Have You Joined the Club?

I had to share my newest blocks for the Quiet Play Pattern Club! This pattern club is the brainchild of Kristy over at Quiet Play. She loves rainbows and paper piecing. Every month she releases 3 blocks to club members that are, of coarse: paper pieced and rainbows. 

One word block, one picture block and a bonus block!

I have fallen a bit behind due to my schedule and other obligations but I love making these cute blocks. The May blocks are 2 of my favorites. 

(yes, there is a 3rd one but I haven't finished it yet)

So without further adieu...

The bee picture block

The word block!

Here, here, here are some of my previous blocks.

Go check out the club here!

A finish and some slow progress

After a very busy end of the school year, I finished the T-shirt quilt that I was commissioned! The top was finished in the beginning of May but then it was on hold for a couple of reasons: I needed to complete the charity quilt for the Hands2Help project that I committed to making, I was waiting on the fabric order for the back and binding, and school was hopping at the end of the year so I was working almost every day!

They chose a grid style quilt. Gabby likes aqua blues so I used those colors for the sashings and border. 

The backing is an aqua batik.

Finished and delivered in time for her graduation party!

Then I realized, it was June which meant a new color of the month. I headed over to So Scrappy to find that dark blue will be the color play for June!

Here is Waterfront Starburst in dark blue with a low volume in blue. 

Here are the 6 blocks so far for the 2019 challenge!

And my Reverse Star block.

And all 6 together! 

Little by little I'll catch up on my monthly blocks!

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday at So Scrappy.

In the meantime, I was determined to do a little bit of hand dyeing of fabrics. I started with some avocado pits. Would you guess they turn your fabrics pink? 

Avocado pits and skins. 

The avocado bath.

The apron I dyed with the avocado bath. 

The pink yardage is a bit lighter.

I have tried citrus peels but didn't get much color. It turned a very pale yellow. 

I have learned that natural dyeing is a lot of trial and error. 

I'll try a bit more but we will see if it is worth the time.

Now I need to catch up on my Quiet Play Pattern Club blocks!
Linking up to Can I get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts

Some more catching up

I finally got my 2nd block for May's RSC done! Here is my Reverse Star block done up in Orange.

I'll be linking up to Scrap Happy Saturday over at So Scrappy.

 I also was able to complete my April blocks for the Quiet Play Pattern Club. April's word block was Joy! I used a turquoise color for the background and some Kona oranges for the hexagons. 

The other blocks included this cute rainbow sewing machine and the bunny!

I'm using Kona cotton solids for these blocks.

Isn't this so cute! I think I could like a rainbow machine! It would make me smile!

And how cute is this bunny?

Three more blocks to add to the collection. I'm excited to see how this will all come together!

Now to get to the May block!

May's color is ORANGE!

Orange is such a happy color! 

For May, Angela from So Scrappy announced the color ORANGE! I know it is already the second week of May and I'm just getting started with my orange blocks but....I'm working to catch up between projects!

Here is my first block ~ Waterfront Starburst ~ in  ORANGE! 

Maker Mouse, my quilting room companion, matches nicely! 😉 

Linking up to Scrap Happy Saturday

Now on to my second orange block!

What Have I Been Doing?

I unexpectedly took time away from my blog but not from quilting!

Recently, I was asked to do a commission quilt by some friends from our church.  It is a T-shirt quilt for their daughter that is graduating from HS. I don't usually take on commission work but decided to go ahead. I knew I would have to put aside my personal projects except for the quilt I was making for H2H Charity ~ Jack's Basket in order to insure that it would be done for the graduation party in June. I met with them to look over the T-shirts and determine the ones that would be included in the quilt. We also talked about style of quilt (puzzle/mosaic verses grid), colors and size. I also gave them some resources to look for sashing, borders, backing, and binding fabrics.

I set out to determine the size of the blocks based on the largest logo and cut and stabilize the T-shirts. They decided to go with the 4 x 5 grid style quilt with sashings and borders. I have ordered the backing and binding fabrics so we have a little lull in this project as I wait for delivery. 

In the meantime, I was able to sandwich and quilt my Ribbons of Joy quilt for the Hands 2 Help project hosted by Confessions of a Fabric Addict. I'm quilting for Jack's Basket. Yesterday, I put the final stitches on the binding and threw it in the washer and dryer for the some crinkle goodness!

 Since I backed it with flannel print from my stash, it is so soft.  

I love the primary color scrappy ribbons and the cute bug flannel backing!

I quilted straight line along the edge of the ribbons and in the negative white space, I quilted a loose weave pattern. 

The binding is a red and white stripe fabric from my stash. 

This quilt finished at 36" x 40"

It is ready to be sent off to Jack's Basket and hopefully bring joy to a special family. 

What's on My Design Wall?

This year I am determined to do more charity quilting. I have joined up with Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and the Hands2Help Campaign. I am sewing for Jack's Basket, a charity that provides quilts to families that have a child with down syndrome. 

I am combining my desire to use up my scraps with this project so I decided to do a scrappy ribbon quilt. I choose the 4 basic colors of red, green, blue and yellow. I also found a piece of flannel fabric with a child's print in my stash that I will use for the backing. 

Next step is to sandwich and quilt this sweet quilt. I'm linking up with the first check-in to show our progress. Go check out the other great charity quilting!

I also finished my 2nd RSC block for April. 

This is my Waterfront Starburst block in aqua!

Here are the first 4 blocks of 2019!

I'm linking to Scrap Happy Saturday over at So Scrappy.

I'm also linking up to Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? and Finished or Not Friday and TGIFF at Slice of Pi Quilts.

A new month brings a new color

April has found its way which means a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge! March did not go out like a lamb around here so I'm very happy April arrived! We are finally seeing a few warmer days (still below average) but sights of Spring have been spied ~ robins, buds on trees, some early Spring flowers pushing up through the soil and aqua blue!

Here is my 1st block of aqua blues. This is my Reverse Star block. 

Here are the 1st 4 blocks together! 

Each block will finish at 17"

I also got to cut into by blue stash fabrics that I pulled for the Optical Illusion quilt I planned to make. These are paper pieced churn dash blocks. The size change to create the illusion. 

I was debating on how to finish this quilt...borders? What kind? Then my daughter suggested making a giant churn dash block as the border. What a great idea! I had plenty of fabric left in my stash so I got to work. 

I love how it frames the optical illusion blocks. I used a 1/4" Kona Snow inner border as a break between the middle and the border. I sewed the big churn dash as the border with the corner HSTs being 8".  This pattern is from Heleen Pinkster Quilt Design. 

I'm linking to Scrap Happy Saturday at SoScrappy, Can I get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or Not at Busy Hands Quilts, Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting, and Free Motion Mavericks at Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing.