It Feels Orange This Month!

It’s Orange August for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge! I’ve dug around and pulled out all my orange scraps, my orange orphan blocks, and the quilt “kits” I’ve made out of scraps I’ve gathered over the last couple years. When I can find enough scraps, chunks and pieces that might play well together, they go into a 9x12” (-ish) baggie until their color month comes up. But I’ve got at least five orange “kits” for this month, so some may have to wait their turn!

Before I get into my sewing recap, let me show you the fabrics and scraps that my dear friend Ruby (we met at Weight Watchers) has given to me over the last two weeks. Ruby likes to shop estate sales and yard sales, and she’s been snatching up boxes of fabrics for a song. 

Some of these fabrics go back to the 1970’s.  See that brown fabric on the lower left? The TAN fabric underneath it is the same exact print I made a maternity top out of back in 1977! All of these are clean fabrics in excellent condition. We sifted out all the junky fabrics and “other” fabrics to donate back to a thrift store. There are solids, retro and modern fabrics (Patrick Lose, Amy Butler). I’ve spent way too much time this week sorting and petting and playing with the fabric. My studio storage needs some serious rearranging and organizing.

But naturally I did get back to my sewing machine. The first order of business was to baste another batch of quilts. I only got one of them quilted this week, but it’s a lovely finish, even if I do say so myself! That’s because the quilt in question was a top, backing and binding donated to me by Julie of Quilts and Costumes. It’s an adorable stack ‘n whack quilt of silly aliens with a light confetti-like print for the background.

I selected a bright blue thread and quilted it with parallel vertical lines in a serpentine stitch. As I stitched, the confetti print background was so cheery! It was so delightful!

Julie even provided the binding fabric. The finished quilt measures 47.5x64”. I’m calling it Confetti Aliens, although donation quilts don’t generally get an “official” name. 

Here is the Quilts for Kids label I added.

And just so you can see more of Julie’s meticulous work, here is the backing she pieced. Isn’t it just adorable too?

So, I’ll update my Community Quilts tab this week to include all three quilt tops that Julie donated. Thank you once again, Julie! You’re so appreciated! 

I finally turned to my orange RSC blocks, and don’t you know I had to start off with a couple pair of orange elephants. 

There will be three more pairs coming later this month. This is from the pattern Stomping Ground by WendySheppard. 

Next up, two Antique Tile blocks that will finish at 12”.

And also 8 Framed Four Patch blocks that’ll finish at 8” each. 

So that’s about it for now. Here’s a sneak peek of some of the mess of scraps that constitute one of the quilt tops that I’ll have sewn into a top by next week. Prayers may be in order for this one, LOL!

So this morning I’m off to our August Quilts for Kids workshop. Time to go load up the car! Thanks for dropping by!