Strike while inspiration is hot

I started this year with high expectations for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge efforts, but around February I lost interest -- not only in RSC but sewing in general.  It seems like everything I started would stall at some point.  Oh, I had a few flourishes of finish-itis.  (Maybe I would feel better if I took stock of what I have accomplished.)  But I digress ...

A month or so ago I bought a new fabric I thought would inspire me to knock out some RSC blocks.

It has lots of colors to work with, but it doesn't sparkle like I'd hoped because of the density of the lines.  The linear nature also limits how it can be used.  So it sat folded on the shelf ... until ...

Several blogs recently have been featuring a new pattern by Preeti at Sew Preeti Quilts she calls Masala Box (available in her Etsy shop).  BINGO! I bet this would make a nice RSC block.  So Friday I did a test run with this month's color, lime green.

Hmm, not bad.  So Saturday I whipped up a couple of pink blocks,

then Sunday, yellow.

Monday, it was blue, then Tuesday, red, and Wednesday, purple, and today it will be orange

I'm thinking two blocks of 10 colors will give me a nice throw quilt with a 4x5 setting.

But wait, there's more!  I've been working with strips that have left me with a lot of twosies.   Inspired by  Cynthia Brunz's Scrap Mixology Series (Quilting is More Fun than Housework), I am doing this with my leftovers.  Same concept, smaller scale.

The pattern is Chaser Module (#3)  (available in Cynthia's Etsy shop).  

Enough writing.  I need to get started on orange!

Whittle's Fabrics

If you don't know about Whittle's, you need to!  It's a small, family-owned fabric shop in Chalybeate, KY (pronounced Kleebit).  Their prices are very reasonable, with flat-rate shipping on most purchases, and service can't be beat!  I ordered a fat quarter bundle on Monday.

Your Order #100017798 (placed on October 25, 2021 1:25:40 PM CDT)  was shipped via USPS, 10/25/2021 1:32 PM Received 10/26/2021 at 3 PM. Granted, I'm just a few hours away.  But six minutes from order to shipment being ready? Do you know any other shop that will do that? My plan is to use many of these lovelies on my Bible blocks next year.

   

Not Much Going On

... in the sewing room, that is.  After I finished this month's clue for the Meadow Mist mystery I got to thinking about hexagons. With so many of the Devo gals having invested in a 60-degree triangle ruler, I looked for another pattern that I could teach them.  I decided on Sara Nephew's Honeycomb Waffle which was my most popular class when I was teaching on a regular basis. 

It looks complicated, but is SO easy with strip piecing.  I was concerned that my instructions which use a Clearview Triangle with a point might not work with the Creative Grids triangle with a flat top.  So I quickly whipped up a sample of each to test it.

Other than being marginally larger (1/4"), the Creative Grids block on the top is the same!  (I forgot that I had already gone through this exercise when I made the blue quilt above.)

The measurement lines on both rulers are the same.  I can't say that for other brands that I have tested.  Bottom line is either of those brands will work; you just can't use both of them in the same quilt.  Pick one and stick with it!

I was so enthralled with my fabric choices that I just kept going.

I think these colors will be especially nice for a man, but it would also look very nice on our family room sofa ... just sayin' ...

Speaking of the sofa, we were excited to have these guys pop in on Friday to celebrate their stepdad's 70th birthday, albeit a day late.

We had been scheming for several months, trying to find a time and place to have a big shindig, but schedules (and construction) just wouldn't mesh.  So the boys came on their own, one from Arkansas and one from Nashville.  We had a nice dinner out and they stayed overnight.  Alex was thrilled!

Day three of construction -- it was a short day; the guys don't usually work on Friday.

There is a lot of fiddly work involved with deconstruction and adding those subfloor drains, but it will be so nice to not have drips through to the patio below.  It rained briefly during the night and we could see that the drains work!

Progress

 Day One - demolition begins

Day Two - installation of the subfloor drainage system.

The contractor doesn't want us to forget there's no floor out there!

Have you ever???

It's a mystery.

In more ways than one. 

Since August I have been working on the Macaron Mystery hosted by Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs.  As I said in an earlier post, I enjoy her mysteries because she tells you what fabrics will touch each other, the clues come out only once a month, her directions are very specific, and, quite frankly, her designs are always lovely.  She also offers an option to take a sneak peak, which I did this year to make sure my fabric choices would not only fit the design, but be sufficient.

You may recall that on the first clue that involved sewing 54 HSTs ...

I had a mild panic that I had switched the two backgrounds when cutting. (When I get to the end of this tale, you'll understand why.)

When I got to this month's clue, I understood my consternation:  there was not enough of the dotted background I had used in the HSTs to even begin cutting this month's clue.  So when a search through lots of project boxes did not reveal more of that fabric, I opted to use a Grunge for the flying geese that would blend well (sort of ...) with the more creamy fabrics I had previously chosen.  

I KNOW I cut (and marked the diagonal on) the sixty 2-7/8" squares needed to make flying geese; I have the five strip stubs to prove it!  But could I find the second 30 I needed? NO.  After a day of searching, I finally gave in and cut more squares.  The 60 flying geese are done.

And guess what I found when I was putting the project tray back on  the shelf ..,.

... right next to the where the project tray should go.  It had been covered with a pattern sheet.

Has this ever happened to you?

Guess What???

 

Six months late, the Trex has arrived!!  The scaffolding has been installed.  Deck replacement begins tomorrow!  Couldn't be a better 70th birthday present for Alex if I had planned it myself!

While I was waiting for the crew to arrive this morning, I set about making flying geese for the Meadow Mist Mystery.  After realizing that I did not have enough of the planned BG-, I substituted a white Grunge.  If I need to replace the dot I was using in the first clue, it will be an easy substitution. 

We are making these flying geese 4-at-a-time. I KNOW I cut the appropriate number of white squares and marked the diagonal ... but can I find them???  NO!!

Note to self:  Don't work on three projects at a time ...

Catching Up

Well, it's been over a week since my last post.  Not that I haven't been busy; just never felt like saying anything when I had the time.  Does that ever happen to you?

I've mainly been working on the One Block Wonder, piecing along with my students from Devo.  This is my final layout -- thanks to suggestions from the High Road Quilter.  About half the columns have been stitched, hoping to get all the center portion together by the end of the weekend.

We had our second class on Tuesday and I was impressed at the progress everyone had made.  Some are just doing small projects like a table runner to learn the technique and a couple are doing bedsize quilts.  Did I think to take any pictures?  Nope.  Maybe there will be some finishes by the next meeting.

Next year the Devo ladies will be jointly sewing their way through A Bible Journey Through Quilting by Anita Covert, PhD.  There are 73 different blocks (76 total with corners) and our goal is to do about 6 blocks each month.  I am setting aside these fabrics to use in my quilt.

Some are recent purchases and I'm filling out with other pieces from my stash.  I need to dig a little deeper for some accent fabrics.

Part 4 of the Macaron Mystery by Meadow Mist Designs came out yesterday and I came to the startling realization that I do not have enough of the creamy dot fabric to complete the clue.  Knowing that I often put fabric in other project boxes, I went searching.  I didn't find any extra fabric, but I did find a pile of UFOs that REALLY need to either be finished or passed on.

One of the projects is this small quilt made from remnants of "Sound of the Woods" fabrics.

I've worked on this at several retreats.  It will make a nice wheelchair quilt once I solve the engineering dilemma in the borders.  I also came across this partially finished project.

The pattern is Cursor from a 2014 edition of American Quilter magazine.  I still need to stitch one long seam and then add the borders which are already cut.

Why do I let these things linger so long in limboland?