Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Wrapping Up

Where did the week go?  It seems like it was just Saturday and here it is Saturday again.  Drama Teen caught a cold this week and was miserable for a couple of days. I've been fighting off the symptoms with lots of rest and cold remedies.  So far, so good, but it definitely has affected my stitching time. 

I've made progress on getting all the Rainbow sampler blocks sewn together, but I forgot to take a picture of my progress before the next row was taken down so the sashing could be added.  Those blocks are still laying by the sewing machine waiting to be stitched.  

The 11th butterfly block is finished.

Scrappy Butterflies
Block is available in EQ 7 Block Library

I wasn't sure about using the gray, but it turned out nicely.  I really like the fabric in the upper wings.  Block 12 will be mainly white. Since the background fabric is a light blue, that should work out OK.  I hope to get that one made this weekend.  

I've been playing with setting possibilities for the butterfly blocks.  This is the current front runner. 

I like the Irish Chain setting, but am not certain about the border fabric.  This one may be too light.  I tried dark borders, but didn't like them as well. If I switch to white as the second color in the Irish Chain blocks, the border fabric seems to fit better.  

Which one do you like best?   Any other suggestions?  

That's it for me this week.  Check out all the other scrappy fun posted over at Soscrappy.  

Tuesday Archives - Layer Cake Quilts

I'm a bit late linking up today, I had to leave early this morning to take the car to the shop and wasn't able to wait till Val had her Tuesday Archive post up.  It's been awhile since I've had a project that fits into the weekly theme of the Tuesday Archives.

Though I'm not sure it's exactly wise to share this particular piece of my quilting history.  I've only made one quilt using a layer cake.  Moose on the Porch offered a Layer Cake Quilt Along starting in September of 2010.   I had a layer cake that had been purchased for a special project, but I ended up not using it.  So this quilt along seemed ideal to make use of that left over layer cake. I don't remember the fabric line, but it was one of those that had a lot of color lines that didn't necessary all play together really well.  But I was game. 

Layer Cake Quilt Along
Moose on the Porch Quilts

The blocks aren't too bad, though some of them don't really have enough contrast.  But I think it was the border fabric that led the whole project astray.  That border print was one of the fabrics in the layer cake, so I just assumed it would work.  The narrow teal borders work and had I used more of that color, it would have calmed the quilt down.  Oh well, live and learn.  

This top hasn't been quilted.  I was saving it to practice my free motion quilting on since I wouldn't be upset if the quilting wasn't perfect.  It has lain in the "to be finished" pile for the last 4 years, so it's probably time to use the left over layer cake pieces to make the back and then get if off the pile. 

That's it for my dive into blog history.  For more archives, check out all the posts over at Val's Quilting Studio.  

Wordless Wednesday - Nature's Christmas Decorations

Grand Illusion on the Design Wall

It's back to work today after a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I'm not looking forward to getting back into the groove, there's a report due and I'm supposed to give a talk at the safety meeting in a couple of weeks.  There definitely won't be a lack of things to do this week.    

We were visiting family until late Saturday afternoon.  It was early evening before I was able to get into my sewing room to start on Bonnie Hunter's newest mystery quilt along.  

By the end of Sunday, I had finished about 36 of the pink/teal HSTs and put together 8 of the four patch units. These are definitely bright blocks.   I'm using yardage rather than scraps.  The only way I could defend starting a new project was if it helped bust some stash. Only the teal had to be purchased, all the rest is from the stash.  

Grand Illusion
a Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt Along

These are easy to sew, so I hope to have a bunch more finished by the time Friday gets here.  I've decided to make my version 3/4 the size of Bonnie's.  That means I need 75 of these 4 patch blocks, so only 67 left to make.  

I'm looking forward to seeing all the versions of Grand Illusion posted over at Quiltville.  I'm also linking up with Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times.   

November Review - 15 Minutes to Stitch

I love to stitch patchwork, but for some reason my recliner's gravitational pull requires such an effort to reach escape velocity that I rarely make it upstairs to play.  To motivate myself, it seemed wised to revamp a challenge that has worked for me in the past.  Hence the 15 Minutes to Stitch came into being.

The goal is to spend just 15 minutes in the sewing room each day. Usually once I make it up there, its easy to stay for much longer than 15 minutes.  But I have to get there first, there seem to be all kinds of reasons not to leave the recliner.  Maybe I need to put my lap top someplace else that's not as comfortable?  Hmm I'll have to give that some thought as November wasn't as productive as it could have been. 

Only 16 days with stitching in November compared to the 26 days in October.  December is going to be a challenge as there is a lot of other holiday stuff that goes on.  I'll just have to be diligent about finding just those 15 minutes.  Maybe Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt along will keep me pumped up enough to do better in December.  

So how did you do at finding time to stitch this month?   I sincerely hope you did much better than 16 days.  

1. Thea

2. Julie in GA

3. Amanda

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