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.

More good news!

I'm really happy how my RSC16 column-along is coming. the Kona solids make me pretty happy, too! BUT WAIT: there's MORE good news!  

 

 

I borrowed an accuquilt die cutter from a friend, and a (different) friend and I cleaned out the cupboard at Scraps2Wraps of all the miscellaneous (and super-annoying) little bits of small and oddly shaped fabrics. I brought them home, and in just a little over 1 hour, was able to cut this 9½" tall stack of tumblers! I was very happy about that BUT WAIT: there's MORE good news!
 

11 months, 189 16 patches and 3024 3" blocks later...

they say slow and steady wins the race, and if my stack of completed 16 patches is anything to go by, they're sure right!

 

I don't have anymore greens to piece into the 16s; I used all my greens already... (forget what month that was, it seems ages ago!) the background fabrics are all creams/tans/beige- no whites. each of the background fabrics repeat several (many?) times, but the colored blocks are all different.

 

so: out of the 189 blocks, there are 189 different fabrics. and each of those fabrics I chose because they were my favorite.

 

how is this possible? what's the matter with me?! can I really have 189 favorite and/or meaningful unique scraps of fabric?

the answer is yes, it seems. there are dresses, many other quilts, shirts, purses, aprons, bonnets, fabrics from friends, on and on it goes ~ it's all in here, and represented in this one conglomeration of a quilt. for me, even though it may seem just a tad ridiculous, it adds another depth of meaning and sentimentality to my quilt.

 

I plan to piece this pile of 16 patches into 2 quilts- I'm debating what the ultimate use of them will be. it's a toss up between a quilt for my table at farmer's market (using all the animal/veggie/country fabrics) and a table cloth to be used on our table at special family meals and holidays. or, I might do matching quilts for the (twin) guest room beds.

 

click over to angela's to see all the other RSC15 projects as we finish up another great  year.

it's hip to be square!

in-between my other sewing, I've still been working on my 16 patches, and they're slowly coming along. I still have lots of the blacks and greys to do (I used those 2 colors in place of the indigo)

there is something so endearing and addictive about these humble and simple little blocks- they are certainly one of my favorites!

with so many different fabrics and backgrounds to choose from, I could never decide which one is my favorite block of them all... and it's good that I don't' have to choose: I have almost 200 at last count! yikes!

I do plan to make 2 quilts from these 16 patches- one for my table at farmer's market (using all the veggie fabrics) and another for the dining room table for family holiday meals. these 16 patches finish at 10"; just a nice size.

 

 

here's a picture of the whole top of the Bethlehem Star that I pieced last week. it's 72" X 80", but it sure looks dwarfed in this picture! scroll down one post to see what else i've been up to while I was absent from the RSC link-ups. and be sure to click on over to angela's to see all the RSC goodness for this week!

 

PS: did you see that the colors for Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt came out this morning? I'm so excited- the color combinations are FANTASTIC this year! who's planning on quilting along? 

It's time: let's get these quilts together!

after sewing and sewing all these squares together, I decided to start sewing some stuff together (even though technically, I'm a month early for that...) I wanted to see some progress, and not just piles of blocks...

these 16 patches are left over from last year- if i remember, i had just stalled on what to do with them.

last week i decided: why not potholders? my old ones were pretty grimy after using them in the summer kitchen when making applesauce, and what better way to use and enjoy my favorite fabrics than in the kitchen?

let's face it: i spend more time in the kitchen than in the sewing room most days, so i can still get my fabric fix! i cut into some of my all time favorite fabrics for the backings- and I'm so glad i did!

 

another RSC project i worked on this week was my 9 patch blocks.  after sewing and sewing all year long, i was very surprised to count that i had 189+ of the 9 patches! i knew i wanted to do something interesting, and non-traditional in the setting, so after playing around for awhile, i settled on the layout below.

 



 

 

i really like this layout- and there are so many blocks left over! i'll let the little girls lay out another quilt, and we'll give that to my friend for quilting and send it off to one of the MCC auctions.

 

thanks for stopping by- click on over to angela's to see what everyone else is working on. and if you have a minute, scroll down one more post, and tell me what you think of my red stars Christmas quilt- I'm looking for some input and advice!

just a little bit of a sneak peek...at my amazing powers of deduction...

this week I was able to get a couple nights in the sewing room. I decided to work on my zig-zag strips, and got the orange ones done. and since I'm extra perceptive these days (ha!) I decided to go ahead and do the brown ones while I was at it...

 

and here's another amazing idea of mine from this week: while the girls were working on their school at the school room table, and I was (very) attentively supervising them as they worked on math, science and language arts I also spritzed, pressed and cut the zig-zag squares. normally i'll drink coffee and surf facebook and/or instagram (follow me @ jlcap69), but I realized that I really could (and should) use my time better, and get some stuff done. I'll often have plans to go to the sewing room in the afternoon when my work is done (ha!) or in the evening if I'm not too tired. (ha! again).

 

so that was a win/win for us all. I have a very little pile of the D4P at the table to work on, and also the red and black zig-zags to get pressed and cut.

 

next week is super, extra busy with 2 days of butchering the meat birds, sewing circle at church, our last (regular) CSA pickup on Thursday, and a field trip to Genesee Country Village on Friday. then, the last Farmer's Market is on Saturday.

 

I'm whooped already!

Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

I was hoping for a bit more sewing time this week, but that just didn't happen. but that's ok!

my orange is just about done, i think. (i haven't even been up in the sewing room all week, so I don't quite remember!) I have some other catch ups to do- like the green strips, and some pressing and cutting. I still have some 16 patches to do, and the dreaded D4P...

click on over to angela's to see what everyone else has gotten done this week!

 



just popping back in to share a couple things.... I have a RSC15 document that I print out every month. (does that mean something is wrong with me?!) I use it to keep track of the multiple RSC projects I'm working on, and it also helps keep me on track, and moving forward. Friday night I spent some time in the sewing room, and I made some more of my 4 patches for the D4P. (red, orange and black (indigo))

 

a while ago, someone asked me what quilt pattern/book the sunflower quilt in my cover banner was from. here's a photo of the book- I think it was published in 1948. the pattern is pretty sparse- it leaves a lot for the quilter to figure out! I made this quilt with 11 other friends. at the time I belonged to a very active quilt guild, and we had a "birthday club". each month, (usually our birthday month) we chose a block for the other women to make for us. this was my choice, and my only requests were to use scrappy yellows and brown- different for all 3 sunflowers in the blocks. I provided the green fabric for the leaves and stem. (and I actually traced a sunflower leaf for the applique pattern! )

 

 

funny how things come around again- I LOVE to grow sunflowers for our CSA families, and for farmer's market! we grow a pollenless variety, and it's always a happy morning when I go down to the gardens to harvest the sunflowers, and they're all smiling at me with their happy little faces! anyway.... the above is a picture of the sunflowers that I harvested one morning last week.

 

thanks for stopping by!

with just a little help from my furry friend...

fall is in the air, and the gardens are winding down, row by row. Dave has already started planting the cover crops, so I can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel! which is great- I'm whooped! there are a few moments here and there for sewing-

-and I've been glad to get up in the sewing room for some relaxing time with my furry friend, Millie. funny how cats are around the quilts; those blocks were only on the floor for mere SECONDS and she was on them...

black is my indigo, and I don't have much orange, so I 'm hoping to get caught up pretty soon. I have all my sawtooth stars done, but no connecter blocks. my other RSC15 projects are limping along as well- I hate falling behind, so I've really tried to keep up as best I can.

go look at all the other pretty blocks!