It's all Natural!

August brought a new no color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge ~ low volume! My little spools look great in low volume but I've been using the same color for The Milky Way QAL and low volume doesn't speak well with night sky stars! Here are the cute little spools in low volume prints ranging from whites to dark creams. Looks like threads I would have in my sewing room!

Here are all the little spools so far!

 For most of the months, I made 5 spools but I originally was going to alternate the layout from 5 spools to 4 spools. Not sure what it will be in the end. I may need to make one more purple and one more red. They are just too cute!

I'll play with the layout when we get closer to the end of this year's challenge! I'm linking up to Scrap Happy Saturday over at SoScrappy.

So I had this dilemma that I mentioned above...low volume doesn't work well for night sky stars so I needed to pick another color for The Milky Way QAL. Way back in January, the color of the month was purple. The purple I used for my star was a very pinkish purple. 

So I decided I would make another purple star using deep purples. 

Here is Polaris!

The patterns and designs are available from Blossom Heart Quilts. 

The 6th block in Grandma's Kitchen Sew Along is Wash Day! I love this block and how it reminds me of the agitators on my grandma's and my mom's wringer washer.

I linked up to Grandma's Kitchen Sew Along over at Pat Sloan's blog.

Do you remember my 15 Minutes of Play blocks? This is what I decided to do with them. 

Using this pattern I uncovered in my sewing room, I resized it to fit my 'Play' blocks (which are 6" and the pattern called for 4"). I still used 2 1/2" strips to border the  'Play' blocks and make the star points which will result in the center of the secondary stars to be 4". I felt that there would already be plenty of negative space without making the strips larger. My blocks finish at 14". 

Stay tuned to see how my August goal turns out!

Time to set those August goals

It is amazing that it is already August! 

School here starts very soon, August 17th for the students in my district. I'm not ready for summer vacation to be over!

However, it is time to set some goals! 

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are having our kitchen renovated. The contractors are now finished (Monday was their last day) so now it is up to us to finish the little things we didn't contract out. Thankful that my hubby is very handy...it saves a bit of money! It will be my job to put everything back into the cabinets (we have been living out of boxes and the dining room table full of odd sized things since the end of June)..more organized and slimmed down than before! Hehe!

Here are a few picture so far (my kitchen isn't very big so it is hard to get good photos.)

Across from stove

As for my quilting goals, I mentioned that I was organizing my sewing room a bit and uncovered a bunch of 'made-fabrics'. My LQS had Victoria Findlay Wolfe come for a lecture and workshop. I wasn't able to attend the workshop but I did go to the lecture and trunk show! She is quite amazing! If you ever have a chance to see or hear her ~ GO! The lecture was based on her 15 minutes of Play book (before her QuiltCon win and her incredible work on double wedding ring quilts!) 

I made these blocks after I was impressed by her story and work!

So my goal for August is to make something out of these blocks. A month to play with scraps!

I will most likely make more blocks as there are only 8 rainbow colored blocks. I did find one partially completed low volume block and 3 more orphaned low volume blocks (foundation pieced) that my daughter made when she made this quilt. Not sure if I will use them. 

As always, I will keep up with the RSC, the Milky Way QAL, and the Grandma's Kitchen challenge blocks. 

I'm linking up to One Monthly Goal for August over at Elm Street Quilts. 

What are your goals!

Check in

It is time to check in and post my goal finishes for July. 

My goal for July was to move my Go Cubs Go! quilt forward and I'm happy to say that it is done! I completed the quilting and binding and just last night added the label. Hopefully we will be able to use it in October this year!

I posted about the details here if you are interested.

 For the label I found a picture of a baseball online and used it as the background. Cute, right? 

I also previously posted about the Rainbow Scrap Challenge block and the Milky Way QAL block for July here. Goal accomplished!

In the beginning of July I mentioned that I joined Pat Sloan's Sew Along. So far there have been 5 blocks released. I'm using some Domestic Diva by Riley Blake that I had in my stash but I needed to get a bit of yardage (I found some online and also bought 2 coordinating prints).

I made this block out of order (it was the 2nd block released) since I was waiting for the brown yardage. You can see the 1st and 3rd blocks here.

The 4th block released. 

The first 4 blocks altogether. 

And today's block...

Proud to say that I'm all caught up! 

I'm linking up to One Monthly Goal ~ July finish over at Elm Street Quilts.

and Let's Be Social over at Sew Fresh Quilts.

I'll be back soon with my August goals. 

Plenty to do....

There is always plenty to do and since I have been home with workers coming and going 

(kitchen renovation in progress), 

I have had some time to spend in my sewing room. I decided that I needed to do some organization in-between projects. Since my dining room table is loaded with the odd and end contents of my kitchen cabinets 

(most things are in boxes throughout my house but some things don't fit well in boxes), 

I can't prefer not to (table verses floor) sandwich the last quilt top in my UFO's. But...

I did finally finished my Go Cubs Go! quilt that I made in honor of my life long favorite baseball team's incredible win of the World Series last year (2016) after 108 years!

I had the Cubs, baseball, and the pinstripe fabrics in my stash for quite a while just waiting for a time to make a quilt! This was the perfect time!

I used the economy block, alternating the Cubs and baseball fabrics with Kona red and blue. The sashing is Kona white. The border is a print that reminds me of hearts that I found at my now closed 😥 LQS! 

I 💙 the Chicago Cubs!

The backing is a vintage baseball print that I found online. This quilt finishes at 51" x 60.5" a perfect size for a throw or picnic. 

It is Nellie approved!

Back to a little organizing....

I found uncovered this mini quilt kit that I purchased at the International Quilt Festival this past spring. It is called Citrus Delight (one color way of many from the Friendship Pineapples series by Fabrications by Doris). 

It is a fun mini paper pieced block. 

Also, my neighborhood of Little Blue Houses had another population explosion!

There are now 56 houses in the neighborhood! All made out of different blue fabrics from my scraps. It was taking up a good portion of my design wall so the neighborhood came down (to make room for other projects). I am not done with it (or my blue fabrics 😝) yet! I'm still having fun!

What have your been doing?

Here's what's happening!

The month of July has been filled with demolition/renovation of our kitchen. It has made me stay at home with workers coming and going. Some of my time at home has been spent cleaning out kitchen cabinets, sorting things we don't use or need, and living out of boxes! However, I have given myself permission to spend time in my sewing room also!

The color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month is blue which happens to be my most overflowing scrap bin. I made these 5 little spools blocks!

These don't use up a lot of scraps but I am lovin' these mini spool blocks! Linking up at So Scrappy.

I also used blue for this month's Milky Way Star ~ Regel.

Here are all the stars in the Milky Way...so far!

I may add some mini stars! Go over to Blossom Heart Quilts to see more.

I joined the Grandma's Kitchen Sew Along with Pat Sloan. This is the first time that I joined one of Pat's QAL. It is perfect for Domestic Diva by Riley Blake that I have had in my stash for quite some time. I won 2 charm packs way back when...but I didn't have any yardage. I did find some online and ordered 2 pieces for the bigger pieces needed. I also went to the fabric store to find some corals to coordinate. 

The blocks are released every Wednesday, so far 3 have been released. 

The first block is The Kitchen Table. It was easy to make out of the charm squares and some background fabrics. 

The second block needed longer than 5" so I'm waiting on my fabric order. 

The third block is The Key Holder. 

(The lighter coral fabric is one of the fabrics I found to coordinate with Domestic Diva)

I love how Pat includes a little story about her memories of her grandma's kitchen. I'm really enjoying this Sew Along! Head over to Pat Sloan's blog for all the information and blocks!

Finally, here is a cute picture of my niece's daughter with the quilt I made for her! She loved it!

It's Time

It is time to set some goals for July! We will be going through a kitchen renovation which will limit my time in my sewing room. 

Before the major packing started, I managed to sandwich my Go Cubs Go! quilt. So my goal is to move it forward and decide on the quilting and get it started.

The color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is blue so I will make my spool blocks and I will use blue for this month's Milky Way QAL star, Regel.

I also joined in Pat Sloan's new Sew Along, Grandma's Kitchen. The first block was released on June 28th called The Kitchen Table. A block is released every Wednesday. There are 4 Wednesday in July so I hope to be able to get most of them done before I update my progress. 

I'm linking up to Elm Street Quilts - July Goals.

I really like stating my goals each month as it keeps me focused. I have learned to be realistic in setting goals and to be happy if I achieve more. 

Have a great 4th of July!

June Goals Update

It is just a day away from the end of June! It has been a busy month! 

Regardless of the busyness, I managed to complete all my goals!

My first goal was to complete the baby quilt for my niece's 2nd baby daughter. 

I decided to name this quilt Spread Your Wings. Some of the blocks are paper pieced and some are pieced. I played around with the angles so the butterflies would appear like they were fluttering about.

I FMQ with meandering loops like the flight of a butterfly. 

It finished at 35" x 42 1/2"

I used various teals and purples, some from my stash, others I purchased for this project from Connecting Threads. The background is Kona white.

On the back I pieced an extra butterfly block. 

A bonus was to complete the city bank quilt (renamed The Colors of Purple). 

I finally got it quilted using my new rulers in a clamshell pattern. 

This quilt is made using mostly solids...Kona and American Made, some Grunge, a Tula Pink print, and the green print from my stash. 

The back is a piece I found at Joann's that coordinated well.

Pattern is from the book City Quilts by Cherri House.

The finished size is 60" x 69"

I also finished by Rainbow Scrap blocks in yellow!

And the Milky Way QAL using yellow. This month's star is called Capella. 

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts ~ June finish, Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy, #milkywaysampler.

Here are a few pictures from our time in the Pacific NW and Vancouver and my semi surprise Birthday party. Enjoy!

Mt St Helen

 Lynn Canyon Park

 Shannon Falls, Vancouver

biking Stanley Park, Vancouver

 Butchart Gardens, Victoria

Goldstream Falls, Victoria

My family~first time we were together is quite a while! Surprise!

Only Mike (our son-in-law) is missing. ❤️