Continuing With Purple

Well, I jumped the gun in starting my Rainbow Scrap Challenge for August with purple, because Angela selected yellow instead. But she also said if we’d started with purple, we could continue with it and just do yellow next month. So that’s what I’m doing!

Let’s start with the 6.5” string blocks. This first batch was these dark purple strings. They’re not so exciting, so I didn’t unpin this set of 15 that will go to our local chapter of Quilts for Kids. 

Then I wanted to do a set of 15 light lavender blocks, and I had enough of the center strips with the plusses on them to do that, and managed to eke out the whole set. I did lay these out on one of my sewing room tables, but the lighting sure affects the color. Obviously, the window is to the right, so those blocks on the right are getting the most natural light. The truest colored blocks are in the second column from the right. 

I have more purple strings, and I’ll get to those later in the month.

Next I finished sewing the blocks for my friend Joan who moved back to Massachusetts. It looks very similar to the one I finished last spring for our grandson’s wedding, but this one is just 12 blocks (instead of 20) and measures 48x64”. It’s pinned sideways (wonkily) because my design board is too high for me, yet not long enough. 

I had two quilt finishes this week because my friend Ruby brought them back after quilting them. These will go to Quilts for Kids (QFK), and both are larger than the small ones that we make with a single width of fabric for the backing. I got them squared up (which is going to be hard to believe when you see the second quilt), bound and labeled. 

This first one is the light and dark potato chip quilt made exclusively with pieces that were cut 2.5x4.5”. I am absolutely having a great time working with this shape lately! I photographed this quilt sideways, then flipped it vertically. It measures 48x60”.

Here’s a close-up of the quilting.

The backing is this sturdy red plaid that Ruby bought at an estate sale for us to use for our QFK quilts. There were  about 10-12 pieces, with probably 30 yards or more total. Expect to see a lot of this fabric used as backings! 

This next quilt was difficult for me to photograph, so I laid it out on the kitchen island. The quilt measures 48x61”. 

And I decided to do what quilter Bonnie Hunter does and piece the back with matching scraps. Gotta use up as much as I can of the “Dang, that’s ugly!” scraps and small yardage pieces. I also used the leftover blocks to get them gone!

This is a close-up of the curly quilting. 

The Library Quilt, as I’m calling it (but “Fan of the Library will be its official name) saw a lot of good progress. In the next picture, the side borders are just pinned up and the top and bottom borders aren’t shown. Also, some of the lower horizontal seams aren’t stitched.

Those 12 fan blocks were given to me by our QFK chapter leaders. We get a lot of donated blocks and fabric, so they passed these on to me to “do something with.” I had 2 yards of this lovely fabric depicting children’s books with vintage, colorful covers and they were perfect together.  I’m absolutely loving the warm, rich colors! 

Oh, the layout came about as an accident. I had originally intended to have all the fan blocks facing one direction. But when I finished piecing the first row of three, I realized I’d already messed up. I hate ripping blocks apart, so I made an executive decision (design choice) to alternate double and single fans. And I rather like it! I think the double fans look like a book lying open with its pages fanned out. 

All is well here, but the heat is really plucking my last nerve. My garden is half crispy, despite daily watering - and deep soaking the tree. I hope this type of heat doesn’t become the norm. I may have to start planting cacti! Cousin Kim and her daughter Sarah came over on Wednesday and the three of us went swimming at the clubhouse. Bruce didn’t have any interest in joining us. He jokes that with only one arm, he just swims in circles! My granddaughter London got her learner's permit this week. Her mom sent me a video of London driving in a church parking lot. I can remember doing the same thing with London’s dad! It seems like just last month! 

I hope you have a great week and stay cool (or warm, depending on where you are) and safe! Sharing this post also with OH SCRAP! 

Life is good.