August orange blocks

This is the start of ORANGE blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I've been running behind since getting sick in July. Last week I finished up the purple blocks and now I'm rushing to get orange ones done. 

 Summer has been super busy with good and bad things going on. But now that fall is on the horizon, it's"catch-up" time. Al and I are hoping to take a trip back up north to visit my brothers on the farm. They called to say the veggies are in ...lots of tomatoes for canning. Fall usually starts with canning tomatoes for pasta sauce and this year will be the same. Al loves his pasta dinners! I'd also like to can some apple pie filling and some Jalepeno relish. We're both watching our sugar consumption but a little treat here and there wont hurt (jam and relishes are included in the treat category). Al's sugar is too high and my inflammation was getting bad so that's the reason for the diet change. It's definitely helping. Well, that's it for now❤

Ive been gone for a while...

Posting on my blog on a fairly regular basis was how I shared my quilting makes, for years. But since covid it's been VERY sporadic because Instagram is so much easier....and life in general was not. So I'm back again...I hope. I do not have internet at home. I use the library for the most part...or my phone. And cell service out here is touch and go. Dropped calls are the norm here. So it's a struggle to get a post out. But here goes... Now that it's a NEW year and we're sort of leaving the pandemic behind (I think), I'm hopeful. I've been super busy quilting up small quilts for 5 great niece/nephew.

This one is for Lewis. I'm working on his sisters quilt now. Just before Christmas I sent off this one and another (can't find the pic):

Now I'm basting a fourth child's quilt, for Della. If you know me, I'm always working on multiple quilts...I get bored easily. So right now I'm quilting daughter Lisa's quilt and piecing a Pyramid quilt. I just finished a bowtie scrap quilt top which was my "leader-ender" project for the past year. That top will go into the HUGE pile of "to be quilted" tops.

I'm still looking at that Bowtie ...does it need a border? I might add one💁 And my final project going on in the sewing room is #rsc2022 I'm joining Angela at www.superscrappy.blogspot.com She's hosting the annual Rainbow Scrap Challenge. So far I've made blocks for January(red) and February(aqua). This is a great way to organize and use up little scraps.I'm doing 3 rainbow quilts.

Guess that's it for now!

Flag pillow

Labor Day will be here before you know it and since I love to decorate for all the holidays, I made a scrappy American flag pillow.

 When I was getting prepped for my collage class, I wanted to included a simple pillow pattern ...this gave me the perfect project to use as a sample.

But I prefer my pillows to have more body...to be quilted. So I took the class sample apart, quilted it then added a back zipper. This pic below is it before:

I added the off center zip then cut binding to finish off the pillow like a quilt.

The binding gives it a finished flange...

Check off another finish for August!

FREE BLOCK PATTERN:

If you would like to make this block

Cut: 

(8) 1-1/2" navy squares

       (8) 1-1/2" white squares
(2) 8-1/2"x1-1/2" white strips
(2) 8-1/2"x1-1/2" red strips
(2) 12-1/2"x1-1/2" white strips
(3) 12-1/2"x1-1/2" red strips
Sew the "stars" section first. Stitch the 16 patch by alternating 2 white and 2 navy squares to form a row. Make 4 rows then stitch the rows together alternating the color the row starts with.
Sew a short red strip to a short white strip. Repeat. Sew these two strips together, red to white. Attach this "striped" section to the 16 patch making sure that a navy square is in the upper left corner and that the top "stripe" is red.
Now sew a long red to a long white. Repeat. Stitch these two sections together, red to white, then sew the extra red to the bottom white. Attach this to the bottom of your stars and stripe section, red stripe on the top and bottom.


To complete the pillow, I added light blue fabric to all sides and trimmed the pillow front to 12-1/2" x 16-1/2"...quilt it with straight line quilting. Make a back piece with a zipper in it, the same size as the front. 
Put WRONG sides together...baste close to edge through all thicknesses. Bind it as you would a quilt. The binding becomes a cute flange...no turning inside out! 

Linking up with Oh Scrap. 

On to another project

It has been raining since 7am and it hasn't let up...probably won't stop at all today if the weather app is correct. SO, it's a sew day. Al and I had plans to build the second window well on the new house...aww shucks...guess I'm stuck in the sewing room today. (Can't you just FEEL my disappointment?)
So here's todays project...

While making my Sister's Quilt, I made a pile of "leaders & enders".

My scrap bin is huge and almost overflowing...it was time to slice and dice.

 I cut a bunch of strips then subcut into triangle pairs... More than 200 of them. Some scraps were so small that I could only cut 

very tiny strips or squares. Those I made into little 9-patches. Some of the scraps were beautiful little feedsacks or pretty leftovers from other quilts. 

I paired up a bunch of the half square trianges and made hourglass blocks. To make the hourglass blocks pop a little, I surrounded them with this cute plus sign fabric. 

Then I dug around in my solids and found a blue that felt somewhat "vintage"...perfect backdrop for my feedsack scraps.

So today I'm putting everything together. 

This quilt will become a pattern. I'm calling it Allie's Hourglass. 

And here's my finished Sister's Quilt. The binding is on and the quilt is in the mail, on the way to my sister.

I chose the small green and white stripe for binding. She has a green sunroom and is planning on using it there. Perfect, I think!

On a roll...

 It's quilted!! I'm so glad to be done with the quilting on this one. Theres a few days left before we head out of town, so enough time to cut and bind this one.

The binding decision is up to Jenn since it'll be in her house. I kind of like this small plaid but she really wanted red or blue. Maybe she has something in her stash.

Today Al is sick...a cold I hope, not the FLU. Good thing about that is I'm getting plenty done. My neice-in-law is expecting a girl in May so my sister-in-law is throwing her a shower. Today i had put together a couple of "prizes". When i searched on Pinterest I found the cutest ideas...dont you just love that site? So the idea I copied was a basket full of bathroom shower items with a tag that says "From my shower to yours". Cute, huh?

February is purple scraps month at Angelas blog... Rainbow Scrap Challenge...

I was able to dig up a few scraps and make them into blocks. This is just about the end of my purple.

I'm feeling pretty good about getting my stitching done and projects completed this year. January's and February's UFOs just need binding... Scraps have been made into blocks and my bow tie scrap blocks are more than half made. Yay!

Sunday Morning Sewing

The dogs in sweaters quilt is a top!! I'm adding some large borders to the top and bottom because we need more length for Henry's bed. The sides will get a minimal 2" border...it seems plenty wide. 

I finished up a few more of the #rainbowscrapchallenge2018 blocks. I have 11 done...each block is 96 pieces so over 1000 pieces so far!

Once I've added the borders to Henry's dog quilt I'll start quilting Al's southwest quilt. That's the UFO of the month and we both want it done!

Januarys purple blocks are becoming a quilt!!

Here's my purple Scrap Jar blocks with the setting I decided on. This decision took FOREVER! 

Last night I played with my EQ program trying out different colors and setting blocks but they were all too traditional or too bright or too white. I wanted to bring in a little gray or black to tone everything down but still let the purples shine. 

So I brought out all my little pieces of low volumes and black or grays on white. Loved it!

Then I had to decide if I still wanted setting blocks or just sashing. Since I wanted this quilt to be a lap size, the sashing made sense.. Now the cornerstones....I wanted something modern but something that used up more scraps so I played with the little leftover pieces from the star centers. 

The plus signs were more modern than a regular nine patch and if I added a different purple center then I would get the design I wanted AND use up lots of purple pieces. Added bonus...when I cut the sashing I had lots of little black on white scraps to use in making the cornerstone background. 

With any luck I'll have the top done tomorrow!

Scrap organizing

You ever stand back and look at your fabric collection....and just SIGH...not the good sigh like wow what a great bunch of fabrics....no, the other kind.. The "Am I ever going to be able to use all this fabric?" The "when I'm gone someday, are my kids going to be overwhelmed my stash?" Or the " can this out of control stash be organized...cut up...used?" 

Well, that's what I was saying to myself as I stared into my sewing room closet yesterday. 

So starting with this box of leftovers from my Farm Girl Vintage quilt....I'm cutting...chopping...sorting. I started a box with 4-1\2" strips...2-1/2" strips...and 1-1/2" strips.

When I searched my favorite scrap quilt patterns I found most used 2" HSTs, 2" squares, 4"HSTs and squares and 1" strips and squares. So this whole box is getting chopped ...unless it's a really large piece or if it belongs with civil war or 30s (I keep those separate).

Some of the 4-1/2" strips were cut into triangles right away. I'll put a stack in a tin for the next scrappy.

And if you know me at all, I gave a hard time throwing any scraps away....guess that's what got me into this pickle. So when a strip was too small to cut into a 1-1/2", I cut 1/2" strips...and save them in this cute jar. Pretty to look at but there's a purpose here. My back door rug is looking a little worn so it's time to crochet a new one. As this jar fills I'll attach the strips together, roll into balls and store the balls in a basket. Sometime after Christmas I should have enough to make my new rug.