The End of Pink... but not the Apricots

Our apricot tree is like the Energizer Bunny ... it just keeps going and going. This week, after taking 4 cases to Weight Watchers. They asked me how many trees we had. When I told theme only one tree, they found it hard to believe until I showed them the picture. Ha! I also took apricots to neighbors and a meeting I attended. That left me with a couple cases to deal with at home. We ate lots of fresh, yummy fruit. And then there were two more batches of jam, several quarts of frozen apricots, an apricot pie and some apricot turnovers. And yes, some went to waste before it could be dealt with. It makes me feel guilty, but on the other hand, I’m only human. We capped the blisteringly hot work week by filling the kiddie pool (meant for grandkids) and getting in it ourselves. We’re nothing if not immature. You’ll keep the secret, right?

And I got a lot of sewing done, too. I don’t know how the hours of some weeks can stretch to accommodate so much, while other weeks ricochet by in an instant. But this was a good, long week. 

First out from under the needle we’re these string blocks. There are 4 that will finish at 9” and 6 that will finish at 4”.

And then there were the bitcoins rows, made from 1.5x2.5" scraps.  These will eventually become part of a border, but I have a new block plan for them for next year.

I also sewed some little scraps and lingering waste triangles into some miscellaneous crumb blocks - two at 6.5" and four at 4.5" (top row, center in picture below). They will go into the Parts Department for eventual inclusion into a future quilt.

And that was the end of my pink scrap sewing for the month.  I'm thrilled to say that it decimated my huge drawer-full of pink scraps. Here is a recap picture of all the Rainbow Scrap blocks that I made in July. I'm linking these up to Angela's Scrappy Saturday post. 

A total of 77 blocks.  But wait, there's more!

I had so many pink scraps, that I sewed two pink quilts for Quilts for Kids. First up, Little Pink Scrap Quilt A (38x48"):

I used leftover 2.5" squares, leftover solid strips and tied the whole thing together with a cute piece of floral fabric - not a scrap, but any use of stash is good! 

Here is a detail of some of the heart and loop quilting I did (shown after quilt was washed).

And here is Little Pink Scrap Quilt B (44x53").  It, too, used leftover squares and strips, plus two 1-yard cuts of fabric (one sparkly, on back, and the hedgehog fabric border). 

I added the two pink quilts to the pile of baby-sized quilts I quilted for Quilts for Kids this month. Five other quilts quilted (sewn by others), plus the two pink ones finished entirely by me.

There is some quilting detail on one quilt I want to show you. I did some free-form loops and stars with variegated thread on this starry blue quilt (sewn by a man!)

So, my quilt finishes for the month are shown below. I'm most thrilled with Crumbcakes, of course on the top left. The Little Pink Scrap Quilt A was goal #9 from my Finish-Along Quarter 3 list, which you can see HERE. I'm particularly thrilled that I did two quilts instead of just one.

And a shout out here to Cousin Kim, who finished this lovely quilt for herself this month: 

It's the last weekend of July, and the summer is half over. Where does the time go? More importantly, DO YOU WANT SOME APRICOTS???????????