Saturday, January 28, 2017

As January (Finally) Comes to a Close...

Is it just me, or does it seem as though January has been going on for three months already? I am so OVER it already! But today was really nice - there was a big ball of yellow fire in the sky that created shadows and made everything light. I think it’s called the sun, but that is from rumor and certainly not from previous experience this month.

So, I finally pretty much wiped out my purple scraps this month. I played with my 1.5” this week. Oh, but before that I finished up my Friendship Star variation blocks that weren’t quite ready last Saturday.


They’re kind of a pain in the butt because there are so many HSTs to trim, but I love the look, so OH WELL.  And speaking of pains in the posterior, the 1.5” squares and HSTs got cleaned up and made into 2 36-patch blocks alternating solids and HSTs. Yeah, my piecing leaves a lot to be desired.


With all the leftover bits and bobs, I made these three slabs. I am counting them as ONE block in my tally because they could be sewn together.... or not.


So here is my summary of PURPLE blocks for this month:


Top:  4 string blocks, 4 Bookcase blocks (12” each, sewn together)
Left: 1 Crayon block (the light one was from last year)
Middle Row: 2 Geese Migration Blocks, 11 Plus blocks, 2 columns of Selvage blocks
Bottom: 13 Friendship Star, 38 Bowties, 1 Crumb slab
Not Shown in collage: 2   36-patch blocks.
Total RSC Blocks:  76.

Linking up to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over at Angela’s So Scrappy Blog. Why not join us and see what everyone else has done too??

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I had another finish this week - my warm-colored Rainbow Improv from 2016. I had to baste it first, then quilt and bind it. I really love how it turned out!!!


These 8” improv blocks are what I did last year with the miscellaneous crumbs and such of each color. The first quilt (shown a couple weeks ago) was done in blue, teal, purple and green. This quilt is the warm part of the spectrum; yellow, orange, red and pink.  This one was set 6x8 and sashed with Kona Cream. It looks like a pale peachy yellow, but it’s called Cream. Anyway, I like it.  The batting is Warm & Plush and it finished at 62x82”.


The quilting was a basic freeform loop, and I used Aurifil thread (1135) in 40 wt because that is what I had. I wasn’t crazy about the gold thread on the red (above), but I loved it on the rest of the quilt (below).

And when washed up, it was just fine. The backing I bought at Connecting Threads during their year-end clearance. I’d had my eye on it for awhile for this quilt - perfect colors. The binding was strips left over from other backings.


This was #4 on my Quarter 1 Finish Along Goals - my third finish in January. But that’s because the tops were done last year.

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Finally, I made a bit of progress on the D9P quilt for my brother-in-law.  This picture doesn’t show the entire width of the quilt, but it will be sashed in black on all 4 sides. Then there will be three sections divided by vertical strips of blue/black/blue as shown. The center column will be three blocks wide and each side column will be four blocks wide. I think. If I don’t like that, it might become 3-4-3.  And there may be some horizontal stripes, too.


I’ll be playing with this for a few days and want to get it sewn up this coming week. Preferably before Angela announces the February color!

Most of this post was prepared on Friday evening, so I slept in this morning. But Alfie never really lets me sleep late. I was awakened by a gentle paw pulling back the covers over my head. The time? 8:00 straight up. It’s like he KNOWS, because it’s never later than that.


Alfie: Yes, human. The King is all-seeing.
See you on Tuesday for a Rainbow Scrap finished quilt round-up.

Cathy maroon

18 comments:

  1. So many fabulous blocks done. And here I am happy that I managed to get one simple block finished!

    Your warm rainbow quilt is stunning.

    Alfie is sweet. Yes, they have a very good sense of time. I get up at 4:40AM weekdays and my kitty Dainty pokes me and pulls at the covers if I am even a coupe minutes late. Yes, weekends, too. Gotta love 'em though.

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  2. Wow! You have been productive this month. I love all your purple blocks!! Your finished quilt is gorgeous!! Have fun working on you D9P.

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  3. Goodness you had a great week - Love all of your purple progress! And that Warm quilt - wow! Beautiful!

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  4. I LOVE all of your purple-y goodness! And please dear RSC friend, your piecing make mine look like a two year old got ahold of my fabrics and machine!

    The warm rainbow quilt is so cozy looking! I kind of want to wrap up in it now!!!

    Hopefully, I will be able to get half of what you do in a month done once I get my sewing room organized!

    Alfie is adorable! I love me some orange kitties!!!

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  5. The backing on your warm improv quilt is perfect. I love it when that happens. So many pretty purple blocks. The friendship star variation is definitely worth the extra trouble for trimming -- such great motion.

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  6. What an AMAZINGLY productive month you've had!!!!!!!!!!!!! All those scrappy PURPLE blocks AND a completed quilt, too? Your Warm Improv turned out beautifully and that backing couldn't have been more perfect for the quilt!

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  7. that alarm cat is adorable. Lucky... our alarm is so loud.

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  8. My January has lasted forever too. Yet I wasn't nearly as productive as you. You have a lot of wonderful projects started and I'm especially excited to see your bookcase grow.

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  9. You certainly made the most off the month, including the lovely quilt finish. Your machine must go at top speed, with no ripping needed. Keep up the good work!

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  10. Wow! That's quite the tally of finished purple blocks. Can't be too many purple scraps left. Great finish on the warm colured quilt. Perfect backing.

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  11. I was just saying to a friend this morning that January has seemed like a long month! I'm ready for it to move along. Your purple collection is so fun to look at! Your friendship stars are going to make a fun layout. Cathy, your warm rainbow quilt is gorgeous! What a great idea! Love it! I started making a purple slab block this week. I decided the pieces that were too small to do anything else with might as well be sewn together into something!

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  12. What a wonderful collection of purple blocks! Purple is my favorite color, so I love seeing all the ways it gets used for the RSC. Your Rainbow Improv 2016 is amazing! I have a feline alarm clock, too. Her schedule is a little crazy - she wakes me around 3 AM because she wants either eat or go outside. Love her anyway!

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  13. What an impressive bunch of blocks! Fun ones too.
    And the warm quilt is pretty crumby! That backing is perfect for sure. Congrats on the finish.

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  14. Wowzers! You have such fascinating blocks, and there are SO MANY of them! I got out of breath just looking at the pictures!
    Can't wait to see what you do next!
    8)

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  15. I guess there are worse ways to be woken up in the morning. Purple and blue are my favourite colours so your blocks this week are great (I esp. love the books).

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  16. Oh my, I am so impressed with all of your purples and your other projects. Maybe that is why the month seemed so long to you because you got so much accomplished?

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  17. Well done on your Q1 finish! A very colourful post! Jxo

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