The Scraps Come MARCHing In!

Welcome to March! I always love March because we usually get our first real taste of Spring. Never mind what the calendar says. The sun shines warmer and at a higher angle. Days are noticeably longer, daffodils and other bulbs begin appearing and birds that have been gone for months are back, chirping their little heads off. It seems that with every passing year, I appreciate to a greater extent all the little things that Mother Nature gifts us with! 

First, some random disheartening news for us. The Veteran’s Administration turned Bruce down for benefits after 8 months of calls, exams, tests, forms, etc. Not because he didn’t quality physically - he did. Two of the three cancers he’s had in his adulthood are directly attributable to his service in VietNam in 1972 (the chemical Agent Orange): (1) the sarcoma in his right arm that we fought with surgeries for ten years and eventually led to the amputation of his arm in 2020, and (2) his current CLL - Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. We were rejected because we “make too much money”. Two monthly Social Security incomes and his RMD - Required Minimum Distribution - required minimum monthly withdrawal from savings of all seniors 75 or over.  Well, crap on a cracker. Luckily we have excellent (read: costly) private health insurance, but we just feel like we got the middle finger from Uncle Sam. Thanks for your service, Bruce, but don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Oh, and you will be owing us all the copays for the dozens of exams and tests we put you through over the last eight months before we got around to simply checking your income level. Insult, meet injury. It’s been a tough week. 

But enough whining. As always when the going gets rough, I turn to sewing. Fewer calories than alcohol, and a lot more fun. Cue up the soothing instrumental music (reserved for particularly stressful times) and sew the afternoon away….

The first goal this week was to put the final border on my SAHRR (Stay at Home Round Robin). This week’s hostess was Emily from The Darling Dogwood. Emily called the kite shape. I’ll admit that I love that shape but took the easy way out. I only put the kites in the four corners of the final border so that I could frame the quilt with a solid(-ish) border. Here’s the finished top.

The top now measures 46.5 x 58.5”. This time I tried to pin the quilt neatly to the design board. Of course, I had to pin it sideways and then rotate the photo, but that’s just how it is. And trying to pin it straight obviously doesn’t work for me, LOL!!

Now, we have until March 24 to finish - quilting and binding - our tops. The final linkup will take place then, and I’ll be participating. Pictures and links to come at that time. It’s been another fun challenge, and I’d like to thank all the ladies who hosted this year’s challenge. They put in a lot of work! 

Those who’ve read my blog for any amount of time know that I adore sewing string blocks. One of my goals this year is to sew ten (8.5”) blocks with black centers every month. I call these Nann’s strings, because she introduced me to them. My blocks are sewn in 4.5x8.5” halves, and then two are sewn together to make an 8.5” block. It turns out that after two months sewing these between other projects, I already have 30 blocks! Yep, I loves me my strings!

I’ve also been sewing two 12.5” Halloween blocks every month in 2025. At this pace, I’ll have all 16 sewn by the end of August. September will see me add them to the Haunted House panel, and then do some custom quilting it. I hope to have it all ready to use by October 1. I’ve always made Autumn season quilts, but this will be my first Halloween quilt. 

Here are the four total blocks I have so far.

And these are the two I did in February. Try to ignore my awful orange spikes. Remember the galloping horse rule!! 

With a new month comes a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. For March, Angela has called for us to dig into our yellows and enjoy their cheer! I’m down for it! On Friday, I spent a pleasant afternoon sorting the scraps, making piles, and cutting out my RSC blocks for the month. 

All I can say is that the string pile in the bottom right corner doesn’t look as big in this picture as it is in real life. I’m hoping to get 30-45 blocks from it. I can hardly wait to dig into. 

Today Bruce and I plan to go on a long walk and then maybe have a coffee date at Barnes & Noble. I’ve got beef and chicken strips marinating for fajitas tonight, so the remaining prep will be easy. Other than that, you can find me in my sewing room. 

Have a good week, friends!

PS. To my dear friend TW (you know who you are), I’m so sorry I forgot your special day. You are always in our thoughts and hearts. We’ll call you this week to catch up.