Saturday, February 2, 2019

Welcome Yellow February!

January is over for another year - yay!  February is one step closer to spring, and I’ve been happily celebrating with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month, yellow. We can generate the warmth and brightness of the sun right in our own studios! Come see what we’re all doing at our weekly Rainbow Scrap Saturday linkup.

I got a lot done with my yellow scraps in the last few days, primarily because we will be on vacation for a nice chunk of February. It seems I always tackle my selvages first, and once again it was so. First are the selvage 4-patches. The selvage patches are 4.5” unfinished. They’re paired with 4.5” patches of a low volume neutral to make 8.5” inch four-patch blocks. I made four blocks in yellow.


And I finished a row (14 blocks; 7 selvage tumblers, 7 colored fabric tumblers) for my selvage tumbler quilt. That’s not a very enticing name, but it’s just a working title for now.


I do plan to alternate the orientation of the tumblers every row, but yellow will be two rows away from red, so is cut the same way. As this will eventually be assembled in rainbow order, a row of orange tumblers (starting with an upside down orange fabric tumbler, then alternating) will go between these two rows. Come assembly time, I may have to make some additional tumblers or else trim the edges, not sure which yet. The row width as it is now measures about 43”. The height per row (after joining) will be 4”, so I’m figuring I’ll need about a dozen rows, and then a border to surround it all and get it to a good size for a donation quilt.

Next up were the Cracker blocks - seven of them.  My yellows are ranging from very pale to very gold, almost golden brown with some fabrics (which you’ll see when I post my string blocks later in the month). The Crackers are 7.75” unfinished.


And then the Anvil blocks. These are fun to chain piece and hence they whip up really fast! They will finish at 8” each, and I plan to mix all the colors merrily in the quilt.


If you only catch my blog on Rainbow Scrap Saturdays, you can use these links to check out two finishes I had during the week. Saguaro Sunset is HERE and the Pink Selvage Donation Quilt is HERE. Or you can click the 2019 QUILTS page tab above.

Next week won’t see much, if any, scrap sewing as we’ll be leaving for Arizona and I’m not taking my yellow scraps. I am taking Bob, however, my trusty back-up sewing machine. And I am taking scraps, but they’re multi-colored strings. I plan to get started on a long-planned string quilt inspired by this quilt. It’s called Diamond Frenzy, was sewn by Nancy Messier and it was pinned from Facebook. The best tutorial for these blocks (in my opinion) is from Molly Flanders’ blog, HERE.

Inspiration: Diamond Frenzy by Nancy Messier
Along with the Rainbow Scrap color of the month, I’m trying to get a donation quilt done every month (and more than one if I can) using that color. With yellow, I’ll be focusing on using up a lot of my stray gold fabric chunks (and other colors too) to frame this cute elephant fabric into Happy Blocks. I’ve cut out 50 center blocks of 6.5” blocks (yes, my hands are numb) and the strips. I'll plan to sew up two quilt tops from them.


I’m also bringing along the next Pineapple Quilt to start if there is time.  And if there isn’t, there is always the rest of February to work on it.


But needless to say, sewing will not be my highest priority on vacation, LOL!! This time Cousin Kim is not joining us, so Bruce and I will take two leisurely days to drive down to Tubac. This time, for the first time, we won’t be staying in the Bates Motel family trailer. Instead, we are staying in the second home of Bruce’s sister Annette and her husband Glenn.  We’ll have a whole, beautiful house to ourselves, and it’s up in the hills above the town. There are lots roads and trails for walking. The Tubac Arts Festival will be going on while we’re there, and that will be fun too.

14 comments:

  1. Have a great time and be sure to get pics of the cactus quilt presentation.

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  2. I have been to Tubac. You are so lucky to be going. love all your yellow stuff and that colorful rainbow quilt is beautiful. hugs, lj

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  3. wow! so many yellow blocks already and it's only the 2nd! i really like your elephant fabric.

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  4. You always have such great block ideas, Cathy! The elephant quilt will be so cute and an easy one to work on while on vacation. Enjoy the drive, be safe, and the house all to yourselves sounds wonderful!

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  5. I really love those selvage tumblers. Very creative! Have a wonderful Arizona vacation! I'm jealous!

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  6. So many great projects! And isn't February a wonderful time to sew yellow. We have needed the sun where I live, although, I expect you'll get a good dose of sunshine on your vacation. Have a good time. I'm sure there will be a lot of quilty inspiration.

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  7. Just an idea for your Tumblr blocks. What about Jell-O parfait because of all the layers of whipped cream, or just parfait? As usual, your weekly output is over the top. Only you would take a sewing machine on vacation!

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  8. Have fun in Arizona! Make sure you soak up lots of warmth to carry you through the winter at home!
    I took my sewing with me on my vacation last year and never got to touch it. I was driving all the time and when we did stop for the night I was too tired to do anything but eat, put stuff away and sleep!
    This year I may get to take a more leisurely vacay!

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  9. Have I mentioned the red tumbler blocks remind me of red Dixie cups? Red Dixie cups might as well be the Louisiana state cocktail glass!
    The Diamond Frenzy string quilt looks like fun! The black fabrics really set off all the bright-colored strings.
    Have a great trip! I checked out Tubac on the map. I have a fascination with that part of the country, but have never visited. I look forward to hearing about your adventures!

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  10. I'm glad to hear you have (much!) better lodging this time! That string quilt looks like a really fun project. Will you go with black centers like the photo? A different solid?

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  11. I brought my sewing to TX/FL this year and got some pinwheel blocks done, the red chandelier blocks, and started Connie Kaufman's Crossroads block quilt for a baby quilt so far. No yellow with me though, so I'll have to catch up after I get home in mid-March. Enjoy your Arizona visit.
    Pat

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  12. I can't believe you are still sewing selvages!

    We shall see how many string blocks you get made while on vacation! Have fun!

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  13. String blocks are an excellent choice for a vacation...and I hope you have a fantastic time!

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