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...)

Rainbow² !

I recently finished the RSC16 Column-Along quilt and just today completed the second (and smaller) couch version.

I'm going to call it Rainbow².

for various reasons, my quilt didn't turn out exactly square, but it's pretty close... (57"X55½")

I had a couple issues with some rows (aqua, red and green) being not the right length. some of this was due to user error; another was because of faulty math assumptions.

also, some of my more observant readers might notice that my RSC16 Column-Along is "missing" a row. there was a black/grey row (Bull's Eye) included in the original design, but I omitted that row because of having a grey background.

because of these reasons, Rainbow² is "inside out" compared to my other RSC16 Column-Along. but- serendipitously, I actually like it better! I like that the 2 skinny rows (red and pink) are no longer on the edge, and I also like that the multi-color rows (blue, purple, brown) are not on the outside anymore, either.

I really like this quilt! I anticipated liking it a lot when I began piecing it- that's why I made two; one to keep, and one to give.

it's so cheery it's glowing!

finally- finally- finally! a "finish" flimsy to report! I've been working on getting some UFOs done, and part of that is my lurking RSC quilts.

1. 

I got this top together Friday afternoon- it's the RSC16 Column-Along quilt. I did it in all kona solids- with Kona Coal as the background.

lurking about somewhere is the complete list of all the konas that I used in the quilt- certainly can be found on each individual post as I completed the rows... (not that any one, including me, really wants to hunt for it that hard...)

this is the twin size- I did not take the time to measure it, but it should be somewhere around 60"X72".  I wasn't too crazy about the (purple) butterflies, so I replaced that row with 16 patches. (a personal favorite!) the last 3 rows- blue, purple and brown include the accent colors that we used last year. I decided not to do that on the remaining 6 rows.

 

 

Helga the Icelandic Sheep can't bear to think that Daisy the Donkey might get all the attention.. I also made the couch size RSC16 Column-Along. despite some feverish sewing on my part, there were a couple hiccups along the way that will delay that reveal...

 



I see that Angie is also working on her Column-Along- click on over to see!

 

 

orange 'ya happy to be sewing?!

one low volume plus block to show for my week. things seem to be *finally* slowing down a bit, so the sewing should be ramping up!

I still have some tiny purple blocks I'd love to share- click to see and claim!

don't forget to click back and see what everyone else is up to as we all work on our oranges for September.

orange is such a happy color!

 

I'm back! I managed to do a *tiny* bit of neutral/low volume sewing (my indigo 16 patches) but that was about it in the RSC17 department.  

but- here's 2 of the reasons that I didn't get a lot of time in the sewing room- granddaughter E and grandson C. who needs fabric with these two little sweeties around?! baby E and her mother P are visiting from WA this week. my son, N, is on a 40 day training deployment in CA, so we took the opportunity to fly the 2 of them out (to PA) for the week. it's been so fun- and baby E is such a snuggler- she tucks right into my (left!) shoulder, sticks her thumb in her mouth, and twirls my hair. it's so sweet!

 

(and notice the ORANGE apron... it was Farmer's Market day here on the farm. the apron was totally coincidental, really...)

 

the two cousins were born 6 days apart, so it's kind of like twins when they're around! (and E's daddy was one of my twins- D & N, now almost 27 years old.) ACK! that makes me feel old!

 

and I guess it's been so long since I posted that I have MORE news to share: C's daddy and mommy (my oldest child) is expecting again! we'll have ANOTHER baby to snuggle in March!!! can't wait!!!

I made a *tiny* bit of progress with my low volume scraps: I moved them out of the jars, and into my huge colander. does that count as progress? ha! these scraps will be pieced into crumb blocks.

I need some help from you guys! I have this nice little pile of 5" low volume squares. I'm thinking of piecing them together into a patchwork top, with some applique. (she says with a shudder) I've only ever made one applique quilt, and that was about 15 years ago. I think I might have one more in me, and can probably pull it off as a traveling/piano lesson quilt. (the last one was done during baseball practice/games when my boys were teenagers) any suggestions? I'm looking for something creative, easy and funky.

 

just for fun: here's my stack of (6½" crumb blocks. these are from last year, as well as this year.) I did made an impressive stack of blue crumb blocks (was that July's color?) but they're not trimmed yet. I'm looking forward to getting these blocks into a quilt of some sort, and I'm heavily leaning towards Rachel's Picnic Blanket.

 

there were a couple sew-a-long quilts this summer that I would have loved to do- this one, and also the one that Amanda Jean hosted. ( I even pulled out and petted my low volume scraps for that one, but just couldn't manage to pull it off with the gardens and baby sitting)

and last- but not least- here is an impressive pile of little purple squares. I rescued it from the dog bed pile at our church sewing circle- Scraps to Wraps. all the squares seem to be accurately cut, and are 1½". someone took the time to cut all these squares, and there are a few assembled 9 patches in the pile. (lower right corner). I'm offering this to someone who has the time (and patience!) to complete it into a quilt- preferably for a charity of your choice. I'll mail it anywhere in the USA. just let me know if you're interested, and what charity you plan to give it to. I'll have it in the mail to you by the end of the week.

 

be sure to click over to Angie's blog- our hostess with the mostest, and see what every one else is sewing on!