Wrapping up Green October

Last week I forgot to share these black and gray 6.5” selvage blocks that I’d made. Even though October for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge was dark green, I hadn’t finished these dark neutrals in September.  So, I’ve added these 22 to the pile of other selvage blocks and now have 148 blocks, way more than I’ll need for a single quilt, since I’ll be mixing them with solids. I haven’t quite pinned down a layout yet, but it’s not going to happen for awhile yet anyway. Either later this quarter or early in the new year. 

After injuring my neck and shoulders, I finally got in to see the doctor last Monday. He put me on steroids. In the past I’ve had shots for knees, my shoulder, etc., but this is the first time I’ve had a course of pills to take. You start with high doses and taper down to smaller doses over about 10 days. Those high doses were NOT fun (who takes this stuff willingly?)    I normally don’t experience a lot of side effects with meds, but wow, these caused the sleeplessness that the doctor mentioned might happen. After a couple nights of 3-4 hours sleep, I finally added in some Tylenol P.M. and got 8 blessed hours of sleep. The good news is that I had the time to lie in bed and solve world problems, plan a full week fun curriculum for a high school English class if I should ever go back to substitute teach, planned out how I would save and spend a multi-million dollar lottery win - assuming I’d ever enter one, and do a mental Christmas list for the family.

But I’m feeling so much better and trying to pace myself with my sewing and housework. I really want to start doing some interior wall painting, but my saner self is keeping me in check.

However, I did finish the California Poppies Quilt this week.  Since I have no quilt holder around today, this picture on a bed with light from a sunless outdoor window will have to do.

This was another quick and fun make, and went together without a hitch. I had won 40 of the blocks (including 8 I had made) for the August Block Lotto.  Then I made 8 more blocks for a total of 48. The setting is a basic straight set with a light yellow leaf print sashing that I had in my stash. The cornerstones are green and help link the greens in the blocks into an Irish Chain.

This was the first time I’d tried quilt basting spray on a full cotton quilt. When I started quilting again in 2012, the first 6 quilts I made were for the grandkids, and I used Minky for the backs. The quilting spray wasn’t the best with that, so I hadn’t used it since. But this time it worked great and saved me from pinning while I’m healing.

While quilting, the quilt sandwich didn’t seem as taut as I’m used to, but there was no puckering or pleats, so I’m pleased.  For as many quilts as I make, I don’t see the spray basting as a regular occurrence, but it will be great in a pinch. Or a pinched nerve, LOL.

California Poppies was quilted with two shades of Aurifil 50-weight cotton; lighter peachy orange on the front and darker orange on the back in a (mostly) straight grid pattern. The batting is my usual Soft and Plush cotton. The backing and binding are a small orange print. I had to add in a small strip of Jen Kingwell fabric along the bottom of the backing.

So, that’s California Poppies. It finished at 64x84” and will go into the donation pile for Hands2Help next year.  This quilt was #7 on my Finish Along 4th Quarter goals for 2018, which you can see here, and it’s my 20th quilt finish this year. The 4th quarter linky party is HERE.

So, now I can complete my October recap for Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks and link up to our weekly Saturday gathering at Angela’s Scrappy Saturday.

My October dark green (and gray) RSC blocks were:
6   green selvage blocks (2 sizes)
22 gray selvage blocks, 6.5”
3  Squared Away blocks, 10.5"
8  crumb blocks, 6.5”
4  bird blocks, 10.5”      and
18  quarter log cabin blocks, 6.5”
For a total of 61 Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.

And I finished four quilts in October.

So, despite an injury, I was able to still pace myself and keep things moving along. I am thrilled to be clearing out so many works in process. At this rate, I may let myself do some stash shopping during the end-of-year clearance sales!

And finally, let’s see what’s on the quilting horizon for November.

First, I want to play with my wonky quarter log cabin blocks. Oh, the possibilities!!


What I know is that I’m going to do this funky layout, set with 10 blocks across and 12 down, for a 60x84” size. What you see pictured here is about a half-quilt’s worth of blocks stuck up on the design board. When I get to playing with it for real later this weekend, I’ll construct it much as I did the bowties quilt recently. That is to say, I’ll divide the colors up roughly half and half so that the color balance for the top and bottom has the same variety. You know, not all the blues on top and pinks and reds on bottom. Other than that, I’ll just see what happens and while arranging the top and bottom halves independently. Naturally I’ll make sure that the two halves will mesh together correctly.

Secondly, I’ll move ahead in November with All You Need is Love for my daughter Megan. This quilt got its planned borders last week.  Instead of doing a 4.5” border of black and white checkerboard, I did it as 2.5”, which is much better and gives the rounds the size variety they needed. The pink hearts were already sewn at 4.5” and they fit just fine - I just had to use 4 less than originally planned. Then, to make up the downsizing of the checkerboard round, I added a 2.5” border in aqua to get the base up to the size I will need to build the final round onto.

The quilt is now ready for the 8” windmill blocks on the sides, stripe-y fabric treatment on the tops and the final cornerstones. Next week I may be asking your opinion about which windmill block to use - I’m wavering between two, so I’m going to make one of each before deciding.  Right now this looks pretty wrinkly and wobbly up on the design board, but that’s just because the top is pinned and the lower half is just hanging. Believe me, it’s symmetrical because you can’t do medallion style without maintaining the measurements. Wish I could say the same for me......

Onward and Orange-ward

Welcome to September!  It’s a new month and a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This month, Angela at So Scrappy has chosen ORANGE for us to work on. It’s the perfect color to get us in the mood for autumn.

Last year at this time we were just beginning the demolition of the living room for its remodel, so I never got to decorate for fall. This year I am so excited to get out my fall decorations. I’m not sure how they will work with the new furniture and decor; without my old antique sideboard, I have fewer places for bigger things. But it will be fun trying this and that. Some things may have to find new homes and maybe I will have to add a few choice new pieces.

First, let me do a bit of August recap before I get into Orange September.

I did finish 9 kennel quilts and one doggie bed as I had planned. Darla tested out the kennel quilts for me and  declared they were just right.  In fact, she wanted to fall asleep on them right away. But mom had to wash them all, so she was deprived of that privilege.

With all the flooding from Hurricane Harvey in southeast Texas, I believe I am going to package these up and send them off to Houston-area shelters. They are needing them badly there right now. If you have time, why not stitch up a few placemat-sized kennel quilts and join the effort? I always get a lot of questions about how you, the reader, can help the animals with shelter quilts. Here are some websites (just a few; there are so many more) that are helping out in Houston:

Best Friends Animal Society
The Quilt Pattern Magazine - they work with Petfinder. Great site!
Petco Foundation
There is an article on Today.com (link HERE) that lists many ways and sites to help animals

Also in August, I did 168 little (4.5” unfinished) neutral string blocks, finished my Pineapple Quilt and started the Groovy Guitars quilt for Bruce (more on that below).  On my personal weight loss journey with Weight Watchers, I lost 7-something pounds in August, for a total to date of 15.5 pounds or so. My clothes are looser and I already feel much better. My annual physical is in September, so I am hoping that my bloodwork and other numbers have improved correspondingly.

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I started my orange sewing as soon as I read Angela's color announcement. I was able to finish up the two orange columns for my RSC selvage quilt.

After sewing up the light orange and the dark orange columns, I added to add them and the previously-sewn red column to the quilt top. Now all that’s left is a dark column (gray? brown?) for the very right, and two pink columns - one dark and one light - for the left-hand side. The flimsy will finish at about 56x72”.

And then there is the Groovy Guitars quilt, which I am name changing to Damn Guitars. Enough said about that! I did let the quilt out of Time Out for a couple afternoons during the week, and in doing so was able to make some progress.

After re-doing the initial orange guitar, things have gone slightly smoother. I hung the black cotton background up on the design board and use my portable iron to fuse directly onto it while its hanging. Genius, if I do say so myself. The design board is flannel-covered board insulation panels, so it takes pins and heat like a champ. Doing it this way also allows me to fiddle a bit more than a horizontal table or (heaven forbid) an ironing board would allow.

The picture below shows where I am so far. There are several areas that need tweaking, but for now I am just lightly fusing them to the background. Once all the pieces are there, I will finesse and trim the seam overlaps, then machine appliqué all the edges.

And I can already see that the yellow rectangle on the orange guitar needs to be re-centered. That was the piece that made me think there had to be a better/vertical way to do this quilt instead of horizontal. There are still red and blue pieces to come as the quilt grows to the left. If I can tear myself away from my orange scraps this week, I may work on it some more.

In two weeks we leave for Colorado for a week, where we will be staying in Winter Park at Snow Mountain Ranch. We are meeting a few couple friends and sharing a cabin. I will also be meeting up with Diann of Little Penguin Quilts (and her hubby) who will join us for a couple days of sewing (Diann) and golf (hubby). I’ll take along plenty of sewing and hand stitching projects, but I haven’t figured out exactly what yet, much less prepare them. But other than a little walking/hiking and chatting with friends, sewing is all I plan to do....  That’s my idea of a vacation!