Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Really Red

It was a long week, especially since I was off so much of the week before.  I'm definitely ready for the weekend, though this weekend will be busy.  I've put off doing the taxes, but they need to get done, so that's on the agenda for part of the weekend.  Doing lots of laundry is also on tap.  They finally got the part in for the washer and it got fixed Thursday evening.  After almost 2 weeks with no washer, the dirty clothes piles are reaching epic proportions.  

I did get in some decent sewing time this week.  Though it was spent un-sewing more than anything else.  Even so, the first set of red blocks for the Starburst quilt did get stitched up.  

Very bright and bold, especially against that black background.  One red set down and three more sets of four left to make.  I'm not sure I'll get them all done this month, my focus in the sewing room is making progress on the graduation quilts.  The binding is sewn to the front of Bejeweled so it's ready for hand stitching to the back.  Geometry came back from the quilter this week. So it needs a label and binding as well.  Both of those projects are on my list of finishes for the first quarter of the 2017 Finish Along.  Bejeweled will get done, but I'm not sure there will be time to finish Geometry.  

Linking up with Soscrappy for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap on Sunday.  

Design Wall Monday - December 2nd

I'm not really ready for Monday.   I was off all last week, so that makes it hard to get back into the groove this morning.  Even more so because this work week is packed full with end of the year stuff. 

Even though I was off, we spent a lot of the week visiting family. That means not a lot got done in the sewing room.  I did manage to finish the first block for the Starburst Quilt along.  

Starburst
pattern by Alison of Little Bunny Quilts
(links to pattern found here)

Neutral Gems has been progressing a few blocks at a time.  More than half the blocks are finished now.

Neutral Gems
Pattern is "Gems" by Donna Lynn Thomas
found in the book Patchwork Palette

I didn't get as far on Back to Square One as I had hoped.  Only two of the star blocks for the last pieced border are completed.  

Back to Square One
by Judy Laquidara (pattern available here)

Bonnie Hunter's new mystery started up on Friday.  I've got the fabric now, but it still needs to be washed before I can start cutting. Hopefully that will happen sometime this week. 

That's it for what's up on my design wall this week. For more pretties, check out the links over at Patchwork Times.    

November NewFO - A Starburst

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  It's hard to believe that it's the last day of November.  Which means that December starts tomorrow and there are only 24 shopping days till Christmas.  Really?  Since that thought is really too scary to contemplate, I'm ready to put it away in favor of something much more fun, the November NewFO linky party over at Cat Patches.  

The NewFO Challenge gives you permission to start something new so you can build up a pile of UFOs for all those other "finish it up challenges".   I've done really well this year, I'm 11 for 11 in 2013.  My UFO pile has grown to just 8, so that's not so bad.  

The November NewFO started off as an experiment for one of my other posts.  I needed to make a mood board and had been eyeing the quilt along over at Little Bunny Quilts. 

I've always wanted to make a quilt of brights coupled with a black background.  Even better, this project would use up some left overs from a previous quilt.  Plus, I already had several border fabrics that would work.   So Starburst became the November NewFO.  Four blocks had been released by the time I got to this point.  I played a bit with fabric placement just to be sure the color schemes would work.  

Starburst
pattern by Alison of Little Bunny Quilts
(links to pattern found here)

I had to dust off my paper piecing skills, which to be honest are just about nonexistent.  But that's the other advantage to making this quilt, hopefully practice will lead to perfection (or at least some measure of proficiency).  Background fabric had to be ordered as there was not any tone-on-tone black in my stash big enough for this project.  By the time that got here, there was just enough time to make one block before activities associated with the Thanksgiving holiday took me out of the sewing room.

All the points look so nice and sharp.  I only had to unstitch a couple of seams because the pieces weren't big enough.  It always feels like you are working backwards when paper piecing. Hopefully by the time all the blocks are done, I'll feel a lot more comfortable with process.  

Check out all the other NewFO's over at Cat Patches.  There's always some amazing new projects to check out.    

Plans

It's Saturday morning.  I've spent the morning so far just drinking coffee, reading blogs, and playing with Pinterest.  We have part two of the high school swim meet this afternoon, but the morning is blessedly empty of any "have to do" stuff.  I washed some fabric this morning so I can start my November NewFO sometime this weekend.  While I was pulling the fabric out of the dryer my mind wandered to thoughts of my plans for this week.  I'm off work all week.  Monday, I will be all by my lonesome for most of the day as My Guy as an all day "have to" attend meeting (I'm glad I don't work for his boss) and Drama Teen has school.  Tuesday will be baking day for the holiday and family stuff starts up on Wednesday, but Monday is wide open.  

I really, really need to get a handle on the piles of fabric that need to be washed, pressed and put away.  I've been making slow progress on that front.  But that's not really fun, that's necessary.  The NewFO for November is to start the Starburst quilt along over at Little Bunny Quilts.  The quilt along is on block 4, so I have some catching up to do.  I had to order some background fabric before I could start, so I spent the "waiting" time this week doing a mock up in EQ to check out color placement for the blocks posted. 

Starburst
pattern by Alison of Little Bunny Quilts
(links to pattern found here)

I'll probably play around a bit more before I make the final decision for the fabrics to use in the first blocks.  So a good bit of Monday will probably be spent getting caught up on this Quilt Along.  

The ever efficient Trudy has finished quilting Mon Ami and sent it back to me.  

Modified from Mon Ami
by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company

I love the swirly stars she quilted.  So making the binding should go on the list as well.  If I get that made and sewn to the front, I can hand sew it to the back while I'm visiting with family over the holiday.  So that definitely sounds like something that should be added to the list.  

I will have some quilting time today, tomorrow and Tuesday as well as Monday before the holiday gets into full swing.  Still I shouldn't be too ambitious.  So that's probably it for my list this week; press and fold a little fabric, get caught up on the Starburst Quilt Along and work on the binding for Mon Ami.  

What are your plans for the week?