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... 

 

just a zippy-quick pop in!

i know it's been quiet over here. quiet like a duck! haha... everyone else has been busy though! go see all the colorful projects they're working on! 

I'm not sure what I've been so busy with, but I've not spent too many evenings in the sewing room. no complaints, tho... i have 43 aqua crumb blocks to share today! 

these blocks (they'll finish at 6") have been done for a while, just waiting for me to get them trimmed. 

lots of different scraps- not quite green, not quite blue... i guess that's what makes them aqua! haha...

i did get a start on my  yellow and gold RSC blocks, and hope to have some more time to sew this weekend. 

and a few rectangles and squares for good measure (9½" X 4½" and 4½" square). i started piecing some of this size back in RSC18, and petered out after a few colors. so I'm back at it this year, and have some ideas up my sleeve... 
 

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

i'm back! I've been lurking around, regularly looking at everyone's great projects and even leaving a comment or two...

this past summer was a difficult growing season: more on the personal level than in the veggie rows, but we managed to have our best CSA season, with 39 families eating from our gardens weekly, as well as selling at 2 Farmer's Markets each week, so i guess that's something...

i really lost my sewing mojo this summer/fall, but it feels good to be in a better place and sewing again... 

my second son, N is out of the Army and living in Baltimore (working at John's Hopkins) with lovely wife P and 3yo daughter, E. E recently went to a big girl bed, and Mommy happened to mention that she would like a quilt.

so, what's a grammy to do? make a quilt, of course! it's just my crumb blocks from recent RSC years, put into rows, interspersed with Kona stars (candy pink, lupine and watermelon). you can see in the first picture that E was really happy with her new quilt. 

i found this alphabet print on my birthday shopping trip and bought it on a whim and impulse. it was perfect for the back of E's quilt!

i still have a few stacks of blocks from RSC18 & RSC19 *hangs head in shame* so i only started one "new" project for RSC20.

3 orange blocks this month: burnt orange, bright orange and salmon.

i'm using my 3" squares as the "base" of this block (3" always, still, forever...)  and a neutral background. i WAY underestimated just how much of this background i would need, even with a reasonable and modest goal of 1 block per color each month. next month i'll choose something else- and hopefully with enough to last me through the year... 

the blocks finish at 20", so i'm sure i'll get a few tops out of these blocks at the end of the year.

AND: i've heavily edited my 3" square drawer. i plan on offering a box of them up in Cynthia's Quilty Orphan Adoption in March. more on that later... 

this quilt (pictured on my design wall) is my Rainbow Rail blocks from last year. i only needed to make 1 more pink block to complete it; the blocks are numbered and waiting their turn in the queue to be sewn into a flimsy. 

i've taken stock in the sewing room; sorting, purging, donating and evaluating. with the exception of the closet *shudder*, i've sorted and evaluated my projects (WIPs, UFOs, piles of inspiration and intentions) and made a list. i re-arranged and cleaned, too, so my sewing room feels like a new room. (more on that later, too) 

so: that's it for now. thanks for stopping by. and be sure to click back to Angie's to see what everyone else is up to...