Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Playing with Pinks

Due to the three inches of snow and frigid temperatures yesterday afternoon, plus the forecast for more snow and freezing rain starting at mid morning today, the District Science Fair has been moved to next weekend.  So none of us will have to get out today.  You may think that's not enough snow to bother with, but we were out yesterday afternoon and the roads were pretty slick.  We had ice the morning of last year's fair.  There were reports of multiple accidents last year involving both participants and judges on their way to the fair, so I'm sure the organizers are using an abundance of caution this year.

My Guy and I were off work yesterday, so I got to spend most of the day playing in the sewing room.  I finished up the last of the pink Twinkle Star blocks.

Twinkle Stars, Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy

I couldn't resist pulling out last month's blue blocks and mixing those in with the pink. 

Twinkle Stars, Tutorial by Andrea Feldbush of Soscrappy

Now I can't wait to see what the color is for March so I can add those in too.

Playing in the sewing room also moved last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler quilt to the finished flimsy stage.  The last border was stitched on yesterday. 

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler By Angela Feldbush of Soscrappy

  

It's not a fully pieced border, but the short run of Flying Geese at the corners do a lot to keep the black borders from being overwhelming.  When these sampler blocks were up on the design wall, I wasn't sure this quilt was going to turn out, but I'm really happy with it now.  Drama Teen has laid claim to this one when it's done.  She wants it for snuggling on the couch.  

For more scrappy fun, check out all the links over at Soscrappy.  

Getting Somewhere on a Snowy Friday

It was 13 F when I drove Drama Teen to school this morning.  It was 19 F when we went to lunch.  It started snowing about an hour ago.  Thankfully, I'm taking the day off.  So other than those two outings, I've been able to stay home and hang out in my warm sewing room.  

This morning the last border was stitched to the  2014 Rainbow Challenge Sampler.  My usual border is to just find a matching print and add that as the border, but I wanted to do something different on this quilt.  The sashing is black and I didn't want to just finish the quilt with black borders.  In my search for inspiration I came across one of those books in my quilting library that had set on the shelf for who knows how long.  

  

I remember buying this book, it was supposed to inspire me to make more pieced borders.  Mission accomplished (finally!).  To be honest, I didn't make the exact same border as shown in the book, but made a slight variation so I didn't have to paper piece the blocks and narrowed the border from 6" to 4".  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 

There is still a lot of black in the borders, but they are not solid black.  It was an easy border to modify as I didn't have to deal with coping strips and figuring out what block size would work best.  Now I just have to make the back and get it sent out for quilting.  This was one of those projects that I wasn't sure would come together but has become one of my favorite quilts.  My Guy on the other hand made the comment at lunch that it looked like "something where  miscellaneous blocks that were blowing down the street were collected and then stuck in one quilt".  He has never been a fan of sampler quilts. 

Getting the borders made were my February goal for a Lovely Year of Finishes.  It feels good to make this goal since I failed miserably last month.  Since the border was inspired by one of my quilting books, I'm also linking up with Vroomans Quilts for this month's Let's Book it Challenge. 

We are supposed to get snow, followed by freezing rain, then rain between now and Sunday.  I'm hopeful that means lots of sewing time this weekend.  If you live in North America, stay warm, stay dry, drive safely.  

 

Works in Progress - The Last Two Blocks

It's been a hectic week.  I've managed a bit of time in the sewing room since the weekend, but not a lot.  Science Fair is coming up this next weekend, so Drama Teen has needed an editor, a publisher and an audience already this week.  I'll be glad once we get past Saturday and it's over for another year.  

Last week, block 10 in the Chocolate Marshmallow sew along was completed. 

Here's all ten completed blocks up on the design wall. 

Chocolate Marshmallows:  pattern by Amanda Bergamin
of Sea Breeze Quilts

The last two Chocolate Marshmallow blocks are going to be a challenge.  I've limited my pallet to just 3 pinks and 2 browns.   These last two blocks call for more fabrics than what I've been using.  So I need to scan my fabrics and play with the fabric placement to see if I can make it work without adding any other fabrics.  

The other WIPs are progressing too. Since I'm off this Friday, I should have the borders on the 2014 Rainbow Challenge Scrap Sampler project by the weekend.  And the last pink Twinkle Star block should get done as well. 

Go check out all the other WIPs over at Freshly Pieced, Esther's Blog and on Thursday check out Needle and Thread Thursday over at My Quilt Infatuation.  

Wordless Wednesday - A Little Birdie Told Me

Design Wall Monday - Slow and Steady

In some ways it was a long weekend, in others not long enough.  Drama Teen had to finish her science fair report, it's due on Tuesday.  My Guy is her science adviser and I'm the report editor.  She kept both of us busy this weekend.  One day I really hope she learns not to wait till the absolute last minute. 

I did get some time in the sewing room this last week.  Grand Illusion is progressing slowly, but steadily.  

Grand Illusion
A Bonnie Hunter Mystery

It's not my favorite project, but I'll keep at it.  Last year's Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt is still a UFO.  It would be nice if I can avoid adding this one to the pile.  

That's it for my design wall this week.  I'm linking up with Judy's Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.