RSC16 week 22

GOODBY TO A LOVELY MONTH

Not only have we had good spring weather, but I also had a weeklong visit from a dear friend from Seattle.  The highlight of the visit was a trip to the University of Wisconsin arboretum, where we got to see and smell the wonderful lilac collection, all of varied size, color and fragrance.  We also saw some fauna, namely groups of wild turkeys munching grass near the road.  We even had an encounter with a snapping turtle which thought he owned the road.  

I also took her to our Monona Quilters group, which she really enjoyed and remarked how everyone was so encouraging to the other folks at show and tell.  My contribution to that was my Pinwheel Row quilt top.  Since she left I have been catching up on my blocks for May.  I finished the Fasceted Stripe block for Modern HST Sampler for Blossom Heart Quilts like without any more ripping.

I am most happy with my green Twinkler block, the first one I've been able to finish with NO RIPPING!

In addition, today I put together my 8-inch slab block featuring doves of peace.  So I managed to complete my monthly goals for the first time this year.

I hope you have all had a pleasant month of May.  

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy   and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts

RSC16 week 21

PINWHEELS BLOWING IN THE BREEZE

It has been sunny with a lovely breeze lately and it has put me in the mood to finish my Rows of Pinwheels quilt top.  I completed attaching the rows together and was done sooner than expected.

After this photo was taken I got the sides trimmed up and am working on a plain white border. I have no idea what to use for backing because I intend to do a second version with the extra pinwheel blocks, so I want to use the fabric on hand for that first. It will be the same color scheme, so my orange and blue scraps will still be around.

As for my Modern HST Sampler block called Faceted Stripe, it called for a single color plus background.  I found another beautiful Wiliam Morris green leafy fabric with stems in lavender shades. So I chose to add a lavender dot print down the center instead of white background.

I still need a lot more practice.  While just joining units of two, I had to rip five seams, and this is as far as I got.  

However, my friend Sharon arrived from Seattle and we will be having a wonderful reunion as soon as she arrives from the airport. Don't expect to have much stitching time this week.  We will be showing her the sights here in Monona and Madison.  The weather is supposed to cooperate also.

I hope all of you have a great week.  I'm linking up with Rainbow Scrap Challenge at soscrappy and Modern HST Sampler at Blossom Heart Quilts

RSC16 week 20

SPRING GREEN

Happy, happy springtime!  A friend picked me a little bouquet of lilies of the valley, my favorite flower with such a delicate fragrance.  I can enjoy it every time I pass by.  And out on my deck a little house finch is perched on the railing, singing his heart out.  Bird songs are very special to me also.

Here is my May RSC16 16-patch block with a happy dancing bear just out of hibernation.

I chose green also for my Modern HST Sampler block Diagonal.  I have some beautiful green prints from Barbara Brackman's William Morris Jewels collection.  Since this one is a floral I also chose a lime green tone-on-tone floral to give a springtime effect.

My next WIP is the pinwheel row quilt I started last year.  To use more of the fun fabrics I had gathered I made this braid strip.  It was too short so this week I added a couple more strips and trimmed it all up.

The highlight of the week was Monday.  Our Monona Quilters group of about 50 members here in WI  held our semiannual charity quilt collection.  A total of 172 quilts of all sizes were collected for local charities such as Project Linus, a local veterans group, homeless transition housing and others.  Here are the quilts before we posed with them for photos.

I'm very proud to be a member of this active and generous group which meets weekly for show and tell.  They give a lot of encouragement and support to all the members.   We also have a giveaway table after the meeting where we can find many goodies and many of these reject fabrics are turned into lovely charity quilts.

I linked up with Rainbow Scrap Challenge at 

soscrappy   and Blossom Heart Quilts at Blossom Heart Quilts  

Blossom Heart Quilts, May 10

MODERN HST SAMPLER

I chose green for my Diagonal block this May, because it is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color.  I had some beautiful green prints from Barbara Brackman's William Morris Jewels collection.  Since it is a floral I also chose a lime green tone on tone floral to give a springtime effect.

Yesterday our Monona Quilters group of about 50 members here in WI  held our semiannual charity quilt collection.  A total of 172 quilts of all sizes were collected for local charities such as Project Linus, a local veterans group, homeless transition housing and others.  Here are the quilts before we posed with them for photos.

I'm very proud to be a member of this active and generous group which meets weekly for show and tell.  They give a lot of encouragement and support to all the members.   We also have a giveaway table after the meeting where we can find many goodies and many of these reject fabrics are turned into lovely charity quilts.

I linked up with Blossom Heart Quilts and Rainbow Scrap Challenge at soscrappy.

soscrappy soscrappy

RSC16 week 19

,MAY DAY WEEK

This little paper basket filled with some Hershey Kisses was hanging on my door early in the morning of May 1st.  Some kind person makes these for all 60 apartments in our senior housing every year. I've been here five years and this unknown stranger never forgets.

I have done very little quilting this week, but have treated myself outrageously.  Here is the sum total of my work this week.

Due to unexpected happenings I got only this little sailboat made.  The other two green fabrics have been cut for the Modern HST Sampler block which I hope will be done by next week.  The dark print is from Barbara Brackman's William Morris collection. 

I think spring fever has gotten to me with tulips, magnolias and crab apples in bloom.

Also, because my birthday ending in a 5 came yesterday I simply had to do some online shopping at those convenient Mother's Day sales.  

This wild bunch arrived from Hancock's of Paducah first.  The one on the right is Mexican Poppies and the other three are from another designer, so fabulous on black.  I've no idea what I'll use them for, just to gaze at and dream for a while.  All half price, of course.

That was followed by the arrival of this pack of 17 fat quarters from Connecting Threads, for about 24 dollars.  They sure are better than candy and yummier looking, aren't they?

The final saving opportunity (splurge) were two gift certificates pour moi at Missouri Star's one day sale   price.  Also my granddaughter called to ask what kind of cake I like best for birthday/Mother's Day.  She is becoming an excellent baker and dark chocolate is her favorite as well as mine.

I hope you all have a happy Mother's Day for yourself and/or your mothers or other wonderful mothers you know.

NOTICE:  Thanks in part to Kate at Smiles from Kate and a session with a local techie, I now have ACTUAL LINKS to Rainbow Scrap Challenge at soscrappy and with Blossom Heart Quilts at Blossom Heart Quilts 

Blossom Heart Quilts, Home Time, May 3

There are two items I completed this year for my family.

The first was a Zigzag Rainbow quilt for my granddaughter Sarah's fourteenth birthday last July.  She was a new Beattles fan and chose a rainbow for her room.  Here she was presenting it at our quilt group show and tell.  I loved making something she enjoys so much.

My second choice was a table runner made for my daughter for her Christmas dinner.

This was a kit from Connecring Threads, the first kit I had ever made.  For backing I used a reclaimed valence with an African feel.  I bound it with the same stripe.  This meant a lot to Beth because she had spent time in Ivory Coast as a nurse on the Mercy Ship, assisting in surgeries on people who had no other hope for their severe disfigurements.  

I machine quilted it and it looked elegant on her Christmas table.

.

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts . 

Blossom Heart Quilts, May 3

MODERN HST SQMPLER BLOCKS FOR MAY

My first project this month was the Modern HST Sampler block called Pointed, which I managed to muddle through, having troubles with matching seams.

For the eight HSTs in orange I used a different method called The Eight Square Method by Honey Bear Lane on Pinterest.  You end up with straight grain on two sides and only the diagonal on the bias.  I don't want to mess around with stretchy edges and it is easy to do.  

This was the second Modern HST Sampler block for May, so again I used the colors for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in orange with brown or black.  

This block was titled Intersection, using 16 HSTs.  I did not like the pattern arrangement when done in my fabrics, so I just moved them around to get this block.  I don't know if it has a name.  If any of you know it, I would appreciate you telling me.  All you quilt history buffs and Dear Jane followers must know hundreds of them. 

I'm really enjoying this Modern HST Sampler challenge and am becoming more confident with them, which is my goal.

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts  

RSC16 week 18

SUMMING UP

At the end of four months I have finally caught up with my blocks of the month and have begun the finishing of a WIP row quilt.

This is my April twinkler and I can finally say that I made it with only one ripping and recutting.  I don't dare think I can do one without any problems, but I'm getting closer.  Here are the four.

The other final block I completed was the April slab block, which was far more fun than doing the star.  Do I prefer the easy way out?

And here are my four slab blocks.

The 16-patch blocks turned out to be fun, even though the February one became orange instead of pink with brown, and so it is now officially the April block.

I mentioned that I keep an ongoing list of my projects.  When I finish one I reward myself with a little happy face emoticon at each stage.  For the RSC blocks I use little sailboats, squares, stars, etc.  For the final completion I give myself a lovely pink flower.  Guess I'm in my second childhood a bit these days!

That is only half of my list, but it really works for me.  My next WIP started with a random drawing of  90 HSTs  from Summer at Easy Quilter.  I turned them into a lot of pinwheels and have worked them into rows.  I have started piecing the rows together and it should not take long to finish, I hope.

  

As you see, I will still be working with orange, but I stowed away every bit of brown I could find, at last!

We can all enjoy new colors, Hooray!  Have a great week.

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy , Sew Cute Tuesday at
Blossom Heart Quilts and WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden 

RSC16 week 17

A MYSTERY BLOCK AND MEMORIES

This has been a catchup week for working on my self-commitment to six monthly blocks.  For Rainbow Scrap Challenge I'm doing .a twinkle star, a 16-patch at 8 Inches, a slab block of the same size and a slightly smaller sailboat.  They are all in the RSC monthly colors.  They just seem to have somehow added themselves of their own volition.  All of a sudden there they are saying "Me next!  Don't forget about me."

This slab block got me finally caught up for January.  I do enjoy these the most because they allow me to be inventive.

In addition, I am doing a Modern HST Sampler block every other week, also in the RSC colors.  As long as I have to drag out all my orange and brown scraps, I might as well go all the way with them.  These are 12-inch blocks, however, and should be a fine sampler quilt by year end.

This block was titled Intersection, using 16 HSTs.  I did not like the pattern arrangement when done in my fabrics, so I just moved them around to get this block.  I don't know if it has a name.  If any of you know it, I would appreciate you telling me.  All you quilt history buffs and Dear Jane followers must know hundreds of them. 

 

Before he passed away a year ago, my son, Chris, and I used to take rides in the country and he especially loved old weathered barns.  When I learned there were many barn quilts to be seen in the next county, we started seeking them out with an excellent listing of all the Green County barn quilts. We only got to visit a few before winter set in, but here is a photo of one which we took with the owner's permission.

I'm now hoping that I can carry on where Chris and I left off, by interpreting some of the barns and barn quilts I've seen in person or on Pinterest.  Thank you, Julie Sefton, for your inspiring book, BUILD-A-BARN, which I bought and am using to plan a 'barn quilt' barn quilt.  Julie, Quiltdivajulie, has a blog called thefreepiecedbarnproject.blogspot.com and I highly recommend it for process not patterns.

 I hope you all have a colorful week.  I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts and WIPS BE GONE at A Qulting Reader's Garden.

Build A Barn , April 16

  I recently ordered Julie Sefton's book, Build-A-Barn, from Amazon.  I have been enjoying it very much.  She has wonderful illustrations of her process rather than giving patterns.  It allows you to interpret it as you prefer.

I grew up in Rhode Island and saw very few barns in New England.  I began to notice them when we lived in Spokane, Eastern Washington, in the heart of farming country.  Since moving to Wisconsin in 2007, I've fallen in love with the variety of barns around here.  

Before he passed away last year, my son, Chris, and I used to take rides in the country and he especially loved old weathered barns.  When I learned there were many barn quilts to be seen in the next county, we started seeking them out with an excellent listing of all the Green County barn quilts. We only got to visit a few before winter set in, but here is a photo of one which we took with the owner's permission.

I'm now hoping that I can carry on where Chris and I left off, by interpreting some of the barns and barn quilts I've seen in person or on Pinterest.  Thank you, Julie, for this inspiring book.

RSC16 week 16

DEADLINES MET

My main goal this week was to finish my Dog Park quilt, which I last showed as a flimsy, needed for Monona Quilters charity collection on May 9. Once I switched to using the walking foot for it, I wanted to do the entire job before using my 1/4-inch foot again.  A friend helped me to get it pinned to the fleece backing on the weekend.  It was only about 45 inches square, a lot easier to handle than the 50 x 60 ones I've made in the past.  Here it is after quilting.

I bought the kids fleece blanket about a year ago and the dog fabric last fall to coordinate with it.  With the deadline looming, I quilted  and bound it in three days. The gold binding was left over from another project with just inches to spare.  

I quilted in the ditch for the strip pieces and did meandering rows in the dog area so it would not look like they were fenced in, but free to run.  It shows best on the back.

The finished quilt: 

My other goal was the Modern HST Sampler block called Pointed, which I managed to muddle through just in time to do these photos.  Of course, it is done in RSC16  April colors.

For the eight HSTs in orange I used a different method called The Eight Square Method by Honey Bear Lane on Pinterest.  You end up with straight grain on two sides and only the diagonal on the bias.  I don't want to mess around with stretchy edges and it is easy to do.  

Over all it was a very nice week with warm sunny days at last and that feeling of satisfaction from meeting my goals.  I hope you all had a good week and I'll be checking your posts on Rainbow Scrap Challenge at so scrappy tomorrow.

RSC16 week 15

SAILING IN STYLE

Time to set sail again in the April colors.  Here is my little sloop with cheerful orange sails.  I'm carrying on a family tradition.  My Norwegian uncle used to buy sailboats at a bargain and restore them to good condition.  He had a workshop with an old heavy duty Singer where he made his own new sails. Of course his were not colorful, but they did the job well when we sailed off to Newport or Block Island for a day or a week.  

SWITCHEROO

When it came time to make my April 16-patch block I took out the previous ones.  When I saw my February block with its wild orange colors and a bit of brown, I realized it was more  aptly an April block, so here is its return under a new name.

Well, that was the fastest RSC block I've ever made, but now I had to make a February one, so I really splurged on pink.

A VERY USEFUL FIND

Yesterday when I took my garbage down to the basement I got a great find without having to dive in the dumpster.  This stack of drawers was sitting waiting for me to snatch it up and find a place for it in my ever-crowded studio/bedroom space.  Fabric was slowly (actually quickly) trying to take over the room like kudzu.  I've never seen the pesky vine but it's the best analogy.  Here is the cabinet on arrival.

And here it is happily filled with fabric and making a big difference in my space.

It is now paired up with my previous dumpster reclamation, the blue stacked bins.  Now I can actually get in the room easily.  I like my Melody Johnson wall quilt sitting in front of my darker piece behind it because it makes Melody's shine even brighter.

Speaking of shining, the first tiny daffodil popped open in our garden to make me smile.  Hope you are all enjoying spring or fall wherever you live.  

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.

RSC16 week 14

 PROGRESS REPORT

DOG PARK QUILT.  The flimsie went together quickly and I showed it at our Monona Quilters meeting on Monday.

The fleece backing has a dog theme and is so fluffy and soft after washing.  Yesterday I got it pinned and ready for some simple quilting.  It is about 43 inches square.

Modern HST Sampler blocks to date:  

As you see, I am doing these in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors, since they come every other week.  Can't wait to get going on April's orange with black or brown for all my projects.

It's taking me quite a while to do my slab blocks because it's not just a crazy patch, but more of a designed piece, evolving bit by bit and I'm enjoying the process very much.  It's a challenge to make it exactly 8.5 inches to match my 16-patch blocks.  Here is the February one I just finished today.

It's been a good quilting month for me.  The next step is to quilt and bind the Dog Park quilt, then back to my single blocks.  Those will just stack up till December, but I have number of WIPs to finish.

Thanks for all your nice comments this past week.  I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.  Be sure to see what fun things are going on there.

Paula B Quilts

  I'm using the Rainbow Scrap Challenge monthly colors for my blocks.

RSC 16 week 13

UNCHARTED WATERS

This week has been a happy time for me with my piecing.  I made the latest Modern HST Sampler block, Formation.  I stayed with straight purple for the simple block, although it looks more like navy here.

So I completed the blocks for this month.  I'm trying to keep to the more modern look for this set of blocks.

The most fun I had this week was building a boat.  I had seen Gayle's tiny boat and then Sue's larger two-masted version, both so cute I had to make one.  Since I work with lots of 2.5-inch strips, I designed my own 6.5-inch boat block, in March colors of course.  It only took ten minutes to make it, using flip triangles for the boat shape and some HSTs I already had on hand.

The only problem with these little boats is that, like potato chips, you can't have just one.  So I made two more in January and February colors, but I know it won't stop there.  Sailing has been in my blood since I sailed with my Norwegian uncle in RI waters as a girl.  I love the silence except for the sound of the rushing water and also love the rough seas.  I sure do miss the ocean here in Wisconsin.

The other fun time I had was making another 16-patch block because I had not done a blue one that I liked.  The first one was just plain dull.

I tried to make this blue one as colorful as my other 16p blocks, which is trickier with blue and purple.

I was really happy with the result.  Now I have several more slab blocks to catch up, plus my Dog Park quilt and that is coming along well.

I hope each of you had a satisfying Quilty week.  I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts. Check them out to see what everyone is up to.