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!

summer is slipping away...

but more sewing time is just around the corner!

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.