a new month, a new color...

RED is the color for July over at soscrappy and RSC15. I'm * mostly * caught up with all the colors, and although I have a lot of plans for red, I'll just piece steadily along, and see where I get! (July is a bit of a longer month, too, so maybe that will make a difference?)

 

I have lots of my red already cut into 3" squares, and the pile that's waiting to be cut is already pressed. I had a few minutes after Farmer's Market yesterday afternoon, so I disappeared upstairs for a couple hours.
 

this exciting pile of reds and sawtooth stars I started a few months ago. after making a couple sample blocks, I set it aside until Angela called the red month. this project was one of those ideas that popped into my head: ohmygosh,Ican'tevensleepuntilIpullfabricsandmakeacoupleofblocks. you know those kind of ideas/projects, right?

looking at that stack of reds makes me so happy! I think there are 30 different reds, some Christmas fabrics, and some "everyday" favorites. the background is cream, with gold dots. I don't have enough of the one fabric to do the background all the same, but I have 2 other fabrics that are very, very similar. i'll work through this stack, cutting my 3" squares, and a 5½" square for the center of the star, and then i'll be ready to piece a star or two as time allows.

 

who knows? maybe i'll have it done in time for Christmas!

 

(keep scrolling down to see ANOTHER project I started with my 3" squares!)

 

I'm such a crazy lady...

QAL with Wedding Dress Blue: and all from stash, too!

Deanna (over at Wedding Dress Blue) is one of my favorite bloggers (check out her tutorial tab!) is hosting a QAL. remember how I said I'm a crazy lady? of course I decided to join and quilt along!

 

I think it started in April, and I had just the colors, and recipient, in mind for my quilt. January, February and March colors for RSC15 were blue, purple and yellow. can you believe that I still had lots (and lots!) of my 3" squares left over?

 

I decided to make a quilt for our Tuesday morning garden helper, Eileen. we have a small CSA, with 30+ members this year, and one way that we're able to "keep up" with all the work here on the farm is with the faithful help of our work shares. in exchange for a full CSA share, they work each week for 4 hours. we give them enough veggies to eat for the week, plus many extras to can and freeze. it's a win/win situation all around. Eileen has been with us for 3 years now, and we are so grateful for her dedication and hard work. (plus, she's been with us long enough, that when something is lost or misplaced, she knows where to look for it. I'm telling you: she's fabulous!)

 

anyway- her favorite color is purple, and yellow was an obvious complementary color to add, along with blue. I've used muslin as the background (so 1980's, and what a nightmare!) and it's coming along nicely. after looking at the picture, I realize that it's a bit more yellow than I would like, but I think I can fix that by adding more purple in the borders to tone it down.

 

it's been a relaxing and easy quilt to work on an evening here or there, and I can't wait 'til it's finished- I think she'll love it!

 

 

what a colorful riot of blocks!

we're halfway done with RSC15 (can you believe it?!) and I have quite the pile of blocks. with no further ado:

 

9 patches (monochromatic) with Kona white and black. 

strippy scraps- not sure what i'll do with these, but I'm sure an idea will strike!

16 patches- possibly my mostest favorite so far! I have 112+ of these guys (and I even got the green, purple and aqua ones ironed!) I'm thinking that I'd like to make 2 quilts out of these- either for the guest room beds, OR one for a tablecloth for family holiday dinners, and the other as a tablecloth for my table at Farmer's Market...

4 patches: I'm not loving this stack, but there are oodles of possibilities.

the dreaded D4P. some are from last year, and a goodly amound from this year. my friend did a D4P with a very simple setting, and it's a great looking quilt. i'll probably end up doing the same.

crumb blocks (6" finished): this is what started all this rainbow goodness for me- I was piecing these blocks sporadically, but when I stumbled onto RSC14, it was all over, and I haven't looked back yet!  

here is the stacks of blocks for my zigzag quilts. I plan on making two: one horizontal, and one vertical. I'm excited aobout these 2 quilts, and can't wiat to see how they turn out! (there is a picture in this post of a small sneak preview of the layout...)

 

and last (but not least) a recent re-stashing of neutrals for my RSC15 projects. it takes lots and lots of neutrals to keep these projects rolling- more than I would have ever thought, actually. recently, one of our LQS had a 40% off sale as part of their grand re-opening.

clearly, it would have been irresponsible NOT to go and save all that money!

ha!

I couldn't ask for more!

it's a rainy Saturday morning, the garden chores are done (or at least done enough until Monday morning!) and I'm upstairs in the sewing room, making the rest of my D4P. (3" squares)

if you need me, don't call me- unless it involves bleeding from a major artery, or a broken bone.

ha!

a very busy week, but still time for a *tiny* bit of sewing...

 a couple relaxing evenings of sewing up in the sewing room, and I pieced, pressed AND trimmed 25 crumb blocks. who knew there were so many shades of green?

I'm going to hold off a bit on making my green sawtooth stars until I see how the RSC15 sampler quilt is laid out. i have so many different greens that I'm not sure which ones will look the best...

4 16 patches of aqua, and another green. I can't believe how many 16 patches (and all the other blocks) I have! funny how just a bit at a time really adds up over months of diligence....

it's also quite evident that I need an ironing fairy!

 

you can click and like here to see what I'm up to the rest of the week when I'm not in the sewing room. (and also see why I'm often too tired to even go upstairs for a bit of sewing!)

 

click over on Saturday morning to see all the other RSC15 projects.

Aqua and a bit of light blue...

 

a very small bit of sewing time this week, but I was able to sort out my aquas, and make 12 crumb blocks.

 I took 2 light blue crumb blocks that I had already made, and sewed them up into the sawtooth stars for this month's color. I guess the 2 aqua stars that I did might end up being extras...

all the rest of the rainbow loveliness can be found on Angela's blog.

just a bit of aqua...

I don't have too many light blue scraps- I used all my blues back in January- it was easier for me to use the light AND dark, rather than separate them out. so this month i'll be working in my aquas, and also catching up with the greens, since I didn't quite get them finished.

 

first up is the scrappy 4 patches- and pressed, too!

I did get my scrappy 9 patches done (kona white, and scrappy black center). but once again, I did not manage to get them ironed. sometimes, you know, that iron is just too heavy to lift and push around after a long day in the garden...

 

 

last year (or was it two years ago?) I made the girls matching quilts for their beds. usually I cut off a 2½" strip from my fabrics, and toss them in the strip bin. i had many, many strips (still do, actually!) and wanted to make a smaller sized quilt that would match their bed quilts. Bonnie's scrappy trips to the rescue! I pulled all the bright colored strips from the strip bins and put them in my colander. (yes, I store all these strips in a VERY large, restaurant sized aluminum colander. it's really cool! I'll show you sometime...) the girls pull sets of 5, and then sometimes in the evening, i'll make a few blocks. it's relaxing and mindless- just what I need sometimes. (and those of you with an eagle eye will notice that 5 of the blocks up on the design wall are not pressed. I see a pattern here...

 

here's where I pieced my light blue, and a few aqua strip sets for my zig zag quilt.

 

I also pieced 2 aqua saw tooth stars that I show here.

 

so: that's that! visit Angela's blog to see more of the RSC15 projects. I'm sure you'll be inspired! 

it's all about the green- inside AND out!

 

 it seems silly to even mention that it was a busy week in the gardens... we planted tomatoes (300 Roma), 70+ hot peppers, sweet corn, sweet potatoes, 150 late cabbages, hydroponic lettuce and other stuff I can't remember...(it all blurs together after awhile!)

there were a couple evenings that I was able to find some time and energy to sew upstairs, and I finished my 9 patches- AND even ironed them!

I also finished numerous strip sets for my zig zag quilt, and even got them pressed. I was too tired to get them cut into the 4½" sections, so will work on that this weekend. click on over to Angela's to see the last week of greens. so much inspiration in one place!

a little bit of pressure goes a long way!

it was a busy, busy week here, and if not for the pressure of my local quilt groups UFO15 project that was due on Friday afternoon, I probably wouldn't have gotten any sewing done at all.

as it happened, I "finished" my BOM top at 9:30PM Thursday night. ahem... even though I know I work better under pressure, sometimes it gets a bit ridiculous...

 

I was in a hurry (or tired) and forgot to lay out the final row of sawtooth stars on the quilt, but it's all done now. I still need to add borders, but since I changed my mind about the color, I'll have to get more fabric. I love the way it turned out- but it was a killer to make all of those tiny stars. ack!

 

in other news, I've realized that even though I'm being really diligent and creative, I'm not working through my 3" squares like I'd like to. so- I've pulled all the ones that I'm fairly sure I won't use, and I'm offering them to the first reader/commenter who would like to use them for any project.

 

I'd like to see them actually used, instead of hoarded, so I'm passing them along. keeping it moving, so to speak.

 

 

the stack is over 7" high- I have no idea how many squares are actually there, but it's A LOT! 99% cottons, and many, many different kinds of fabrics: vintage, shirtings, calicos, solids, pretty, ugly...

please let me know you'd like them in the comments below- I'd be so happy to pass them along. (or you can e-mail me at djcap8 at frontiernet dot net )

and I can't wait to see what YOU will do with them!

bits of green all over!

another busy week here; it feels redundant to mention it! of course it's busy- it's spring on the farm!

I made 40 4 patches-and even managed to press them, too! woohoo!

on another note: I've noticed this before, but never said anything: the kindle takes TERRIBLE pictures! the iPhone pix are much better, but pictures on the kindle are easier for me to upload onto my blog...

also: don't forget the hashtag #rainbowscrapchallenge2015 on instagram!