it's a double rainbow!

i have TWO finishes to share today!  the first is a flimsy, so maybe technically not a finish? but it's high on my list to get done, once i make some final decisions about where it's going to live, and with who. (whom?) 

Angela designed this quilt #fullstop as part of RSC21. i chose to do my punctuation marks in a consistent Moda grey, instead varying the colors of each of my rows. ( i used more stash that way!) to round out the rainbow, i added a few filler rows: the lime green, aqua and the medium blue. i forgot to measure the quilt's final size, but it's somewhere around 64" X 70". it's more squarish than rectangley... 

another change i made was to omit the row of colins ::: (maybe that was the aqua row?) i felt they were too close to the quotation marks """, periods ... and semi-colins ;;;. unfortunately, the row of semi-colins is nearly lost in the purple row. 

i had in mind all along to either gift it to a History teacher friend (who seems more like an English teacher type) or a shirttail relative that is an actual English teacher. but: both my girls seem to really like this quilt, and i'm contemplating giving it to one of them... 

actually, in processing and typing out the above, i think i'll go with my original plan. both girls, A & B have heaps and hoards of quilts. i should spread the love a bit, i think. i plan to quilt it in straight lines through the rows, and maybe even do some big stitch quilting with pearle cotton. we'll see... i 'll keep you posted! 

the above quilt, Rainbow Rectangles, is genuinely finished (quilted AND bound!) and was made by my youngest daughter, BJ. she's 14 and i think this is maybe her third quilt? she doesn't LOVE quilting but she doesn't DESPISE it either. she likes to make things, and really enjoys the satisfaction and beauty of a completed quilt that she made herself. 

this quilt was made all from scraps/stash, and we used my studio2cutter and the 3" X 6" (finished) rectangle multiple die.  *the above links are not affiliate links; i just really love my S2C! even though the cutter can be quite spendy, i've been careful to choose practical and versatile dies, and i get alot of use and enjoyment out of my cutter.*

if you're on the fence about getting a cutter for yourself, i'd HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you to take the plunge. (but wait for a sale, is also my two cents worth...) 

BJ laid out the rainbow rows top to bottom along her quilt to get the maximum impact of the rainbow asn the quilt is on the bed... the above and below pictures are a bit closer up, so you can see the wide variety of fabrics included in her quilt. 

it's SO COLD here this weekend: supposed to go down to 0° the next few nights. YIKES! so i'm sure i'll be spending some time in the swewing room, or maybe also huddled under quilts! 

linking up all over the place this weekend! grab a cup of coffee, settle in and see what everyone else is working on!

Alycia @ Finish It Up Friday

Michelle @ Brag About Your Beauties

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

Angela @ So Scrappy (RSC22)

getting started on RSC22!

i thought i'd really switch things up this year for RSC22, and start working with some triangles! woohoo! even though my "base block" is my old standby, the trusty 3" square, i have a triangle die for my Studio2 cutter, and with the addition of lots of scrappy whites for the triangles, i plan on making a colorful throw size quilt this year.

each of these HSTs will finish at 2½" in the quilt ("designed" on EQ5) using some tips on magic numbers for quilting and quilt blocks from Rachel and Katie, I'll be making 3, 6 or 9 HSTs in the monthly color. 

this is my 9th (!!!) year sewing along with RSC, and while i still have MANY 3" squares to choose from in my drawer, they're certainly dwindling down in both numbers and variety. although i added some more red HSTs last night, you can see on the right side of my design wall that I've a good start on this new project. 

also: I'm working at laying out an everyday tablecloth from my RSC18 project, eclectic AND bohemian 9 patches. only 4 more rows to put up, and i can take this down and sew it together. 

and: after a 2-year hiatus, I'm back to sewing crumb blocks. as you can see, all the jars are overflowing. (and the cream/white jar is not even on the shelf!) last night i finished up and trimmed the red crumbs (they'll finish at 6" in a quilt)- there were a lot! I'll definitely have to keep my eyes out for some clever/interesting design ideas on how to use the crumb blocks in an interesting quilt/layout. 

it's hard to tell without a reference for scale, but the above and below 2 pics are of rectangles and squares that are smaller than my usual crumb blocks. they measure 9½" X 4½" and 4½" square. i have a bunch more of these sizes pieced in other colors, left over from RSC15 (?). i never did anything with them, but will continue to build the collection of these for RSC22. 

my initial, and continuing idea, is to do something along the design lines of Crazy Mom's June QAL. i finished one of these quilts last summer; it's a favorite of mine, and is a great (bright and cool) summer quilt for my bed. I'll keep pondering this idea as i make more blocks each month for RSC22.

43 red crumb blocks made a huge dent in that overflowing scrap jar. there are stills some seed reds in there; they can breed and multiply until next year. (ha!) 

although i made an effort to sort out my different reds by value and saturation, i wasn't nearly as particular as I've been about it in years past. i decided that it's not really necessary to be quite that particular...

and: if you're looking for clever OR interesting quilts, (and beautiful!) be sure to visit Angela's blog on Saturday mornings! inspiration abounds over there... 

also linking to Oh, Scrap on SUnday. 

click here to read all about our birthday adventures and pear placemats! 

a PEARY good time... was had by all...

second son N & family live in a charming Craftsman house in Baltimore. in their back yard is their beloved pear tree- it was planted years ago by previous owners, but N & P really love the tree, as well as the children E & T. we get lots of pictures and updates on the blossoms and pears, and how they're doing. N also has a hive of honey bees.

on a recent visit down to Bmore, N was happy to show me how his bees are doing. i was impressed at all he knew, and how he was very knowledgeable in caring for the hive of bees. we're all looking forward to the day when he has enough honey to share!

currently, we have 6 grandchildren- 3 boys and 3 girls. of those 6 birthdays, 3 of them occur in an 11 day time span! (AND: i think i forgot to mention, but #7 is due early May!) L is the daughter of my oldest son, D, and she starts the party with a birthday on October 30. they live in CA, so we were only able to face time on her special day, but she's sure a sweety! she just turned 3. 

Next up is C. he was 5 on November 4. he's the son of my oldest, M, and has a younger brother and sister L & A. wee baby sister is in the wings, and will be joining us in May. we can't wait! Grammy and Pap gave C a "coonskin" hat. he seems to like it...

here we are at C's picnic- my 2 youngest daughters, A & B, as well as his siblings L & A. 

then, just to keep things interesting, i headed down to Bmore that weekend, to celebrate E, who was also 5, on November 10. if you're wondering why i started this grandchild birthday celebration post taking about N's honeybees, I'm going to tell you! 

E knows that Grammy loves her, and she also knows that Grammy loves to quilt. she asked me if i would make her some pear placemats for their {family hierloom} dining room set. of course, i didn't even have to think about that for one second! i'd be thrilled. 

i dug around in my stash, and found some long ignored and unloved tan plaid; that worked just great for the background. i also found some greens and yellows that would work well for the pears. 

but: such a special project certainly called for some "stash enhancement"! and I was thrilled to find some fabric that was just perfect! (i think you should be able to click on the pictures to supersize them, and see some of the fun fabrics i found) Belle, bees, pears, catapillars are some of the fun elements that made an appearance... 

i used the pear pattern from Lori Holt's book, Farm Girl Vintage. it was a gift from N & P a few years ago, but the first I've used it. (there are lots of fun block patterns in that book; i plan to make a few more blocks/placemats one of these fine days...) 

i made 8 pear placemats (so there would be enough to use for company,) and then i also made 6 "pear blossom"  placemats. using my accuquilt Studio2 cutter and my shoo fly {my favorite quilt block!} die, i loosely interpreted a pear blossom into more placemats. The white and pink represent the pear blossom, the brown is the twigs of the tree and the {Kona stratosphere} is the brilliant blue of the spring sky. 

each placemat finished around 13" X 17" if i remember correctly. i drove down to Bmore to deliver the placemats, and E (and the whole family!) opened them are were so thrilled! i was so happy that E had asked me to make something special for her, and it's also important to me that she know that Grammy was honored to fulfill her special birthday wish! 

we had a lovely afternoon together- not doing much of anything but spending time and chatting. i even got to rock the baby, T, to sleep and hold him during his nap. (he's a chubby, chubby sweetie!) 

thanks for stopping by- and listening to my little tale of grandchildren, pears, placemats and family!