Small Steps

I made some small steps in my sewing room. I put together the top to one of Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts:Waterfront Starburst! The backing is also ready so now I need to find some time to sandwich, quilt and bind it.

Another small step was to finish Step 3 in the Mosaic Mystery Quilt ~ The Diagonal Block.

 Wouldn't this make a cute quilt!

I will link up to the November Diagonal Block Linkup at Meadow Mist Designs. 

I made 2 charity blocks for the Covered in Love charity hosted by Kat & Cat Quilts. The November/December block requested the color palette of sea foam green, navy blue, true blue, light icy blues, snowy off whites, and some grays.

Here are my blocks! I really love these blocks.

My knitting club does charity knitting for a local hospital and other charities. I just finished this baby blanket.

Doesn't it remind you of the Neapolitan Coconut candies? Remember these?

My grandson will turn one on January 1st...his golden birthday! To make it special I made this crown to go with the theme of his birthday based on the story Where the Wild Things Are.

He will be treated royally! 👑

A finish and more!

I am still behind on my monthly blocks but I am determined to plug away and slowly get there! Someone said "Slow and steady wins the race!" Not that quilting is a race unless there are deadlines! 

The quilt I just finished, which I'm calling Simply Perfect, has a deadline which is tomorrow! It is a wedding gift and the wedding is tomorrow! I finished it with a photo shoot yesterday! 

Who would have thought that an October photo shoot would be in the snow?

The main fabric line is Nostalgia for Moda. I bought this fabric in a honey bun roll (I don't think they even make honey buns anymore?) a long time ago. I paired it with Kona Khaki and drew up a pattern for 1 1/2" wide cuts. 

(There are very few patterns out in cyberland for honey buns.)

The border and binding fabric I found at Joann's. They coordinated well with the colors in the line. 

The backing (colors are not accurate in this picture) is from my stash. 

This picture shows the front and back (correct coloring) together.

I quilted in straight lines about 1/2" apart and then FMQ a braided rope in the border. 

All labeled and ready for the couple to enjoy!

This is the best I could manage for an October photo shoot in the snow!

This quilt is 43" x 57"

I'm linking to Can I get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts - Quiltygirl.

In other news, I managed to finish one of my October Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks! October is the last month that a color is released as November and December are used to assemble and finish the quilts. October colors were brown and/or black. I decided to do both and to even out to 12 finished blocks I added a hot pink. So I actually made 3 blocks this month!

brown waterfront starburst

 black waterfront starburst

 hot  pink waterfront starburst

All 12 waterfront starburst blocks! Now to figure out how to set them!

Linking to So Scrappy

I'll leave you with a few Halloween photos. 

The first 2 are from the Halloween pumpkin decorating contest at school to resemble character(s) from a book.

And of coarse, my favorite little piñata!

Where Does the Time Go?

It seems like I keep getting busier! I find I have less time in my sewing room than I did before. My monthly commitments, that I have done for several years, now always seem to fall behind. I have been unintentionally absent from my blog as I just don't find the time! UGH!

Enough complaining...

On the positive side, I have accomplished a few things.

First up is the 2 blocks I made for the Covered in Love charity hosted by Kat and Cat Quilts. This block is for the months of September/October. 

Next up are my blocks for the Mosaic

Mystery Quilt. Step 2 was released October 3rd. We made 2 different Square in a Square blocks. 

Step 2

 
Steps 1 & 2
Linking up to Square in a Square linkup.
Finally, I was able to finish a baby quilt for my nephew's baby. I took it with us on our Door County extended weekend over Columbus Day to finish and photograph. 

A beautiful setting!

 Even with the gray overcast sky!

 I drew the pattern based on a quarter log cabin with the logs in varying sizes. 

Woodsy fall leaves!

This quilt finishes at 34.5" x 44.5"

A Quick Update

I'm back again with a quick update! I finished my second block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge ~ Reverse Star!

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

Go here to see my Waterfront Starburst block.

I also was able to sew all my house blocks for the Mosaic Mystery Quilt ~ the 1st sewing step of the mystery hosted by Meadow Mist Designs. 

I’m linking up to September House Block linkup at Meadowmist designs. 

I also made the bonus HST blocks! They will have to wait to be trimmed to size. 

I'll be away from my sewing room for a week so I'll see if I can get another block done before I leave. 🤞🏻

September Already?

We are already a week into September!  Can you believe it? Where did the summer go?

A new month and a new color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge...and the color is Purple!

I was able to get one of my 2 blocks finished so far...Waterfront Starburst.

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

I also finished another of the blocks for the Quiet Play Pattern Club! This one a picture block!

I'm still behind on these blocks but I keep plugging away at them. 

And finally...a finish!

I did get the binding sewn down on my Christmas Trees quilt! This quilt is made using Those Trees pattern by Zen Chic. Most of the fabric is fabric I inherited from a friend of a friend. The gold for the stars is fabric from my stash. This quilt will travel to Austin with me for my DD2 and family.

Christmas Trees is machine pieced and appliquéd. 

The quilting is machine stitched in vertical straight-lines and diagonally following the angle of the trees boughs. 

The binding is made with the fabric of the trees. 

The backing has scattered pine boughs. This quilt finishes at 43"x 55".

YAY!

Linking up to Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Finished or Not Friday over at Alycia Quilts.

A new finish!

Last year I inherited yards of beautiful Christmas quilting cotton from a friend of a friend. My intention was to make each of my girls a Christmas quilt. I order the pattern Those Trees by Zen Chic - a simple minimalist design that my girls like. However, Christmas came and went without those projects started. 

A couple of weeks ago, I pulled out the pattern and some of the material and started on one. Here is the sneak peek I posted of it. 

Since we were going up to our friend's cabin in the U.P. I thought maybe I should just gift it to them (although it was Christmas trees rather than just trees.)  I showed it to one of my daughters and she said that she would like it 

(I explained my original intent.) So I got busy! 

Using the same pattern modified, I drew out a pattern that would work and found fabrics in my stash. 

It came together fairly quickly...in time for our trip UP North. 

Pictures were taken at our friend's cabin in the woods ~ a beautiful backdrop for this quilt!

The backing has a small bit of piecing using the fabrics from the front.

This quilt is machine pieced and machine quilted following the diagonal lines of the trees and FMQ inside the trees. 

It is a cozy, lap sized throw for the cabin, finishing at 43" x 51"

I'm linking up to Can I get a Whoop Whoop? and Finish or Not Friday

So the Christmas quilt is still waiting the finishing stitching on the binding....

Meanwhile, I paper pieced another of the text blocks for the Quiet Play Pattern Club.

School starts next Monday for me...only a few more days! I will miss the summer!

My August RSC Blocks

I can't believe that it is already a week into August! The summer is flying by!

The August color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is light blues. 

Although I have lots of blue scraps, light blues, not so much. 

Here is the Reverse Star block.

And the Waterfront Starburst block.

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday!

Also on August 1st, the cutting instructions for the Meadow Mist Mosaic Mystery Quilt became available. Here are my cuts. 

I still need to cut one of those stacks of background squares into triangles and some borders but I will wait on that until it gets closer to the next step. 

I'm linking up here.

Not that I don't have enough to sew, but I have been back at natural dyeing. I have been trying different materials to dye. I have used black beans, grapefruit (also used oranges but I overdyed the fabric), marigolds, turmeric, madder root, and avocado pits. I also experimented with adding iron and washing soda to change the colors. 

For the second dye bath with marigolds, I decided to try a shibori technique using rubber bands. Below is the results. It is such a pretty yellow with fun markings!

Natural dyeing has been fun...makes me feel like a scientist!

I'll leave you with a sneak peek at what I'm working on...

and a picture of my grandson! Isn't he adorable!