Finish It Up Friday- a first for me!

 

RSC16 and RSC17 found me making crumb blocks every month. since I wasn't also making crumb quilts, I ended up with quite a stack of crumb blocks. inspiration hit last week, and i decided that absolutely nothing else would do but to make some *rainbow* crumb quilts for the littles that always seem to be here at our house!

 

196+ crumb blocks for the 4 quilts, and not even a dent in the pile! the crumb blocks finish at 6" and after washing and drying all these quilts, they finish at 40" square.

although each quilt does not have specific child that it belongs to, I did have someone in mind for a couple of them. the above quilt will be for my youngest grandson, L, when he comes over. it's the same colors as his baby quilt.

this purple/yellow/pink quilt was pieced with my granddaughter, E in mind. it's also the same colors as her baby quilt.

the two rainbow quilts weren't anything in particular- just looking to make a colorful and rainbow snuggly quilt for some of my favorite short people! ( I linked to my inspirations for these in my previous post. )

the backings, clockwise: cream cows, stashed from an MCC Relief Sale 5+ years ago, Moda Chunks- one of my favorite fabrics, a wild red/orange/white black fabric and the Winnie-the-Pooh fabric that is E's.

and the "best part" of these 4 quilts? all backings were from stash! 2 of the battings were frankenbatting. and all the bindings were from my 2½" strip bins. yay, me!

one last shot: Daisy the donkey with the little dolly quilt that I made for granddaughter E. she's just getting to the age where she likes to play with dolls (E, not Daisy!) and I wanted her to  have a special quilt, too. Daisy was not too pleased with the quilt on her back, tho....

 

linking up to Finish It Up Friday, and RSC18 on Saturday. thanks for stopping by!

STOP hoarding and START sewing, the quilter says to herself...

I've been plugging away at my RSC18 projects. I guess I'm a slow learner, since I'm just now realizing I have ALOT of projects started, and I'm not too good at getting them finished....

 

the soothing and mindless sewing is a good thing, but then at some point I need to buckle down and get some of those blocks sewn together!

 

this week I did 12 of my kona indigo 9 patches. 11 colors, 12 blocks. I think I might have done papaya twice....

canary, curry, yarrow, school bus 🚌, buttercup, daffodil, banana 🍌, papaya, butter, maize, corn yellow

between watching the 3 littles 3X a week (our family babysits 3 little girls- ages 5,3 and 1) and grandchildren who visit very regularly, I was realizing that we didn't really have enough small quilts for naps, snuggling, floor time, ect...

 

"didn't really have enough small quilts"

 

can you even believe I just typed that?!

I have a HUGE stack of the crumb blocks- a RSC project from 2016 and 2017. ( I did crumb blocks other years, too, but used them all. or most.)

 



the above 2 rainbow quilts were based on patterns/photos I found here and here. I've had them pinned for awhile; glad to finally get something up on my design wall!

I chose a 7X7 layout for these quilts so I could choose a backing without having to piece it. they're nice and small for the littles to use, and not too heavy or bulky. (the crumb blocks will finish at 6")

 

the purple and yellow quilt above is for my granddaughter to use. she and her family live across the country, but it will be here for her whenever she comes. I did rearrange the  color columns, and they look much tidier now.

although the pictures show the quilts just laid out on the wall, as of this typing, they are all sewn together, pressed and have backings picked out. 2 are even quilted! I'm anxious to get them done and washed so we can start using them!

 

plus, with the changing weather (although we DID have snow 3 TIMES this week!!!) it's time for me to be making some spring dresses for my little (or really, medium sized) girls! they've also requested some nightgowns.

believe it or not, the above photo is AFTER I used nearly 200 crumb blocks for the 4 quilts! and the black/brown/grey/cream crumb blocks aren't even pictured!

 

I'm thinking of making another crumb quilt, similar to what's pictured here.

 

anyway, if I want to get these quilts done, I guess I'd better get off the computer, and up to the sewing room! thanks for stopping by, and I hope to have the quilts done and ready to show off next week. meanwhile, click on over to Angela, the hostess (with the mostest!) of RSC18 and see what every one else is working on.

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...

so much green and new life, too!

no fabric in this first picture, but it's green! these are our tomatoes that are growing down at the local greenhouse: they're custom started for us so they are the variety we need, and the size we want when it's time to plant. for us, in Northern PA, our target date to plant these in our high tunnel is May 1. even with the high tunnel, and our particular micro-climate of living by the creek, that's still plenty early for zone 5!

I did manage to get a *tiny* bit of green sewing time these last 2 weeks, and finished 17 (!) of my kona indigo and the COM 9 patches. super thrilled with these, as usual...

the featured colors, in no particular order: sour apple, green grass, mint, ice frappe and celadon

 

candy green, chartreuse, leaf, moss, spruce and holly

pickle, grasshopper, sweet pea, avocado, pond, basil and peridot.

this little bundle of joy and sweetness is the main reason I haven't had much time to sew (him, and getting ready for Easter with new dresses and surprises for the Easter baskets...)

little LR made his appearance a mere 2 days after his baby quilt was finished! the labor and delivery was MUCH EASIER for my daughter M this time, and she's made a speedy recovery.
 

Baby LR is healthy and happy in every way, and loved by his whole family. he nurses like a champ, and he sleeps pretty well, too. he's less than 2 weeks old, and already we can't imagine our lives with out him!

 

toddler C is adjusting well to having a new baby brother, and mom is adjusting well to having a busy little boy (I sometimes compare C to a rabid capuchin monkey. if you think of a cross between a squirrel and a monkey, that would be a pretty accurate representation of C!) and a seemingly always hungry newborn.

 

life is good! and more good news: spring is coming, Christ is risen, and the new color of the month is yellow! click on over and see what everyone else has been working on- it's sure to inspire AND cheer you up!

in which the blogger actually finishes TWO quilts!

haha! hope you're sitting down....

I basted my RSC17 Low Volume Plus blocks last week. even though I was so excited to get it done, I still had to "discipline" myself to quilt it- that's really not my favorite part!

I love how the colors just sort of fade into each other. and it's a nice size, too- about 62"X75". a nice snuggle quilt.

the backing makes me happy, too. I waffled between several different fabrics (I'm usually not so indecisive!) and settled on these. the panel was a gift from my husband a few years ago- it's a color swatch of many different Hoffman batiks. the stripes are Moda- and after looking at the picture, I wish I would have noticed that the blue stripes aren't lined up... oh, well... and of course I was just a *tiny* bit short of fabric, so the clown hair rainbow fabric makes a small appearance on the back of the quilt.



I'm such a horrible procrastinator- but I finally got the baby quilt done! my oldest daughter, M, was due with baby #2, a little boy, yesterday. (yesterday!) we knew he would be late, but at least it's not my fault, since the quilt is done now!

 

C, the first little guy is 16 months old, and he's a busy little boy! (he also has no idea how his life is about to change!) despite being so active and a little bit crazy, he loves to be read to. he'll sit for quite a long time and listen to story after story.

you can't see M's baby  bump here, but it's so cute! the nursery is decorated in hedgehogs; you can see the 4 different hedgie fabrics I used in the quilt. one of them was from spoonflower- a definite splurge, but they were so cute I couldn't resist! the nursery colors are aqua and navy. I threw in some green because that seemed to match well and be in several of the other fabrics already. she and husband K really like the quilt, so that makes my mom (and grandma) heart happy!

 

now we just wait for Little Mister #2 to decide he's ready to come...

 

while we're waiting, click over to Angie's to see what everyone else is working on this week!

(and I even updated the RSC18 tab this week too! so many accomplishments in just one week. ha!)

 

did you miss me?

haha! just kidding... you don't need to answer that. it's been a crazy 2 weeks around here, with just in the last few days a little bit of {much needed} time in the sewing room.

 

2 Sundays ago, my youngest daughter, BJ, was sick and sore with an achey neck. (I was also getting sick, too, and till the end of the week had Flu A and an ear infection...) long story short, BJ had a serious staph infection, and after a visit to the walk-in clinic, our local ER and a CT scan, she was transferred to the nearest Children's Hospital so she could be cared for by a pediatric ENT. (there are NO pediatric doctors of any sort in our rural county). 3 days of IV antibiotics later, and we were all on the mend and back home.

 

we're thankful for {good} health insurance, a great Children's Hospital with wonderful doctors and nurses, supportive and loving family and a wonderful church family, too. we got sick on Sunday, February 25 and then the next thing I knew it was Tuesday, March 6! we're glad to be home, and back together again!

green is a great color for March. I've lots of greens, and although the called color is on the lighter and brighter side, it's easier for me to work on all my greens at once. I think it's too much for my brain to sort them out and then set some aside for another month...

I'm working on my eclectic and bohemian 9 patches; 16 are added to the pile for this month.

I finally found the perfect fabric to finish the last block of my RSC17 Low Volume Plus quilt. (think 1980's clown hair...) and pieced the last block for that quilt. I've just finished pin basting it too, and hope to have it in the DONE pile soon. i'll keep you posted with pictures.

don't forget to see what everyone else is working on with their bright and springy greens!

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!

 

 

 



that's the ticket....

I have some other sewing responsibilities that I'm working on, so only a few 9 patches to show for right now.

I'm not sure how I'm doing it, but I think I'm achieving the eclectic AND bohemian look...

I think it has more to do with how the fabrics are combined, rather than what fabrics are chosen.

I'm thinking that I'd like to combine my RSC18 9 patches into 2 baby quilts when they're all done. I have 2 cribs for the babies that we care for- one up and one down, so 2 should be just the ticket!

make sure you go see what everyone else is doing.

purple: she is such a fickle color...

I would have said that I didn't have many purples in my stash...

I would have been wrong. I counted 81 unique purples (not all are pictured; some of them there was only one square)

 

but purple? she's so fickle... it seems as if she more often than not, can't decide if she wants to be brown, pink, red or blue...

I've pieced my 9 patch kona solids for the month- 12 blocks in lupine, nightfall, thistle, morning glory, berry, cerise, regal, plum and ??? as ever, kona indigo is the background.

 

I have a few other projects I'm working on, but happy to spend some time in the sewing room playing with my fabric.  see what everyone else has been creating here.