Friday, January 22, 2021

Adiós y Vaya con Dios

I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand
Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand
Life is good today, life is good today

From “Toes” by Zac Brown Band (2006) 

Ah yes, that’s been my theme song this week. The mood sums up how I feel about the new Administration, but the title of this blogpost (and the most remembered line of that same song) is probably way more charitable than I’d care to be with the fat orange guy. Anyway, wasn’t Amanda Gorman’s poetic recitation at the Inauguration just amazing? It gives me chills that someone so young can craft words that evoke powerful images and send chills up my spine. 

Well, the new Administration is off to a running start, and I’m about ready to stop running with pink and finish up. It’s all good. This is what I got accomplished this week.

For the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC), I finished up my last two pink quilts that are child donation quilts for Quilts for Kids. That’s makes my total 6 for Pink January, and I am DONE (done, I say!) with pink quilts for this year! 

This quilt of 6” string blocks and other miscellaneous 6” blocks (or pieces of fabric) finished at 42x48”. I quilted it in hooks and swirls.


The backing and binding were from a chunk of yardage that my friend Angie sent me last fall. They are cute little dolls that would’ve made a cute quilt in their own right, but I was well and truly running out of backing fabric!


And the final pink quilt was made from 4” squares (finished) along with some solid pinks for accent. This quilt measures 40x48” and was quilted with vine-y loops. 


As I mentioned, I was running out of backing fabric possibilities, so this was a real hodgepodge of three width-of-fabric bits I had left.


And the other pink sewing was just re-doing some of these square-in-a-square blocks (and adding a few) so that I had 16 edged in white and 16 edged in black. They measure 4.5” in their unfinished state. Originally I had started with 25 white ones. But I have way more black scraps, so after a bit of unpicking and some additional sewing, I feel that these have more potential as I move forward with other colors.


As usual, I’m linking up all my scrappy pinkness to the Scrappy Saturday post at Angela’s blog. Come see how others in the RSC are whipping their pink scraps into shape!

I am working on a table topper to join in the Table Scraps Challenge, which we will reveal next Saturday. But all I’m going to show you is a little peek. It does have a bit of pink shirting in it, as you can see. The full reveal will be next Saturday (after it’s quilted and bound). 


You may recall that last week I showed my center block for the Stay At Home Round Robin (SAHRR). I wasn’t sure if I was going to participate.


Well, the first border was called by Chris and it was piano keys. How could I resist? Yep, I got sucked in. First, I sewed a 1” green stop border around the center block, then added 1.5x2.5” piano keys. I also wanted to add more of the third color (a salmon that you can see in the two green floral prints) so it wouldn’t get lost. They became 2.5” cornerstones. 


The block now measures 18.5”, which may be a little large at this stage of the game. But I can always skip a round or alter/downsize a round, so there’s that. I’m sure this will end up as a gift quilt anyway, because it’s so far a bit too matchy-matchy. But we’ll see where it goes! I’m going to link up to the SAHRR Round 2 Linky Party

And finally, I sewed three more of these Wishing Ring blocks from the floral fabric for a total of four blocks. I’ll just sew these until I run out of fabric, then add soft-colored blocks as well. No plans other than to just enjoy the process.


In the coming week I hope to baste and quilt my Zipper quilt so I can count is as a January finish. And if there’s time, I may do another (NOT PINK) kid quilt for Quilts for Kids. I’ve got to go make a delivery of quilts to them because I have about 14 quilts here that I’ve made (and some that I’ve just quilted for others) and I’m out of labels. 

Have a good week, and be safe out there! The virus is still raging. Let’s just sew!!!


19 comments:

  1. Oh - do I get to be the first commenter today?! "Toes" def one of my favorite Zac Brown tunes...Amanda Gorman was inspiring...love all the pinks...SAHRR reminds me of salad with strawberries!

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  2. WOW you did get a lot of pink tops made!! I, of course, am partial to the strings--don't you just love how the centers come together? It is always a neat surprise...nice works Hugs, Julierose

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  3. What a fun collection of pinks! Making a string quilt is on my Bucket List. Maybe this summer.

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  4. I love the beginning of your post. I cannot believe how different my own small life seems now that the 'fat orange guy' is gone.
    I love all your pink sewing. Pink is one of my favorite colors, so this has been a great month for my blog reading. I especially love the beautiful fabric and the Wishing Ring blocks.

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  5. You are crushing 2021 with progress. DONE quilts are awesome! Love the scrappy back. Some lucky kids are going to be happy.

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  6. I loved Amanda Gorman and her amazing poem! Had to search for it online so I could read it for myself, too. Your post is full of pretty pinks - lots of sweet quilts in the making at your house, Cathy! I like your SAHRR start and the piano key border. It's been fun to see what people are doing for that!

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  7. SEW much pretty PINK, Cathy!!! Looking forward to seeing your TABLE SCRAPS Challenge runner next week. I'm counting the days! :o))

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  8. Watching the Inauguration unfold without incident was a soothing experience. Amanda Gorman's thoughtful and meaningful recitation was one of the highlights. But I'm also getting happy vibes from all the Bernie in his mittens memes that are showing up everywhere. I also laughed when you said that your SAHRR piece was just too matchy-matchy for you. It's lovely, though, so I hope you stick with it. Now I must go concentrate on making something for the Table Scraps challenge.
    Pat

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  9. Your quilts and the backing are amazing, we watched the inauguration and everyone just felt so much happier!

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  10. I *love* your pink quilts! (But I love pink.) They are so cute and will make some tiny people quite happy. I was also overjoyed on Wednesday, and I loved the poem. Didn't that yellow coat with the red headband look amazing, too? I feel like I can finally relax after four long years.

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  11. 6 Pink Quilt finished this month! Great total. Love your square in a square blocks, the pink looks good against both the black and the white. Your Round Robin centre has some lovely colours. Well, my husband and I watched The Inauguration on Wednesday and we were both in tears at various points. President Biden made an excellent speech but Amanda Gorman stole the show. Just imagine, a 22 year old girl being part of such a huge occasion. My goodness, she is definitely “one to watch”!

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  12. As usual, you've been busy busy busy! So much fun going on here!
    I watched Amanda Gorman recite her poem during the Inauguration, then went and watched the video again later - and danged if she didn't make me cry BOTH times! What an amazing young woman!

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  13. I share your feelings about sewing with pink, and about how thrilling it is to have orange out of Washington! I'm playing catch up on blog reading, so I hope you've been well :)

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  14. Lovely quilt parts, and darling beginnings!

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  15. Love your pink strings and couldn't agree more with your sentiments! I though Amanda's words and delivery were truly awesome. So glad we are all moving forward!!!

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  16. Amanda Gorman's poem, her pose and her rendition - everything was just perfect. I have heard and read the poem a few time snow and I get goosebumps every time. I like all your pink projects but I have a feeling it is because I like you :-) that said the square in square blocks with some white and some black gives it a very modern chic look to it. That one I am partial to :-) Hugs to you and Bruce.

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  17. Love the strings, love the Wedding Rings, love your SAHRR. Great job, Cathy. I hope I get my Table Scraps Challenge done in time to show with all the rest of you!

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  18. Late to the comment party.......that Lizzy House (?) "pearl bracelet" print turns up in SO many quilts in lots of colors. I think it's a new basic. All of your pink projects are so appealing!

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