Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Orange Part 1

I'm not sure why it is that the 4 day work week after the three day holiday weekend seemed so long, but it sure seemed to take forever to get to Saturday this week.  Not much going on this weekend thankfully.  However, the house needs some attention this morning, plus the piles of laundry are getting rather alarmingly large, so it looks like that will take priority this morning.  The sewing room will have to sit empty until this afternoon. 

I did take Labor Day to heart last weekend and didn't do much other than sew.  So to an extent it's time to pay the piper.  But I did get a lot of sewing done last weekend, including 2 orange blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Block pattern by Janet McCarroll
published in Block Magic Too by
Nancy Johnson-Srebro

Both My Guy and I went to graduate school at OSU (That's Oklahoma State University, not to be confused with Oregon State University which not only has the same initials, but the same school colors).  I have a whole collection of OSU fabrics that will at some future date make it into a quilt, so I just cut off a bit from one fat quarter to make the block. 

Block pattern by Karen F. Srebro
published in Block Magic by
Nancy Johnson-Srebro

It's amazing what you can do with a bit of fussy cutting.  This cup turned out really cute.  Even My Guy likes it.  I'm still working on cup number 3 for the month, so I don't have a picture of the all the blocks to date.  You can see what was up on the design wall at the end of August here. 

I'm really enjoying the challenge and making the blocks.  It's been fun to see what other scrappy projects are in the works.  Definitely getting some ideas for next year.  I'm going to go link up with Soscrappy and then check out what new scrappiness has been going on this month. 

15 Minute Challenge - September 4th

Three day weekends are such great opportunities to sew.  But with Labor Day now behind us, the next long weekends will be the holidays (at least for those of us who live in the US).  The year seems to speed up as it goes along.  January always seems to pass so slowly for me.  But by the time we get to September,  it feels like the month only lasts a couple of weeks and then we are into October.    Maybe part of that is because I have a lot of October deadlines at work.

I did take advantage of the long weekend to sew, pretty much ignoring any "labors" devoted to housework for the entire weekend.  Other than Friday, which was the night all three of us came home pretty much comatose, I sewed every night the last 7 days. 

The Layer Cake Quilt Along project is from 2010 and is this month's UFO.  It was last month's UFO too and I didn't touch it until just before the end of August.  I'd like to get it off the list and as it's the only one of my UFO's with all the blocks finished, it's the one most likely to actually get done. 

I'm still working on the Sofa Quilt, but as a leaders and enders project.  I've mentioned before that having to trim all those flying geese for block B was really demotivating me.  By moving that project to the back burner, I was able to work on not only the LCQA project, but make the first block of the Grandmother's Choice BOW and make some progress on the coffee cup blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge as well.  I'm just a lot more productive if I'm working on multiple projects at time rather than limiting myself to one.   A lesson I need to remember. 

Did you find some time to sew over the holiday weekend?  Either way, link up and share how your sewing/crafting is going. 

1. Amanda, Seabreeze Quilts 2. Thea

3. Lesley @ Quilt-a-Daisy 4. Kate

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Design Wall Monday - September 3rd

Happy Labor Day if you live in the US, happy Monday if you live elsewhere.  I've done a pretty good job of avoiding labor this weekend.  Other than a few loads of laundry and cleaning off the dining room table, no other housework has been done.  I've spent lots of time in the sewing room this weekend, but not all the time has been spent sewing.  I'm still in the process of organizing all my fabric that was transferred from bins to shelves last December.  So I sew for a bit and then organize for a bit.  Even though I'm far from finished with the organization, just getting the fabric out on shelves has helped a lot with shopping the stash when I want to start something new. 

Speaking of new, there is new project up on the design wall this week.  Barbara Brackman's year long block a week and history discussion of the women's suffrage movement, Grandmother's Choice, started Saturday.  The first block is finished.

Grandmother's Choice
Barbara Brackman BOW

The green background is darker than what I've typically used for a background.  But I like how it came out.  I'm using a fat quarter bundle of Moda's Decadent Victorian for this project.  The other colorway in the line is cream with the purple.  I've not decided if I'll switch back and forth on the background fabric, or if I'll stick with the green. 

The other project that's seen some action this weekend, is the Layer Cake Quilt along project from Moose on the Porch's 2010 BOM.   This is UFO #11 on my list. 



Layer Cake Quilt Along
By Moose on the Porch

Nine of the twelve blocks have been framed.  I'll probably move the blocks around again once all of them are framed and separate the blue blocks a bit.  I've tried out several layouts and nothing seems to work well.  Any suggestions? 

That's what is up on my design walls this week.  I'm linking up with Patchwork Times as usual.  Check out the other labors of love posted there. 

Stash Report - September 2nd

Wow, it's September already.  I'm not sure what happened to August.  If past experience is any indicator, the next couple of months will go by in a blink. That's way to scary to contemplate on a Sunday morning when I haven't even finished my first cup of coffee.  On to safer topics, like stash reports.

I actually sewed this week after spending most of last week picking out fabric for the Grandmother's Choice BOW.  I'm still working on The Sofa Quilt, making the flying geese for block B as leaders and enders.  I'm almost done with those!  Block 1 of the BOW is done, as is the first pumpkin coffee cup for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, plus 3 more blocks from this month's UFO have the sashing added.  Feels good to make so much progress on what's up on the design wall and have fabric in the out column this week. 

Used last week:  0.76 yards
Added last week:  0 yards

Used for 2012:  28.72 yards
Added for 2012:  246.88 yards

Net stashed for 2012:  218.16 yards

Nothing in this week.  So, I'm doing pretty well with the fabric diet.  I'm hoping to get the Layer Cake Quilt Along project all sashed and the borders added, so I can make the back which would really help the stash report. 

That's it for me this week.  I'm going to get my second cup of coffee and jump over to Patchwork Times to see what's up in the world of stash busting. 

Foto Finish - Wet

I've been given permission to forgo any labor today so I can play in my sewing room.  What a nice way to start a weekend.  No big plans for us this weekend.  Considering we were all in bed fairly early last night, I think we all need a "down" weekend.  But before I can head in the direction of the sewing room, a "wet" photo has to be found for today's Foto Finish. 

One thing that continues to amaze me each week as I get ready to write this post is how the week's theme affects what photos catch my eye.  I try not to start with a preconceived notion of what I'll post.  Drama Teen is a swimmer, so I have lots of pool shots.  But is that really the best interpretation of the theme?  If I had not found anything in the files, then I'd definitely have done the obvious, but it's fun to find something unexpected in the files.  

  
What's more wet than water droplets?  I have no idea what plant this is.  It may be a tulip leaf, but it doesn't have the right color.  At any rate, I really like the droplets.  They look like little crystals sitting there in the sun.  There had been a heavy dew the night before and everything was wet.  The knees of my jeans stayed wet for hours after our morning photo expedition that day.

Now it's time for breakfast and then I'll adjorn to the sewing room.  I'm contemplating staying in my PJs for the day as one way of celebrating Labor Day weekend.  Enjoy your weekend, but do check out the other wet and wonderful shots posted over at Cat Patches.