Scrappy Saturday

I decided today that it was time to finish a rainbow scrappy project from last year. It doesn't have all the rainbow colours in it, since I wasn't really consistent on working on this each month. And then, I only had eight blocks, which wasn't enough to do anything with. I figured if I laid it out 3 blocks wide, by 3 blocks high, it would be a good quilt to donate to the Children's Aid Society, that our guild supports, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what to do as a centre block. When I posted this several weeks ago, someone suggested that I put a big pinwheel in the centre. What a perfect idea. so that's what I did. During my figuring for it, doing a 12 inch pinwheel for the centre required four blocks. Well, the four it needed translated into my mind into four sets of six inch finished pinwheels blocks. I was halfway through sewing them all when I had one of those hit the side of the head "duh" moments. I only need four triangles, not sixteen!! So, now I have 3 twelve inch pinwheel blocks left over that are going to be pieced into the back. However, after all that, this classifies as a finished top, measuring 42x42. I'm linking up to Scrappy Saturday. Then maybe I'll do the backing.

Stash Report and purple scraps, week 17, 2014

I'm a day behind on my Scrappy Saturday purple blocks, but I finally got them done today.

These are my scrappy pinwheels. I'm doing 2 blocks of these each month in the colour of the month. I'm challenging myself to use the complimentary colour in the 2 inch squares and the outer framing. These have added a bit to mu used column in my stash report. Unfortunately, I went to a quilt show on Friday, and added a little bit. A bunch of black and white fabrics, only fat quarters, jumped into my hands and insisted on coming home with me. I have plans for them, really fun plans. Teresa, at a Quilt and a Prayer is making some really fun blocks that she's called Happy Dance. I love the design, and the colours and everything else about the blocks she has, enough that I'm collecting fabrcis so I can make my own version.

Used this week:                 1.5 yards
Used this year:                 36.3 yards
Added this week:              2 yards
Added this year:              37 yards
Net added:                           .7 yards

I'll be linking up to Judy's Stash Report.

Aqua scrappy Saturday

I just finished the 2 pinwheel blocks I've been doing monthly for the SoScrappy Rainbow Saturday. I wanted to get both of them done today, because there is a chance I'll be going on a road trip next Saturday. Said road trip just might involve some friends and some fabric and yarn purchases, so I wanted to get them done today. I've had a few distractions today, though,  the main one being DD and the garment sewing I've been doing for her. I remember now why I make quilts. The fitting of the skirt wasn't right, of course, so I had to rip out, and alter and then sew back together. It now fits, but it needs a lining. I think it's going to wait for a while now. In between working on the skirt, I've been sewing these pinwheels, which are a whole lot more entertaining. As usual, for these blocks, I've done the pinwheels in the monthly colour, and the frames in the colour directly opposite on the colour wheel, in this case a kinda redish/orange/pink. And now, I have hanging sleeves to do.

Scrappy Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014

This, being the first Scrappy Saturday, hosted by So Scrappy, has produced all kind of anxiety and indecision for me. Well, maybe not the anxiety, but certainly the indecision. There are so many projects I want to do, and I'll never be able to fit them all in. And then there is the decision, do I work on one per week, or do I do a little of each each week? I've finally narrowed it down to 3 different projects, but I reserve the right to add more, depending on how these go. One is a continuation from the one I started last year, the double four patch blocks, where I'm doing 8 blocks out of each colour. The original plan had been to do 2 blocks per week. That was before I found a couple more projects I wanted to do. You see, the idea is to use up scraps. But because I wanted all of the fabrics in each of the double four patch blocks to be the same,
I was cutting from fat quarters, rather than scraps. And then, because I already had the fat quarter out, I continued to cut it down into various strip sizes. That created the situation that, instead of using scraps, I was actually adding to them. So, I have picked 2 more projects that will last at least all year long, to actually use the scraps. One is a quilt from one of my books that I've been eying as long as I've had the book. It will use 3 1/2 inch squares and 2 inch squares. It will end up being a bow tie medallion.  This is from the book Quick Quilts From Your Scrap Bag. I've figured out that, if I do it in the year of different colours, I'll need 13 of the 6 inch bow ties and 10 of the 3 inch bow ties per month.

And the other is going to be 3 different sizes of pinwheels, which will use up 3 1/2, 21/2 and 2 inch scrap strips, when cutting with the Easy Angle ruler. And then, inspired by Cat Patches scrappy sewing machines, and her idea of using the complementary colours for her accents, I'll use the complementary colour for the outer strips and the dark squares. These will finish at 14 inches. Thirty of them will give me a decent sized quilt. This is just a mock up from EQ7. The blues will be much more varied in the actual piece. I think once all the different colours are done, and set side by side, it will be quite striking. So, after making those decisions, all I now need to  decide is, one project per week, or little bits of each per week? Right now, I'm leaning towards one per week. It might be less confusing that way. I'm linking up to ScrapHappy Saturday, and then I'm going to play with some more bright blues.