i've been working on the railroad....

all the live-long day....

hum a few bars with me...

i've been piecing the railroad crumb rectangles this year for RSC22, to join the other RR crumbs from RSC16 (?). part of my hold up, and not getting any further on this particular project was my uncertainty on how i would want to assemble the top when i had enough blocks. most of the quilts i've seen using the crumb/strip rectangles are made with trapezoidy-shaped blocks, and i definitely want to stick with rectangles. (call me lazy or algebraically challenged...) 

seems i'm just as forgetful as i ever was... (i should read my own blog more often; ha!) i remembered this week that i had intended to use Amanda Jean's (Crazy Mom Quilts) June QAL pattern for this Rainbow Rails quilt. 

after a lightbulb of an idea went off in my head, and a brief but colorful design session with EQ5, here's what i came up with. i'm very happy with this layout, and even have some black fabric (from my stash!) in mind. 

so now that i've got a clear design direction, i feel excited about this project again. although i LOVE the rainbow effect from corner to corner in my EQ layout, i've a feeling that the rows will be more determined by how many of each of the colors i have available to work with, rather than rainbow order. 

thanks for stopping by! click back on over to Angela's and see what everyone else is working on! you just might be inspired... 

 

more pinkity pink pinkness...

i'm happy that i've been able to make some progress on my pink RSC blocks in this busy, busy month! there's so much going on, that it's nice to retreat to the sewing room for some soothing fabric play!

lots of HSTs this month- i'm getting excited about this project, and the design possibilities! originally, i was thinking that i'd piece linear, colorful columns,  but at the moment i'm leaning towards a bit for ecclectic and interesting.... (think Gee's Bend) i'll see how this project evolves, and what it needs when it's time to piece the top... 

35 crumb blocks this month will join the pile...

lots of pinks: hot pink, pale pink, salmon, purple-ish pink and some dusty rose join the party... 

 i'm almost done with the pink for our April RSC22- just need to work on some of the schoolhouse blocks- pink, and there are a few holdovers from aqua last month... 

Pretty is Pink!

life gets so busy: tasks, responsibilities, jobs, relationships, to-do lists... i really appreciate the direction, creativeness and camaraderie of my RSC friends and sewing! 

13 (Kona) framed 9 patches were completed for April's pink. (a few of them definitely lean toward salmon. there may be a few more salmon blocks lurking in the orange jar; i'll find out when we get there in a few months... 

18 more "two step" blocks joined the party, too. 

crumb blocks: 

Where  I Started (January 2022)

How It's Going (April 2022) 

i discovered Angela's RSC monthly colors in January of 2014. i've been piecing crumb blocks ever since: RSC14, RSC15, RSC16, RSC17, RSC19 and RSC20, only taking a break during the years of RSC18 and RSC21. 

somehow, the jars never get empty! (they do look pretty, though, don't they?!) you can see that even though the colors red, aqua and yellow have already been done for RSC22, there's still some seeds of colorful scraps in there to grow for next year! 

also: looks like i'll be very busy in the months of green, grey and blue! and i didn't even get started on pink yet. maybe this week... i had a {commissioned} wedding quilt to finish, and grandbaby #7 {a girl} will be here in a few weeks. i have her fabric, the pattern and a date with the long arm quilter. i plan to start that quilt today... 

if you have eagle eyes, you'll notice that there are no browns or blacks in the gallon jars on my shelf: TOO MANY! i mentioned in my last post that i had decided to get a head start on Novembers brown/black colors. good thing i have a head start! 

44 crumb blocks of tan, foxy brown, inky browns, black, chocolate and golden browns and this isnt' even a quarter of the scraps, i'd guess! 

when i'm ready to piece the crumb blocks, i sort the color from the jars into monochromatic piles on paper plates. (no picture, sorry. it turned out terrible. but here's how Julie does it, which is exactly how i do it. after the initial sorting of colors, it makes the mindless piecing of the crumb blocks mindless and relaxing.) i had 16 plates of different tans, browns and blacks. if i remember correctly, these crumb blocks are from 4 or 5 of the plates...

thanks for stopping! thanks for looking! thanks for commenting! i read every comment, and *sometimes* even reply! and i'm a faithful, lurky visitor to most of the RSC linkups every weekend!