Scrappy Saturday

This week is the 4th anniversary of my Omigosh project, so I had to make a few more blocks to celebrate! This is one of my multi-decade projects. 
Last month's colour was orange, and October is pink month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Finally I had a chance to play with my tiniest scraps to make a few more Omigosh blocks.

The grand total of blocks is: 

87 double nine patch
8 scrappy shoefly

After 4 years of adding to the pile, I'm almost half finished the block production. See what I mean about it being a multi-decade project?!?!

To see more scrappy projects in the making, hop over to the  SoScrappy linkup.

Scrappy Saturday

Blue is the colour for July over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 
The Omigosh project saw some scrappy attention this week. I finished 3 alternate shoofly blocks and 1 more double 9 patch block. These blocks use up my smallest 1" scraps. These are fiddly blocks and take just as long as a full size block to make (and sometimes longer if the seam ripper needs to be involved!)

Here's the full blue block collection. Many more shoofly blocks are needed but 3 is a good start!

This is a multi-year (maybe multi-decade project!) and I just sew a few blocks here and there when I have collected enough tiny scraps.

To see more blue scrap projects, hop over to the link up at SoScrappy.

Green Scrappy Saturday

The RSC colour for May is green, which is one of my favourite colours especially at this time of the year when the grass and leaves are growing and we are surrounded by vibrant juicy greens. I have big scrappy plans for green month but at FSNI last night I only managed to sew one little 5" alternate block for Omigosh. This brings my grand total of alternate blocks to 3! 





That's okay because: a) this is a lifelong project and b) we had a blast at FNSI and talked for 5 hours straight! There was a lot of talking and laughing, and not as much sewing! 

To see blog links to quilters accomplishing more green things than I did this week, hop over to SoScrappy!

Scrappy Saturday

March is the month to use up your red scraps over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge . I have a lot of red scraps because I am currently working on 3 different red quilts; Broken Dishes, Aurifil BOM and 150 Canadian Women.
This week I used a few tiny red scraps on two different projects:
1) I have been sewing tiny double nine patch blocks for my Omigosh quilt for a long time. This week I tried my first alternate block which is a shoofly variation. It is so adorable and I really can't wait to make more of these. 

Here are 4 of the red blocks ready to add to the collection. I was really happy when I saw how these blocks are going to work together.
This is going to be such an epic Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt!




2) I also sewed a little birthday cake for Temecula's 10th anniversary. They have shared so many wonderful projects over the years, and I wanted to be a part of their anniversary celebrations. So I made them a cake to become part of their signature quilt!
Click here for the pattern. You still have lots of time if you'd like to make a cake for them!
To see what other scrap quilters are making, hop over to the weekly link up.

Scrappy Saturday

Another crazy week is over and I am relaxing today by sewing some tiny random 1" bits of purple fabric into 9 patch blocks. Purple is the January colour for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and I have just finished my 9th purple block.
I was so sad reading the news that Sue Garman died, which was announced this week by The Quilt Show. I have followed Sue's blog for years and have been inspired by her quilting and life adventures. She was an amazing woman with a fascinating career at NASA, followed by a brilliant career as a creative quilter, teacher, pattern designer and blogger. 
The news of her passing inspired me to get out my own Sue Garman project called Omigosh. You can see her original version of the pattern on her blog post from 2008 here. I've been working on my version for more than 3 years now and I have 84 of the double nine patch blocks done (110 are needed), but haven't even started sewing the second block yet! It's a perfect RSC challenge project, and I enjoy picking it up now and then to make more blocks with small scraps around the sewing room.
To see what the RSC quilters are making this week, hop over to the weekly link up at SoScrappy.

Scrappy Saturday

The colour for the Rainbow Scrappers this month is red and I have plenty of red action going on in my sewing room this week. With my smallest of scraps, which are 1" squares or strips I made a few more red blocks for the never-ending Omigosh project. The neutral squares are 2". I have been making these blocks for 3 years now, and am hoping to reach the half way mark by the end of this year. 
To see the other red RSC links this week, hop over to SoScrappy.

Scrappy Saturday

Blue month continues for the Rainbow Scrap Challengers. I have been sewing a few blocks using Bonnie's leader/ender technique as I have been working on other projects throughout the month. 

Here are two more double 9 patch blocks for Omigosh, and 6 more Alamo Stars. These are l-o-n-g term projects. 
I just know someone is going to ask me how many of these blocks I have now? I have 70 Omigosh blocks, and this many Alamo Stars...

How many is that?
I didn't count, but it's a lot!
I have been debating how to work on a layout for this quilt. No way am I going to lay out hundreds of 2" star blocks on a design wall to somehow organize into a coherent design! Today I am thinking it might be good to sew these blocks together into 9 patchs, so the design unit will be bigger to work with. Do you have any other ideas for me of how to create a quilt design from hundreds of small blocks?
To see more blue scrappy projects, hop over to SoScrappy.

Scrappy Saturday

If you like scrap quilts, you have to go see the Tucker Quilt Parade over at Pam Buda's Heartspun Quilts. There were a lot of scraps sewn into little quilts in November. Most of the quilts shown were made in the USA, but there were a few from Canada, and also represented were UK, Paris, Brazil, and Holland. 
What am I sewing with my scraps this week? 

Mostly I am making blocks from the scraps being generated from the Quiltville mystery. We are working on step #4, and this is the first block I put together.
Hey, it's Santa!

Only guess what?
I sewed the blocks together wrong. Ugh. I was so excited about my blocks looking like Santa, that I sewed 4 sets wrong before I realized the problem. Today I will be unsewing those Santa blocks and this time I'll be sewing them according to the directions.


And with the tiny scraps from the mystery blocks, I have been sewing double nine patches for Omigosh. Here are the newest 4 blocks.

To see what other scrap quilters are sewing this week, hop over to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Scrappy Saturday - Brown

It's brown month for the RSC'ers.
I don't love brown (it's just so dark and colourless!) but we are learning to get along. I must admit that I like brown quite a bit more when I call it chocolate brown! 
Here are the brown Alamo star blocks I have sewn so far this month as leader/enders. Their job will be to help the other blocks to sparkle in the finished quilt :)

I've also finished 4 brown blocks for the Omigosh collection.I have more than half of the double nine patch blocks finished now. That means about 1/4 of the piecing is done on this quilt - now that's progress.





Here's the pile of the blocks that live in my fridge, where they can stay nice and fresh for years!

To see what the RSC'ers are up to with their brown scraps, hop over to SoScrappy's link up.

Scrappy Saturday - Red

I am up to my elbows in scraps today, and having a great quilty time at Deanna's. The colour of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Quilters is red. I have been cutting and sewing small scraps into 1" squares or strips to use in my Omigosh blocks. Here is the only red block that got finished this week so far. Just look at all those tiny .5" bits of red scraps in there!



This is what my sewing table looked like when I was sorting my red bits. Some strips are sewn and red to crosscut into pieces for the 9 patch blocks. Isn't that tractor fabric so fun? 



This week Angela hosted a link up for a mid year review of our rainbow scrap projects, but I didn't have time this week to participate. Let's just say I have "a lot", in various stages of non-completion, and that's how I like it! 
You can see some of the projects I've been working on this year here. This is a photo of 56 of my double 9 patch Omigosh blocks on the design wall. More blocks have been made since then, and today I'll be adding to the red pile.
To see what other projects are being made with red scraps today, hop over to SoScrappy.

Omigosh Scrappy Saturday

The month of December is a month of finishing up scrappy projects over at the RSC. I am slowly taking inventory of where I am in working on each scrappy project. 
These are the 56 blocks I've sewn over the last year for my version of Sue Garman's Omigosh pattern.

I like these blocks so much on the design wall I was thinking about not making the alternate blocks, and just making a quilt from these double 9 patch blocks. But then I look at the Omigosh pattern and like that even better, so I'm 99% sure I'll end up making the Full Omigosh.
Anyway, I finished a couple of light blue blocks that I started last month and they are very pretty. Now I only need a batrillion more! But I think this is exactly the way to sew a large scrap project like this one, using up the small quilting scraps generated throughout the year, and making a few blocks here and there each month.
Hop over to SoScrappy to see more scrappy project postings.

Scrappy Saturday

Orange was the colour for September over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
I wasn't quite ready to move to the October colours since I hadn't sewn a single orange block for my Omigosh quilt yet.
A while ago I received a card from a wonderful friend that included some 1" orange scraps.



I enjoyed sewing up her scraps mixed in with my own orange squares, and sewed 6 double nine patch blocks.
That brings my grand total of double 9 patch blocks to 54!
I am now ready to move on to some of the darker golds and browns for October.
To see more scrap postings, hop over to SoScrappy.

Scrappy Saturday - Last Purple Post

It's the last Saturday of April, which means the last week of working with purple scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

I am pleased with my blocks this month and did make a good dent in the purple scrap bin. I sewed some Stars - both Alamo and Maverick stars, and some spool and Carrie Nation blocks.  This week I finished up some cute little double 9 patch blocks for the never-ending Omigosh quilt. Each 5" block has 49 pieces, for a total of 196 scrap pieces used in these 4 blocks! WOW!

My last scrappy blocks to finish up this month are purple pumpkin seeds. I have sewn a few while watching QuiltCam, and am happy to be adding blocks to that collection. The finished blocks and an updated photo of the pumpkin seeds will be posted next Saturday.

To see more purple projects being sewn, hop over to visit SoScrappy. I wonder what colour we will be working on for the month of May?!?

Scrappy Saturday and FNSI Update

Rainbow Scrap Challenge update:

I am making great progress this month on my Omigosh blocks. I have 28 double nine patches done, and I think it needs a total of 110, so only 82 more to go! Here are the 4 teal/aqua blocks I made this month. 




I also finished up a blue double 9 patch from January and 5 pink blocks from February. So everything I had cut for this project so far is sewn into blocks this month...woohoo!
Angela... I need to add some purple, orange and/or green blocks, so maybe those colours could be on the wish list for upcoming months?! No pressure! LOL
To see what other quilters are sewing with their aqua scraps, visit SoScrappy.

Friday Night Sew In Report:
One of the sewers came down with a bad ankle or something, and couldn't come last night (rumour has it that she was either in a fight at work and kicked someone, or she slipped on the ice?) 
Wine was bought to match the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour of aqua, and I worked on machine quilting blocks for my UFO this month. 

I think this is one of my favorite blocks so far. I think the quilting makes the blocks look like tilted crowns. It is fun to quilt each block differently using the same shapes.

This is a quilt top that Sandy was hoping to make progress on at FNSI. "Isn't it awesome?!? It is from the book Small blocks Stunning Quilts". 
Also, my sister's pretty Christmas quilt is on the design wall behind the quilt.
PS - the other quilt holder will remain anonymous because she really needs a hair cut! Just sayin'!

Scrappy Saturday

I am playing in pink land! 
I did a lot of sorting and cutting of scraps this week and have started making my 1" strips into 9 patch blocks for Omigosh. It's slow sewing, without much to show yet... just having fun!

Did you see the pink Dragon Fruit we enjoyed last Sunday? What could be better than pink fruit?!?! I guess it would be better if the inside was pink too - it's white!
To see more pink postings, hop over to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge link up.

Last Scrappy Saturday Post for 2013

I have been participating in Angela's scrap challenge since January 2011 and it has been such a great experience!  I am so delighted that she is continuing the challenge into next year!! I have made so many fun blocks, sewn up a ton of scraps and enjoyed the comradery of fellow scrap lovers every Saturday on the scrappy link up party.
For the last few weeks I have been thinking about the Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects that I have worked on over the past year, and have been trying to decide which ones will continue and which ones might need to be finished. 
Here is the list of my scrap challenge projects:

1) Palm Branches 
This block pattern ("Red Herring")is from Kristy at the Quiet Play blog. By the way, Kristy has a fun free BOM starting in January - Sew Kitschy. 
It has been a while since I sewed some palm branch blocks, but I still really like them. They are great for using up really small scraps since the blocks finish at 6" x 7".  I enjoy paper piecing, and am happy to have a regular chance to make one of these blocks.  I would like to add more blocks to this collection, so this project will continue next year. 



2) Carrie Nation 
This project is just "OK" for me. I wouldn't mind finishing this one up in early 2014 since I don't really enjoy piecing them. I don't seem to have 2.5" squares readily available and have sometimes ended up looking for yardage to cut into and that is not really the purpose of this challenge. Also these blocks lack challenge for me and I'd like to do something else, although they do make a great scrappy quilt. So the plan for this one is to make a few more blocks and make it into a finished quilt asap. 


3) Alamo Stars 
OH yah... I love these tiny little star blocks. They are 2.25" and are like little sparkly diamonds. I like how some blocks have the star fabric centers and some have background centers. That was a good decision!  
I sure have used up a lot of tiny batik scraps... and these blocks are a perfect leader/ender project. It is hard to describe why these blocks make me so happy, when I am sewing them and when I am admiring them!!  There are many more finished blocks which I have to find somewhere in my sewing room, and then will take a more recent photo of the whole collection. The Alamo Stars will definitely continue into next year.




4) Pumpkin Seeds 

I started this project to try to improve my applique stitch, and I think  have accomplished that goal. My curves are smoother and my points are pointier, and I think I'm ready to move on to other applique challenges now. But I do want to round out the balance, so this year I will focus on adding more colours that are needed in this quilt. The challenge with this project right now is the goal that I set of making this a true charm quilt and finding different neutral background squares. I think this would be a fun quilt to hand quilt next year... or the year after that!


5) Omigosh 
This is a multi year, long term scrap project. The blocks are tiny and are perfect for using up my 1" scraps. It will continue into 2014 and likely in the years to follow! I am just really getting started on this one.






6) Spools 
What can I say? I love these little scrappy blocks. They will continue next year for sure! Sometimes they are leader/ender blocks and sometimes I just cut and sew them for relaxing fun! I need to get a more recent photo of this block collection too and start to figure out how many more blocks are needed for a bed sized quilt (this one is for ME!) and in which colours.



7) Crumbs
I don't know why, but I seem to have lost interest in this project over the year. There are enough blocks to make a nice size lap quilt for the comfort quilt collection at my guild so maybe it's time to finish this one up.





As I write this blog post I am thinking about how amazing it is that little bits of fabric and time add up to such beauty! 

Each of these projects uses up specific kinds of scraps and participating in this challenge has helped me be more organized and thoughtful about my scrap problem collection (although you wouldn't believe that if you saw my quilting studio!)
Also I am thinking about how much I love each one of these projects. But I also know that it is important to clear out old energy to make room for the new... and we all know how much I love to start new quilting projects! So for 2014, my plan will be to finish up two of these projects (Carrie Nation and Crumbs) and continue with the other five. To see what other scrap challenge quilters are working on at the end of 2013, hop over to the SoScrappy link up.

Scrappy Saturday

I was quite busy this week sewing the step #1 mystery blocks, but did do a bit of work to finish up 9 brown and black double nine patch blocks for my Omigosh quilt. There is no focus colour for the December Rainbow Scrap Challenge, so we are working on finishing up blocks and projects from this past year. 
These 5" blocks each have 49 little pieces... they are harder to sew than they look! I am putting this project back into it's tin until next year so I can work on some Christmas projects and step #2 of the mystery.
Hop over to SoScrappy to see more Rainbow Scrap projects.

Scrappy Saturday

I have made a bit of progress on sewing my 1" black scraps this week for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I am sewing the blocks on my little white Singer Featherweight, which does a great job of making these tiny blocks for my Omigosh quilt. (You can see my great Canadian Fall quilt hanging on the wall in the background of this photo. It was a row-along project with a group of quilting friends from about 15 years ago. I enjoy hanging it up every fall!)

I decided to make the tiny 9 patch block backgrounds all scrappy neutrals, and thing it's working well so far. Black is an easy colour to work with in these blocks because of the contrast. 
To see what other scrappy quilters are stitching with their black scraps, hop over to SoScrappy.

The Tin is Ready

Do you save tins specifically to store your sewing items?
These are some of the tins I can see around me right now... a Christmas cookie tin to save little triangles, a chocolate tin to keep all my large clips together, and an Easter Lindt tin to keep large basting pins at the ready. 


My son recently sent me this little blurry video clip that reminded him of trying steal cookies as a kid. Can your kids relate?!?  Poor hungry kids looking for a treat, only to find the tin full of thread and pins. LOL!


I save pretty tins when I come across them, and this is the one that has been chosen to hold the 1" scraps for my Omigosh project. The tin is exactly the same size as the pattern, so everything can be kept together for when I feel like working on it.

Now I am trying to decide how scrappy to make the little double 9 patch blocks. The pattern calls for completely unorganized scrappy style, which I might do a bit of, but mostly I think I will want to co-ordinate the blocks a bit more because I like doing that.
But do I want the blocks to be different colour 9 patches with the same background square fabrics (top block), OR do I want scrappy background squares and all the 9 patch blocks to be the same colour (bottom blue block) ?

Do you have any advice and/or words of wisdom for me as I start making blocks for Omigosh??

Scrappy Saturday

Not being sure of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour for October, plus my need to clean up the studio, has given me a chance to get my scraps more organized and to start a new project. (Bet you didn't see that coming!! LOL)
For a long time I have wanted to make an OMIGOSH quilt.

Every time I see one in real life, I think "that is so me". I save such tiny scraps and I could really make a whole quilt out of these little bits. 
I recently finally found the pattern by Sue Garman and apparently I am getting myself organized for yet another multi year project. I am anticipating that one of my crazy friends will have to eventually take over this perpetual UFO, since the amount of work involved is astronomical and will not likely be finished in my lifetime!  But hey, I love a challenge. Especially one involving 1" strips to make a 1.5" finished 9 patch block...CUTE CUTE CUTE! 
So, that is going to be my one of my projects for the rainbow scrap challenge - the make tiny 9 patches in the colour of the month for my OMIGOSH quilt. These are my first 2 light blue blocks. Now I only need a trillion billion more! 


And while I'm doing that, I will keep on adding to my regular leader/ender projects. Here are a few more light blue spools and a couple Alamo Stars.
Hop over to SoScrappy and see what other blocks are being sewn.