looking ahead {with excitment!} to RSC18!

2017 just flew by, and now it's time to look ahead to all the possibilities of RSC18! this will be my 5th year RSCing, and I'm just as excited as I was in RSC14!

 

as I'm sure you've probably heard on the news, the whole east coast is locked in a cold snap. as in Cold. Snap. like single digits! we've not been above freezing for over a week, and nothing above 26 is in the 10 day forecast. YIKES!

 

but: {secretly} that's ok with me. I like the slower pace of winter-time, and the chance to get some things done. (I don't make this unpopular announcement with hubby- we heat our house with wood, and the yucky weather does make lots of things harder around the farm)

 

in looking ahead to RSC18, here's what i have in mind:

 

• last year I LOVED the indigo/kona solids 16 patch that I did. (to be sewn together soon. very soon) so this year i'll be doing indigo/kona solids again, but in 9 patches.
• just last night I heard about a new BOM: over at Academic Quilters. I never quite got around to her BOM with my UFO last year, but I'm excited about this one: it uses squares! much of my scraps I cut into 3" squares, and the suitcase is overflowing again, so this should be perfect!
• I'd like to make some more 9 patches with the 3" squares from my suitcase. this year, I want to focus less on the "rainbow-y" look, and I'm going to be shooting for more of an "eclectic bohemian" look. (lots of bloggers seem to do that effortlessly, especially Ashley and Rachel) I've nothing against rainbows, but I want a different looking quilt this year.
• something new for me this year: (so new, I haven't even sewn a test block!) The Holiday Patchwork Forest. I've seen these quilts floating around on pinterest and instagram but didn't' really take note of them until i saw Carol's bright and cheery quilt, definitely not done in Christmas colors. of course, a quick instagram search brings up thousands more possibilities! I'll be narrowing down my color palette, and getting started on this for RSC18.
• I have a few random UFOs floating around, which I may combine with my RSC18 sewing.... we'll see.

 

at any rate, I've lots of sewing to keep me busy, and out of trouble, for the coming months ahead. I've really enjoyed the community of quilters that I pal around with for RSC and the UFO challenges. thanks for being part of that community, and thanks for stopping by! make sure you click on over to Angie's to see what everyone else is doing- you never know when inspiration will strike!



buckle up, 'cause here comes 2018!

I'm participating in the UFO "Challenge" with Judy at Patchwork Times. it's pretty loosey-goosey and no pressure, but it's still good to have the accountability and camaraderie of other quilters. this is at least my 4th year participating in a UFO challenge. despite getting 8 of my 12 UFOs done last year, there are still a few UFOs lurking about...

 

 

#1: BOM started from a LQS several years ago. the blocks are all done- 16 blocks at 15" each. I have the sashing fabrics all picked out. I'd like to get this to the flimsy stage, and will pass it along as a MCC quilt for one of the auctions.

#2: technically not a UFO, but still a bunch of possibilities here. I'll use all {some} of these strips for a quick donation quilt or two...

#3- Amanda Jean hosted a QAL this summer with this quilt. ( I have the book) and despite pulling and petting my fabric choices, I wasn't able to participate. I'd like to make mine with low volume strings, and perhaps red/teal for the alternate blocks.

#4- this was on last year's UFO list; a holdover from RSC16. I'd like to get it done- maybe in time for Christmas 2018?

#5- a low volume Rail Fence. I pieced this awhile ago- maybe 2014? I really, really like it- time to get it quilted (myself) and in use, rather than in the closet!

#6- a Bonnie Hunter scrappy nine patch for MCC. all the blocks are done; I've lots of background fabric. time to get it sewn into a quilt!

#7- this quilt was pieced from Kona solids in January of 2014- after receiving a book from my daughter- Jelly Roll to Heirloom (or something like that) for Christmas. this picture is not current- it's quilted (by hand, by a dear friend) and just needs the binding sewn down.

#8- this RSC17 quilt is a recent completion and Rainbow Squares was not chosen in the Great Quilt Gifting of 2017. (secretly, I'm glad. I really, really like this one!) I plan to quilt it myself. (sadly, no long arm quilting is in the foreseeable budget...)

 

 

#9- again- can a picture in a book technically be called a UFO? not sure, but I like this quilt, and I'd like to make a similar one with the 3" squares from my suitcase, but with prints. we'll see. I feel like Growing Up Odd would make another good use of my 3" squares...

 



#10- this kit was an impulsive (but economical) buy from connecting threads a few years ago. it was #10 on my 2017 UFO list as well. I love the schoolhouse block, and would like to make a quilt from them, but I don't really like the colors. maybe it's time to use the fabric for a different quilt, and make this pattern in colors I really like?

#11- another hangover from the 2017 UFOs. I've definitely fallen out of love with this quilt- it's a BOM from a quilt guild that I belonged to in the late 1990s! it's time to do something with these blocks- even a orphan adoption is better than sitting in my drawer!

 

so there we have it- 11 quilty projects to keep me busy throughout the New Year! thanks for stopping by!

sharing the love... spreading the warmth...

since my children live spread out all over the country (a son in WA and another son in the Bronx) we planned to celebrate our Christmas early this year while we were all together. We had our family Christmas on Saturday, December 16. it was a lovely day- full of memories, and all the traditions that we would normally do on the 25th.

 

my youngest son, G, chose not to come, but my mother heart loves him all the same, and despite the full house with all the children and grands, I missed him just the same...

the little girls, A and B, were especially happy for new jammies!  and look: everyone smiling! everyone looking!

we drew numbers for the quilt picking- #1-#5. I had 11 quilts to choose from (!!!) so even the last person had a nice selection to pick their favorite. my oldest daughter, M and her husband K were first. they chose one of the RSC16 column-along quilts. (they chose the twin size; that leaves the lap size for me! yay!) here they are in front of the tree with "baby" C. C will have a new baby brother in March, the quilt is hiding M's cute belly...

 

my son D is a Corpsman in the Navy, stationed in Bronx, NY. (go figure...) he and A chose the Flying Geese quilt.

 

second son N is married to P, and they have a little girl, E. N is in the Army, stationed in Seattle, WA. it was a treat to have them here and visit with them for almost a week. (it was fun to watch the 2 cousins together, too. they're only 6 days apart in age) N and P chose a low-volume patchwork quilt, sofa size. I guess I never blogged about it... but you might have seen it on instagram.

 

 

A is 11, and chose this Roman Stripes quilt. (it's made out of the same fabrics as D & A's quilt) I made this quilt quite awhile ago- glad it's finally found someone to snuggle with...

 

(here's a tutorial on how I made it) and here's where I pieced it together- almost 8 years ago. yikes! 

 

 

baby BJ (sometimes I still call her that, even though she's 10 years old now...) chose the pinwheel quilt. I blogged about this quilt here, too. this project has been in my RSC roundup for a few years, going through several evolutions, and even thrown in as a UFO a time or two, too... but now it's "done" and we'll piece a backing for it this week, and set it aside to be quilted.

 

a couple quilts weren't chosen that I was sure would be top on the list, but that's ok. we might have a wedding in our near future, and some can live in the sewing room closet until they find a home. others will go to MCC. one way or another, all the quilts will be loved and used.

 

my instagram feed has been full of smiling children, happy faces and lots of snippets of memories in the making- not much sewing at all for me this month of December. but- of course, that's OK! i was glad to have some time with my family. when our children are small, we honestly don't' realize how fast the years will fly- because those days can really drag, can't they?

 

one day they're all grown and gone, and it's a big deal when they all come home and we can be together. enjoy those moments while you can!

 

and click on over to Angie's, too! lots of great quilts getting done!

 





in which the blogger gets her act together...

we have so much to be thankful for: family, friends, home, bountiful food... we have all we need and so much of what we want, and for that I'm Thankful!

now the Christmas season is upon us (how did THAT even happen?!) and we're busy preparing for all the joyousness and traditions that go with the celebration of Jesus' birth.

finally got some pictures of my completed (flimsy) 16 patch. Name? how about Rainbow Boxes? sounds good...  (shown here) in its layout phase.

another big one at 90" X 110". this one seems to be a favorite with the little girls. we'll see who picks it for the Great Christmas Quilt Giving in a couple weeks.

a bit of time this week for some RSC sewing. I realized I hadn't done any of my grey crumb blocks, but an evening of sorting and sewing got that task accomplished...

 

(and why do those jars of scraps never get any emptier?! it's a mystery....)

 

while you're clicking around, be sure to see what everyone else is finishing up- it's that time of year!

 

 

what does November mean?

November in RSC Land means our blocks are done (or nearly so) and we start to see some pieced flimsys in our Saturday linkups.

I tend to make lots and lots of blocks, but I'm not always so great at finishing them into tops... I have some good new to share this week, though!

new for my RSC17 block list this year was the low volume 16 patches. I had lots of the 3" LV squares left from my Plus quilt that I decided to use them again this year in a 16 patch.

with the completion of my brown 16 patches this week, I was ready to lay out the blocks...

 

I had already been pondering how I wanted to lay them out, so it didn't really take too long to settle on a design. the layout is 9 X 11 blocks, so the quilt should finish at 90" X 110". (another big'un!) I had 9 blocks leftover, but unfortunately they weren't the right color or shade, so I'll be "custom" piecing a few more of these to get the quilt done.

 

I'm loving it so far!

 

these pinwheels started as one of my RSC15 projects, and I pieced (and pieced!) a boatload of them. I finished the first quilt with them (shown here) and just this week completed this one. it measures 62" X 78".

I'm calling it Windblown Pinwheels: I'm sure there was  pattern in the colors somewhere, but in the process of picking the blocks up off the design floor, and then up to the sewing room, they must have gotten jumbled a bit... that's ok! finished is better than perfect, right?!

those long nights of sewing...

we're in that time of year for us where the garden work is done and *mostly* cleaned up, and it's still not time for butchering- turkeys and pigs. does that mean I have *extra* time? no, not really {haha} but there have been lots of evenings where I can work in the sewing room, piecing away..

I felt like I had so many brown scraps, but I was able to get these 19 crumb blocks pieced in one evening: see above {those long nights of sewing...} from caramel to chocolate, all the browns are there...

can I say just one more time: these Kona indigo and the COM are my favorites? I say that every month... and I say that I say that every month...

I'm concentrating on getting some of my RSC16/17 blocks pieced into tops for our Great Quilt Gifting in early December, so these indigo 16 patches will have to wait until Christmas time-ish to get pieced into a top. BUT: they're at the top of my list- can't wait!!!

 

colors: (not in order) honey, sable, earth, pepper, chocolate, expresso and ???.

 

the 16 patch LV blocks are all done- and getting ready to be sewn into a top. I wasn't sure how I'd like them, but so far they're looking great. (sneak peek here) 

and a few (16) lonely pinks to add to the crumb stack. my {tallish] crumb stack is from RSC16 and RSC17. I have an idea how I'd like to piece them into tops; I'll start that project in the New Year. but I think I'll take a break from crumb blocks next year... (not that I'm running out of crumbs or anything... they're having babies up in the sewing room as. we. speak.)

 

speaking of RSC18: (18?! how did that even sneak up on us?!) I'm planning on participating again next year, but entirely uncertain what my blocks/projects will be... I'd like to do something that uses LOTS of my 3" squares from my suitcase of squares, but I'm not sure what I'd like. I want to do something a bit more multi-colored, but then that kind of defeats the purpose of RSC, right? I'll keep pondering, but I'm open to suggestions...

falling for brown...

fall finally seems to be here; brown is a good color for fall! I have some brown, but not an overwhelming amount... that's good, since I still have some pinks to piece into my crumb blocks...

my browns seem to be a nice mix of monotone chocolate browns, and colorful browns to make blocks pop. (this is my 4th year of RSCing, and the scrap jars, bins and drawers never seem to get any emptier...)

 

one lonely low volume plus block for the browns, and  I have a few 16 patches I'm hoping to get to today. lots going on in the sewing room- secret projects, memory quilts, Christmas preparation- good thing the garden is done!

 

linking up to so scrappy- go see what everyone else is doing- and it's that time of year when all the blocks start getting sewn into quilts, too- woo-hoo!

The geese are finally flying north!

hard believe, but in looking back over my blog and previous posts about this quilt, I started this CW Flying Geese in the winter of 2010. yikes! (at least it's completed in the same decade, which is more than I can say for some of my UFOs....)

I've blogged about this quilt before, and you can read all about it here and here.

this quilt turned out quite large: 103" X 117". (yikes, again!)

a few years ago, I started a quilty tradition: every time my children are all together (all 6 of them) I've been doing a "Quilt Gifting": they each get to choose a quilt top that I've pieced of their liking. i'll provide the backing also, and then it's up to them to get it quilted, as time and budget allows.

 

I plan on doing a "Quilt Gifting" again this December when we're all together, so I thought it was time to get it off the hanger, and into a quilt. (ammiright?!)

 

 

I still have a tidy little pile of the geese fabrics left, as well as some of the background and brown border. I'm thinking that this quilt will be just what my daughter and son-in-law are looking for. if that's the case, I'll make a matching baby quilt for their room and the new baby. (due in March)

 

linking up to Judy's for the 2017 UFO challenge and Angela's for RSC17. (since this month IS brown, right?)

 

UFO2017 #5

a few years ago (4+?!) our local quilt group, Friendship Quilters did a 9 patch exchange. each month, for many months, we exchanged 9 patches in a color of the month and kona white, using 2½" strips.

 

I participated in the months that we did red, black, yellow, green, orange and red. looks like I was a lacking participant in the months that we did blue, green and purple.

 

one of the other women finished her quilt in a timely manner, using her blocks for a split 9 patch design, and then framing it in grey (I used kona slate) to resemble stained glass widows. I had an AH-HA! moment, and knew instantly I'd do the same.

 

 

a friend and I combined our blocks together, and made this quilt for one of the MCC auctions. (Washington 2017) it was on my UFO2017 list, but I'm happy to say that it's checked off now, and in its new and happy home. it brought a good price at the auction, and all is well!

Prolific Pinks!

aside from a few notable events of going to the beach  (OCNJ) in October. (during the tail-end remnants of Nora. such is the life of a farming family...) and making 3 memory quilts for a friend, I don't have too much to show for RSC17 pink. but I'm still working on a last few blocks....

11 kona cotton solids blocks in pinks with the indigo. just the browns and tans to go, and then I can start putting this one together.

watermelon, azure, candy, bubble gum, azalea... those are some of the colors that quickly come to mind that make up this batch.

31 pink crumb blocks, too! (only 25 shown) when you've been doing the RSC as long as I have, word gets out that there is a crazy quilting lady who doesn't live too far away and will use all those ridiculous scraps. scraps come from far and wide-

 

and these pinks are no exception! a few of these pinks are mine (as in, leftover from another project, or fabric that I purchased) but the majority of these pinks are from a scrap bag from my LQS. how fun is that! and I'm not even done! there are still about 15+ pink blocks to piece, I'd guess.

they'll join a stack of crumb blocks that was, at last estimate, about 14" tall. wow! (2 years of piecing- RSC16 & RSC17 for the crumb blocks) when finished, I trim the crumb blocks at 6½" and they'll finish at 6".

looking forward to getting lots of these blocks into quilts. click over to Angela's on Saturday morning to see what everyone else is working on !

what happened to September?!

I didn't realize until just tonight when I sat down to write a post and link up with Angela, that I hadn't posted any of my oranges from this month on the blog!

I've been working on these Kona indigo and the COM all RSC17. at last count, after scrolling through my instagram, I think that I counted 70+! and we still have pink and brown to go... looking forward to getting this one done!

 

the colors? school bus, coral, flame, amber, terra cotta, tangerine, orange and nutmeg. I still have one (salmon) to go, but that's it...

 

 

six 16 patches for this month, plus some lurking (lost) red fabrics that I made into red crumb blocks that I found from March.

 

I surprised myself with 16 orange crumb blocks- would never have imagined that I had that much (and varied) orange scraps. I guess those few "donations" of scraps throughout the year made a bigger difference than I thought!

 

I showed my ever-growing stack of crumb blocks here, and right now I'm leaning towards Rachel's Rainbow Picnic Blanket but I definitely want to get some of my other, more traditional blocks sewn into tops first...

a little bit of catch up....

life got a little crazy there for a couple weeks, but it's starting to calm down. (I'm a pretty transparent person; it's usually fairly easy to tell, 'cause my instagram and Facebook pictures start leaning more towards quilts and/or fabric, and less towards veggies...)

 

my blues were  pretty crazy- as Angie says, that's often a heavy color for us quilters. I was no exception. 75 crumb blocks later, and I'm calling it done!

 

I've been collecting my low volume crumbs for a few years. this is my 4th year piecing along with the RSC, and I'm pretty sure it's the first I've used my LVs.  they were definitely on the crazy side- filling 4 jars, and then a large aluminum colander. (food service size) I "tamed" them, so to speak, and have 74 crumb blocks, and a half filled gallon jar remains for another project... (or two, or three...)