Friday, October 20, 2017

Tickled Pink with Sewing!

My pink sewing priority for this week was to finish up my Friendship Star (variation) blocks. The scraps and I just cruised along for a day or two, and in the end there were 24 of these 6” blocks. I now have 162 blocks and only need 136 to finish the quilt. The leftovers will either go on the back or into the “Parts Department”.


My tentative layout calls for concentric rings of colors, but some rings will have combined colors (like red/orange). I have to see how it’s going to look all laid out before I make a final decision. And this won’t happen until November anyway. In the meantime, I’m linking up to Scrappy Saturday at Angela’s So Scrappy Blog. Come see the pink fun for this month - and why not consider joining us for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2018?
Also linking up to Oh Scrap! over on Cynthia’s blog.

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This week I also worked on my Autumn quilt, finishing up four of the final five 12” blocks.  First, there was the crow, a Lori Holt pattern.  Secondly was the turkey, of which I have no picture.


Next was the Schoolhouse, also a Lori Holt pattern (free on her blog, HERE).


And then there was the requisite SQUIRREL block, courtesy of Sally at The Objects of Design. Sally didn’t have a formal pattern written for her cute squirrel, but did have a line drawing here that she gave me permission to use.


I needed to convert it to a 12” block so decided to make the tail bushier. And I’ll be honest, I’m not half as talented as Sally in the design department - I don’t like my squirrel as much as hers. He still needs an eye sewn on, and his haunches/leg is rather unwieldy with the changes I had to make. I may “operate" on the back part of his leg to remove some of the obvious cellulite from eating too many acorns. .

The final block will be a barn block, then all 20 will be done and ready for sashing. The last time I showed some blocks with sashing, I used a brown grid fabric seen briefly here. Well, it just did absolutely nothing for the blocks, and I discarded that idea. So now I have switched to the 1.5” mustard strips that I originally cut (then rejected) for my Scrap X+plosion quilt here. I like this color with the bright autumn blocks much better.


I’m also auditioning fabrics for a border, because the 1” sashing only yields a quilt that is 53x66, too small for a lap quilt. The border size will depend on how much of the chosen border fabric I’ll have, but I’m hoping for a 4-5” border. Possibilities so far include the orange and yellow in the left of the above picture, and the leaf print shown below that I picked up in Colorado last month. I like the leaf one best, but I’m not sure if it is bright enough to hold its own as a border....


Chances are that once I have the blocks all sewn and sashed (a goal for the coming week), I will have several other possibilities to pick from and may be asking your opinion!

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And finally, I have basted with feline supervision Reading Rainbow.  I sewed a backing, then cleared the tables (a feat in itself) and got to work. Of course once this happens....


 then THIS is never far behind:

We’re here to supervise the basting, Mom!!
Alfie was pretty miffed at first when he discovered that I had put a mouse on the quilt. But he got over it once I agreed to his demand: an extra large safety pin right near the mouse’s butt.


And then Alfie began feeling frisky. See how his rear leg is up in the picture below? He kicks it in a frenzied manner whenever he gets excited. But the mouse wasn’t moving and he eventually lost interest. And I was able to finish basting the quilt.


Beginning today and over the next week I plan to quilt Reading Rainbow and the pink scrappy baby quilt I threw together last week. And then I’d like to sew the 12” barn block and assemble the autumn quilt top. After that - and thank goodness my calendar isn’t full like it was this week - there are lots of pink scraps left to sew into blocks or slabs for possible kennel quilts or ??? I may post mid-week if I have a finish or two to share.

Make it a great week!

Cathy maroon

25 comments:

  1. Oh! My! Goodness!
    Everything looks great! I am in love with the pink Friendship Stars.
    Alfie is a funny guy! Both your furbabies are so cute!!!

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  2. Oh your cats! They make me smile! Your pink Friendship Stars are so pretty, and the Fall quilt looks like it is coming together, too! Looking forward to seeing how you quilt Reading Rainbow, Cathy. Have fun!

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  3. Best of luck on the quilting of Reading Rainbow!!

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  4. I dont know which photo to comment on the most, love them all. and the kitties are so adorable too. Some great projects going on here!

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  5. Oh! Can't wait to see a concentric rings of colorful stars. That would be a wonderful quilt in just one color but many colors...wow!

    Glad to see the Bookshelf almost ready for quilting.

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  6. Love that bookshelf--can't wait to see it quilted. Your tickled pink piece is just so lovely! A great deal of movement in that piece...so nice. Looks like you'll have two vey interested helpers ;))) lol hugs, Julierose

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  7. LOL love the cat and mouse shots!

    Beautiful projects here / oh my stars :)

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  8. That photo with the two kitties together is so funny! You can see the guilt on their faces. And your Friendship stars are going to be spectacular! It is high on my list of choices for next year. Everything looks wonderful!

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  9. Wow!!!! Reading Rainbow is definitely amazing!!! I absolutely love it!! Alfie is just making sure there is nothing moving while you are quilting. Such a good boy! Can't wait to see what you decide of the sashing for the fall blocks. I do like that leaf fabric.

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  10. Your Autumn quilt is delightful. So many fun blocks. I especially like the schoolhouse with the Palmer Method alphabet sky. That shows its age and mine. Your supervisors are doing a good job keeping you on task. We will be waiting for the Reading Rainbow with anticipation. Keep up the good work!

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  11. Lots of fun projects in your sewing room. The pink stars turned out beautifully. Your autumn sampler is coming along wonderfully. The library quilt is so pretty, love those pretty bright books.

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  12. Wow, lots of progress! Your autumn quilt is coming together nicely. I agree, the leaf print would be appropriate but we'll see what you come up with. Funny that Alfie got so excited by the mouse in your Reading Rainbow. That one's going to be extra special when it's done.

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  13. I think your squirrel looks great. Don't forget that you can use a polka dot fabric to make the eye. And I've been making your stars except I made a few that spin in the wrong direction. Oops. And I can't believe that you would let your cats up on that magnificent quilt while you're basting it.

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  14. Well, I learned something just now - I never knew that squirrels could have cellulite! Fun to see your furry quilt inspectors giving your quilt the once over - it looks as though it has passed their inspection.

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  15. Everything you created looks amazing!

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  16. That's a lot of productivity right there. Really like your friendship stars - I made a similar one earlier this year. And your bookshelf inspires me to get on and do some more on mine - I'm using black where you have white. Look forward to seeing it quilted.

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  17. Looking forward to seeing all your color blocks together.
    Love your Autumn quilt blocks.

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  18. So much fun in one blog post! The Autumn quilt blocks are wonderful! I love the leaf print - maybe you could incorporate it into a border by adding another narrow border of a strong color?

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  19. I love all the scrappy goodness in this post. The pink stars look great. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

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  20. That crow block really made me smile! And I've really been enjoying your stars all year!

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  21. Reading Rainbow is a great rainbow scrap quilt! And your autumn quilt is fantastic. Obviously needed the feline supervision. LOL.

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  22. The fall quilt is so very cute - especially the bushy tail

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  23. Love those pretty pink star. You are very productive.

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  24. What wonderful helpers you have! Mine are 45 and 50 lb helpers, so yeah, they really are not much help. All the work is lovely.

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  25. Love your pink stars and oh my, I think I need a reading rainbow quilt. I have a canine helper rather than a feline one. She'd leave the mouse alone but she'd be after your squirrel in a heartbeat.

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