of those, maybe with a narrow strip along the top and bottom to build the row up to 6" again, would do the job. I had plenty of hourglass units but most of them were in more muted tones. That sent me to that towering pile of scraps I mentioned in my last post. A few hours later I had a stack of patches and the beginning of several new scrap blocks to assemble between seams (aka leaders and enders).

I cut squares and triangles to finish at 4", 3", and two inches. There are a couple smaller triangles and parts for 9" Ohio stars and sawtooth stars, and 6" Churn Dash or Hole in the Barn Door and Shoo-fly blocks. Oh, and I made a few more 3" hourglass units too. :- )

I strung them together and added those narrow strips to achieve six inches. Except I miscalculated. I only had five inches. That called for an alteration in my plans. I removed the narrow strips from the top and bottom of the hourglass rows. I'd already figured on a two or three inch sashing to separate the medallion from the side border blocks so I just used that to separate the medallion from the top and bottom blocks too. It probably worked out better than what I'd have done if I hadn't made the miscalculation!

That's it, the top's done! I had to make a couple of 12" blocks to fill in empty spots. This liberated star:

And this Ohio star:

I'm pleased with the way this spur-of-the-moment project turned out. The flimsy is 52" X 60."

I'll make a back for it later on. I think I might be able to tackle my liberated basket medallion now.

To see other scrappy goodness go check out the blogs listed by Kate at TallTalesfromChiconia. :- )

Stitch Along Update

It's been three weeks since I showed you the embroidery I started when I got bored with the needlepoint I'd been doing. This is where it was then:

And this is how it looks now:

I've been working with a limited color palette, partly for the challenge of it and partly to keep it simple (less time spent trying to make color or value decisions). I'm not quite sure what to do about the outlines of the girls arms and head and neck. I haven't been through all of my floss yet. Probably there's something appropriate in there.

If you want to see some other really lovely needlework check out the following blogs:

• Avis at sewingbesidethesea
• Claire at claire93'sblog
• Gun at rutigt
• Carole at aslightobsessionwithbooks
• Wendy at thecraftersapprentice
• Lucy at  lucyannluna
• Jess at everthecrafter
• Kate at talltalesfromchiconia
• Constanze at  textiledreamer
• DebbieRose at sewrosey

And we'll be back in another three weeks to see what additional progress has been made!

RSC Saturday

Just a brief post today. I only have two blocks in aqua to show.

I've been making blocks for the first recipient in round two of the Foot Square  Freestyle block swap. Can't share 'em yet. ;- ) But, during that process my ever-growing pile of scraps finally toppled over. I haven't been cutting them into patches and strips as I've been working lately and things got out of hand. So my task for today is to whittle that pile down!

To see more scrappy goodness go check out the links on Angela's blog. Tomorrow will be the stitch along link party that happens every three weeks. I have progress to show for that too. :- )

Wedding Gift Flimsy

Finally! Not that I've been working on this project all that long. I'm just glad to have it ready for quilting. ;- )

I showed you a sampling of the Scrappy Trips blocks I've been making for this wedding gift in this post. I wanted to make the quilt a little bit personal if I could. My original idea was to make a house block, as closely resembling theirs as possible. The color scheme wasn't difficult to replicate but the size of the house in relation to the rest of the patchwork was out of proportion. So I went with this instead:

And placed it in the appropriate quadrant of the quilt top...

As usual, it was just about too big for the design wall (lengthwise). Plus I wanted to add another row of patches along the top and bottom edges to make it even longer. So I improvised a design aid.

This strip of batting allowed me to play with the leftover patches and then carry the whole strip to the sewing machine intact. It worked pretty well too!

We haven't managed to get the pole to secure the loose end of my new clothesline yet so I still can't get a full picture. Nor do I have a picture of the back, which I'm pleased to report I've already assembled. Maybe after it's quilted I'll be able to get some good pictures. And now I can go play with my basket medallion. :- )

Basket Reveal - Gwennie Inspired QAL

I'm so excited the day has finally arrived to show you the baskets I made for the liberated medallion quilt along. Plus we've been given the challenge for the next step. More about that later...

If you hop over to Humble Quilts there's a link party wherein you'll be able to see the variety of baskets that have been made for this quilt along. So far most fall into what I would call a country or primitive style. But not all! Mine don't clearly fit into that category either. ;- )

There's been a lot of applique happening to make the various basket blocks. I don't applique (except under duress) so of course my baskets are pieced. I also chose to make two so I would have a rectangular format for my eventual-quilt.

Or maybe I just had so much fun making the first one that I made a second one to go with it! (If you're going to piece one basket block you may as well piece two.) My baskets are filled with roses. They were fussy cut from a skull and roses print. Now you may have a clue as to the choice of bats for the background of my blocks.

The challenge that has been given us for the next month is to think on our childhoods, or on childhood in general, and use that to direct our design decisions for the first border around our baskets. I truly hadn't anticipated that curve ball. But now that I think about it, my goal when I selected the skull and roses print and then the bats was to allow my inner child to finally play with these prints that bring a smile to my face. They tickle my funny bone, they make me happy. I'm not quite sure how that will manifest in the next round but I'm looking forward to finding out! :- )

May RSC Roundup

These are not scrap blocks but they're the right color for the RSC month of May.

This is only a small sample of the total of 19 blocks I've made so far. I'm building a quilt for a niece who is getting married in August. It will only be my standard 60" x 80" and these blocks are 15" each so one more will do the trick. I have something special planned for that last block however. When I get it sorted out I'll show you. ;- )

In the meantime, I only have two postage stamp stars for the RSC month of May:

A few more ships have docked in the Magpie's Nest too.

I think that brings my total to 75 ships. One of these days I'm going to have to get busy setting them!

I'll be linking up with the other Rainbow Scrap Challenge bloggers over at SoScrappy Saturday morning.

Quilty 365 - Diary Quilt

June first! Time to check in with the progress of my version of Audrey's Quilty 365, my Diary Quilt. Regular visitors may remember that instead of appliqueing circles I've chosen to cut a strip a day based on what I worked on that day or some other significant event that may have taken place. There have been just a handful of days since I began in November when there didn't seem to be anything particularly noteworthy for the day. On those days I simply cut a strip from a favorite print. I'm using a white-on-white strip for Sundays, to mark the Sabbath, and inscribing a scripture reference on each one.

I don't expect to be able to remember the various projects represented by these strips in the future but it's an interesting experiment. I might even do it again when this one is complete - it gives me something quilty to think about every day, no matter how I may be feeling, and short little seams to sew between the seams of other projects. :- )

Meanwhile, the new color palette for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge has been announced, and the day of the reveal for the next step in the Liberated Medallion QAL is coming up. I didn't make many (any?) postage stamp stars in May for the RSC. I started work on green batik Scrappy Trip blocks for a wedding quilt instead. Guess I need to plan on showing those soon!