running to catch up!

I've been busy behind the scenes working on finishing up some of my RSC18 quilts. i actually have some finishes to share! so glad to join in this last linky of the year. (and i'm looking forward to/planning blocks for RSC19!) 

i {practically just this minute} finished my Kona indigo 9 patch. each month in RSC18 i made a slew of blocks from my Kona stash in the color of the month (COM) and indigo. i just randomly made blocks- some with 5 indigo/4 COM and some with 5 COM/4 indigo. i didn't overthink the layout- just went for a general fade, and i'm really thrilled with the result!

one thing that i did differently with this quilt is: i used no batting! i just sandwiched and pinned the top with a cotton backing, and quilted in a cross hatch design on the indigo squares.

(couldn't resist an instagram worthy glamour shot!)

i'm "extra proud" of myself- this is a RSC18 quilt that was started, quilted, bound, washed and is being used right now- and it's still 2018! that's probably a personal record for me!

everything is dreary and mud around here- no beautiful outdoor shots this week... this rainbow quilt finished at 60" X 75"- a perfect quilt for napping!

i love the hand {feel} of this quilt with no batting- it's really more like a sheet than a quilt. i think it will be perfect for summer time naps- when you just want a bit of covering...

another bonus: this quick and delightful finish has spurred me on to also finish my kona/indigo 16 patch quilt. (pretty much the same as this kona/indigo 9 patch quilt, but not...) at last i have a layout finalized in my mind, and actually plan on working on that this afternoon! (i also plan to finish it the same way- no batting, just cotton backing, and a crosshatch quilting through the indigo squares)

and my final finish to share: Growing Up Odd! after a generous infusion of orange scraps (scroll down a couple posts to read about that...) i buckled down and got this top all sewn together- it's just 9 blocks, but alot of sashing... my girls helped me lay it out, and i'm so happy with how it turned out. (and here's where i wish i had more beds in my house!)  the squares that i used were 3", finishing at 2½", so it's quite large- 97½" X 102½"! 

you can sort of see where i added a row of scrappy squares, as well as another row of sashing on the top and bottom of the quilt, making it a rectangle rather than a square. i counted through my notes last night, and there are 1000++ different, unique fabrics in this top! (really!) this quilt is for sale, but if it has to stay here and live at my house, that's just fine with me! there are so many fabric bits and memories of the last 30+ years in this quilt!

( i also updated my RSC18 tab at the top. will be adding to my RSC19 tab in the next couple days....) 

thanks for stopping! and here's to a healthy, happy and productive 2019 of RSCing- along, together! 

ORANGE you THANKFUL for friends?

i wrote about my dilemma with my Growing Up Odd quilt a couple weeks ago. The blocks were all pieced, with the exception of one 49 patch. I asked for suggestions, as to what color block to piece, AND: 

a never-before-met-quilty-friend, Dorthy, sent me a bag of orange scraps (more like orange hunks and small pieces, really!)

there were 50+ (!!!) pieces of orange in the surprise package i received the other day... enough to make the remaining 7X7 block for my Growing Up Odd quilt. 

the infusion of fun, new and colorful fabrics has spurred me on to finish this top! i dug out some neutral from my drawer, did some simple math (since my squares are cut at 3"; different than the size in the tutorial) and got to sewing. hopefully i'll have a finished flimsy to show next week! 

while my cat (Millie) naps in the sewing room, i've been busy making forward progress on this fun quilt. she's laying in the box of *another quilt that i've started*: the blue is kona cotton stratosphere, with a patchwork design with 1 of all the different 3" squares in my drawer. i think it's going to be obnoxiously big (the quilt, not Millie!) as there are far more squares in that drawer than i imagined!

and just to keep things interesting- i'm along for the ride on Bonnie's mystery quilt this year- Good Fortune. i've done all the shopping from my stash (yay, me!) and have substituted the orange for cheddar yellow. i'm thrilled with my colors- especially love those blues! 

i've pieced all of clue #1- just need to do the spinning of the middle seam and then the pressing. this is my fourth Bonnie mystery. i love the colors, so i'm hoping i love the quilt, too!

( i was a bit disappointed in the MQ from 2014) but after all, it's just fabric, right? i know the completed quilt will be loved by someone, no matter what!

linking up to Angela at soscrappy and Bonnie at Quiltville. thanks for stopping! 

how odd is that- TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY!

  I've been working on my Growing Up Odd quilt right along, and was making pretty good progress until i hit the wall...

above is a "cheater picture" from my instagram layout... i like the controlled riot of colors. 

my squares are 3", and the quilt will have 9 blocks, making for a pretty large quilt....

i was thinking of doing the sashing for in each of the blocks, and between the blocks in white/cream. 

that may change, though...

i do tend to get hung up (more than just a little bit, i'll admit!) on keeping my blocks monochromatic within themselves. 

does that last sentence even make any sense?!

some colors i have LOTS AND LOTS of... (like blue, red and whites/creams)

and then there are colors within my stash that are pretty poorly represented.

orange and brown come to mind...

so: maybe you can help me? (pretty please?) i need one more 49 patch to finish out this RSC18 quilt, and i welcome suggestions! i do not have enough orange or chocolate brown to do the last big block, which would maybe seem to be the logical conclusion. a green block was suggested by a friend on facebook. 

what say you, quilty friends? and be sure to click over and visit all the other RSC18 projects at Angie's blog- it's the end of the year, and the fantastic finishes are really starting to roll in! 

a parade of pinks...

every oncet in a great while, I sneak up to the sewing room and sew on some of my pinks...

4 more blocks were added to my RSC18 take on Growing Up Odd.

9 different pink 9 patches were added to my Kona/indigo 9 patch pile.

and 3 more blocks of the Squared Away Sampler BOM were added, too.

the 3rd. block is a bit of an "oopsie!" maybe i'll fix it later...

lots more pink in the parade over here!

in which...after a long absence...all of a sudden...BAM!...it's green and yellow...and SPRING!

life, the seasons and the quilting just roll right along, whether we're ready to stop and take (or post!) pictures or not!

it's been a loooooooong winter: as recently as just over a week ago, we had 4" of snow. (it was gone by lunch time, but still. still!) suddenly, it seems as if it's finally decided to be spring! it's Friday evening as I post this, and even more recently as Tuesday night, it was 24° degrees, with a skim of ice on B's little pond outside the kitchen window.

today was mid-70s, with tomorrow promising to be high 70s. so in the space of 1 (1!) day we've gone from it's entirely too cold to plant anything to there is a list of a minimum of 9 crops that need to be planted in the next week. we'll see how much of that actually happens, as we haven't even begun to till, plow or spray...

my eclectic and bohemian 9 patches are coming along nicely: 17 more to add to the pile..

Growing Up Odd is shaping up, too. I added 11 more blocks for the yellow and green. not entirely sure if i'll have too much, or not enough, of one color and/or size, I've already decided that if that happens, i'll deconstruct a few blocks and use those squares in the borders.

 

my Squared Away BOM is all caught up.  I'm liking that so far, too, and enjoying working with some triangles for a change. (late night, bad lighting, poor picture. sorry!)

 

 

              

and don't worry: I'm taking lots (and lots!) of time to hug, kiss and snuggle that new little grandbaby! the newborn stage is my favorite... (and maybe even more so now, because I'm the grandma, and I get to sleep through the night, no matter what!)

click on over to see all the other lovely spring colored blocks on Saturday morning...

snatches of time and squares...

even though I've only been regularly blogging about the RSC for the last few years, it's hard to come up with a title every week. maybe I try to be too clever? anyway... hope the title isn't too dumb sounding...

I finished my 3 Wishing Rings, picking the purples that I #1- really liked and #2- had enough of.

I've enjoyed piecing these blocks- and I love how they're a bit different from what I normally do.

I pulled all the purples out of my suitcase of squares, and after rounding up a few stray purple pieces, I had 84 unique purples for my Growing Up Odd quilt!

quite a few of the purples were the only one, but I had enough variety/volume to make 3 blocks for my GUO quilt- a 7X7 block in purples (with lots of value variation) a 3X7 in lavenders and 1 9 patch in the redy-purple.

 

 

this weekend, my two youngest daughters talked me into a "Winter Gathering" party with a few friends from Sunday School- complete with a craft, a buffet (with several choices of snacks and tea!) and LOTS of decorating involving no less than 50 paper snowflakes. I'm definitely not the Hostess with the Mostest, but they're so excited, and their friends are too- I'll have to let you know how it went!

 

meanwhile, click on over to so scrappy to see what everyone else is piecing this wintery week!

 

 

 



well, that's odd... and Just One More!

a bit of sewing this week- not much, but whatever happens, the 3" squares never seem to get any less...

 

a new project for me for RSC18 is the Growing Up Odd quilt, found over at Deanna's blog, Wedding Dress Blue.



 

I've lots and lots of blues, so there were 5 blocks made this month.

 

 I've even made myself a high-tech scrawled drawing to color and count as I piece along. this will be a large quilt when it's done, (aren't they all?!) but I'm excited to see all those squares playing nicely together...

last year for RSC17 I made the low volume plus blocks in each color of the month. (3" squares again still) I laid this out on the living room floor this morning (this is not the final layout. the girls have already switched a few squares around...) and I'm 1 square short for a 5X6 layout!

 

I have an idea for that 30th square: I want to do it the opposite of all the others: a colored plus, with the low volume background. these blocks have been stalled for a couple months now, and I'm wondering if anyone can help a poor quilter out? (ha!)

 

I'm envisioning my plus for the final block to be a dark fabric, with rainbows. maybe the arc of the rainbow on a blue background? or rainbow striped fabric? it needs to read as a dark, or at the least a medium to work. I don't have any of that in my stash. does anybody have a rainbow-esque fabric that will work? I need just 5 3" squares.

 

I'd be grateful and appreciative if anyone is willing to share some squares. I'll park my address here for a couple days (you guys are the only ones who read my blog anyway...) and then I'll take it down.

 

thanks in advance! and be sure to click on over and see all the other scrappy goodness going on this week.