Rainbow Scrap Plans for 2017

This will likely be my last post of 2016, and in it I want to look forward to 2017 (sewing-wise).  There are so many things we cannot control or plan, and I`m OK with rolling with the punches life throws. But it’s nice to have an area of creativity that I can control (mostly, if time and funds are not counted, LOL). And so I will outline some basic sewing goals for 2017, realizing that reality may look slightly different.

I love the Rainbow Scrap Challenge! It helps to get rid of fabric scraps (“leftovers”; and I’m a big fan of leftovers. If it’s food, leftovers mean I often don’t have to cook but can do something instead). Doing something with my fabric scraps means that I can conjure up quilts out of pieces that may have had no further life expectancy. The RSC also adds a framework around which I can plan my sewing - by monthly color. I prefer to attack my colored scraps when the color is announced, sewing them as I’ve planned. After they are done (and sometimes in between if I get tired of a color) I turn to other projects. It works well for me.

So here is what I have planned for RSC for 2017.


2.5” Squares and HSTs

1.   Friendship Star Variation

This 6” quilt block

This quilt layout

2.  Arrowhead Puzzle (or Garlic Knot)

This block

This quilt layout

The background will be scrappy for this one. Tentative plan is to use all colors, mixed up, but that may change.


PIECES, smallish

3.  Color Me quilt by Emily Herrick.

I started Color Me last year and have a couple of the crayons done. The pieces within the crayons are 2.5x5”, a good size for my scraps. I will continue to add to this until it “feels” done. There may be more colors....


STRIPS

4.  Diagonal Strips

This is another project I started last year. I have several 8.5” blocks done in pinks, reds, and blues. I’ll just keep adding to them as my scraps dictate.

5.  The Rainbow Bookcase

I’m really excited by this one!  Blocks are just 12” squares (5 per row); a color topped by the background. I can piece them so the books stand vertically or horizontally, using different width scraps and even adding lettering or selvages to mimic book titles. Depending on how many scraps are available, this may be a 1-2 year project. I’m thinking of combining pink and red in one row, and combining the aquas and blues in one row, then purples and grays in another. So, most of the variables are open at this point, except that I do have a gray piece to cut up for the “shelves”. Not sure what background I’ll use yet, but I have lots to choose from and it doesn’t all have to be the same.

SELVAGES

I believe I’ve shown this one before, but here we go again....

6.   Rainbow Selvages, pattern by Riel Nason.

What I like about this is that the selvages themselves are all mixed up and with all the white they contain, they form the background/alternate piecing to the rainbow colored blocks. I don’t know if the color blocks will be solid (probably not) or pieced, but I think this will allow a lot of flexibility to use up lots of scraps and selvages. I would like to try 1-2 columns per month, with more of a varied range. For example, the oranges could be dark orange (one column) and light oranges (one column) moving into golds (one column) then yellow (one column), light greens, darker greens, etc.  I tried sewing together some selvages this week  and I think I have enough selvages to keep to the same color family in the same column. If I run short, though, I have so many multi-colored selvages that we’ll just make up any shortage with those.

And finally, I have four RSC2016 quilts to finish in the first quarter. One is ready to quilt and the other 3 are now flimsies. I will show some pictures of those in the next few weeks.


NOT RSC, but Must-Do’s for 2017

1.   Lozenges. My birthday is March 14 (Pi Day) and earlier this year I entered and won a contest from @Laurie3.14 on Instagram. The prize was 314 scrap pieces of fabric, dozens of which were her leftover lozenges from making this quilt (a Bonnie Hunter pattern) for her daughter (picture is of daughter’s friend holding quilt):

photo courtesy of Lauri M

I’m doing this same quilt, with white and black or gray accents (flip corners). I used Laurie’s gifted orange scraps as the start, then cut out a hundred or so more when we had orange month earlier this year. I will take stock and begin work again in earnest come our next orange month.

2.  Disappearing Nine Patch (D9P) for BIL Marv.  This year I took a red quilt for Bruce’s brother Dennis when we visited in February. When we go again next year, I will take a quilt for Marv - a D9P in black, white, gray and teal.

3.  A quilt for me. I’m using Olive’s Flower Market (I have bought up enough of that line to probably make three quilts, LOL. I lerrrrve it!!) Pattern is Rose Cottage.

4.   Finish up Farm Girl Quilt.

5.  Kennel quilts - small size quilts (12x18” up to crib-size). Our Best Friends local group takes any size, so I am going to try to donate 6 per month, or more if I can manage.

6.  I promised hubby Bruce that I’d make him another quilt, and he wants guitars. Also, one son-in-law is deployed currently, but when he gets home I will make him a quilt. His wife (our daughter Emily) says he’d love one of those Big Game quilts I made this year.

Bernadette (my Bernina 550QE) was gone for Three.Whole.Days. for a spa treatment this week. But she’s back now and I’m ready to get sewing. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to finish another quilt before year-end.

Do you have any plans for New Year’s Eve? We don’t either, LOL. Too darn cold to go downtown to celebrate outdoors. We’ll just cozy up in the new living room, have some Kahlua and eggnog (my seasonal favorite drink) and try to stay awake until the New Year rings in. I know, we’re so boring.

Linking up to Rainbow Scrap Challenge.