Scrappy Saturday - Still Orange

Over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge we are switching from September's orange to October's brown. I had a few orange pumpkin seeds to finish up. 16 seeds were sewn into 4 blocks to add to the collection. I think it's time to give some serious thought to a layout for these blocks.

My main project for brown month is going to be to machine quilt my brown block sampler from a few years ago. A few blocks each week ought to get it done in a month.

I also finished 2 orange blocks for my scrappy sprouts project (pattern here).





This is the sprout stalk so far, a total of 6 blocks. It has a long way to grow!

To see more RSC projects, hop over to So Scrappy.

Slow Sunday Stitching - No Labour

Happy Labour Day weekend! 

This annual holiday has its origins in the fight for fair labour practices including limiting work to an 8 hour day. According to Wikipedia there was an 8 hour day movement in the 1800's which advocated for workers to have 8 hours for work, 8 hours for recreation, and 8 hours for sleep. 

How's that for a healthy, balanced life style?!? How far have we come since then? How many employees are able to actually leave their work at work, and go to their home to enjoy 16 hours of work-free time in every 24 hour period? And how many employees are able to set a boundary that ensures that they have a weekend free of anything to do with their employment, in order to rest and rejuvenate their mind, body and spirit? 

Well, today's the day to not give a thought to work, to spend your recreation time doing activities that renew your creativity. Can you guess what I will be doing?

I intend to spend quality time with my needle and thread, while reflecting on the  importance of a healthy, balanced life style. I will be cutting more orange pumpkin seeds to work on this month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This is the Leaves Galore ruler that I use to cut the shapes. And I use the Frixion pen to mark the edge to stitch on.

 

Then I will hand applique the seed shapes to background squares. It's very easy and relaxing stitching.

I hope you have lots of stitching time today, and no labour that must be done on this Labour Day weekend!  Link up your hand stitching blog post below and share your project with us.

Design Wall Monday

I didn't get myself organized enough to get this blog post done on Saturday, so these blocks are still on the design wall. In August the Rainbow Scrappers were using up their indigo scraps. I hand appliqued 12 pumpkin seed blocks which are sewn into 3 complete blocks, and finished piecing 6 alamo star blocks. 

I also found a few odd seed blocks kicking around the sewing room and finished them up into blocks. So this adds 6 more blocks to the collection - 3 indigo,  1 red, 1 lime green, and 1 pink or rose or whatever colour that is. 
To see more design wall posts, hop over to Patchwork Times.

Slow Sunday Stitching - Long Term

This week I am working again on some pumpkin seed blocks. I've been making these blocks for a couple of years now, and this is one of the first long term quilting projects that I started.  Stitching more seeds has led me to thinking about what it takes to actually complete a long term project. Do you have it in you to finish a project you have been committed to for a long time?

140 seed blocks = 35 quilt blocks

I think hand stitchers are generally a more patient sub group of the population, and therefore more likely to finish a long term project. We understand that things of value take time. 
Lots of time. 
We are willing to put in that time, holding on to the belief that all the effort will be worth it in the end. And we learn to trust our own creative process along the way. This quilt has taught me a lot already. But I must say that my enthusiasm is waning, and every time I add a block, new ideas bubble up for the layout and for the quilting. 

I work on these blocks a little bit each month, and the structure of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge has really helped me to stay organized. Each month I sort scraps and make a few more blocks in the colour of the month. I have no idea why the orange and yellow months are so poorly represented in my layout!?! Anyway, last month was red, so the red blocks are done for now. And I finished one dark/indigo block so far in August.  
Today I will be cutting more seed/melon shapes from dark blue scraps, while I reflect more about the stages of long term projects, and why I so easily take on these creative commitments, which leads to having such a lengthy UFO list!
What are your thoughts hand stitchers? What are you working on today? Link up your blog post below and share your hand stitching project with us.

Scrappy Saturday

All the green pumpkin seeds that I cut last weekend were appliqued this week. I had some fun with them on the design wall, which lead to lots of border ideas for this quilt using leftover blocks.
To see the last green scrappy posting for the month, hop over to SoScrappy. I am looking forward to getting out the blue scraps for June's adventures.

As has been my tradition for many years, today I will be attending the annual Mennonite Quilt Auction, which raises money for international relief efforts. Over 200 quilts will be auctioned, and my little group's quilt is #134 in the catalogue. If you are there, come say hi to me... just look for the person in the crowd who is hand stitching!

Scrappy Saturday - Green Pumpkin Seeds

It was time to add a bit more green to my pumpkin seed quilt. I took out all of the blocks and admired how many green ones I had finished.  As you can see I still had one purple block to finish from last month, and one green block to finish.

Then I got to work cutting and preparing a few more blocks to hand applique.

That's a wide range of green right there! They really do look much prettier in real life. I'll be stitching these up today.
To see more green scrap projects, hop over to SoScrappy.

Last Slow Sunday of 2014

It is the last Sunday of 2014. Can you believe it?!?
I have not done any quilting on my sampler quilt this past week, and it's not looking like it will be finished up this week. Christmas came and went like a whirlwind, and took all of my energy with it! Any spare time has been spent resting or reading.

I have done some hand applique this week while traveling and visiting. It is such a portable project. A few more blue blocks were completed for my pumpkin seed project.
I am looking forward to continuing to build this quilt in the new year.
I hope you can enjoy some relaxing stitching time today... the last Sunday of 2014. Link up your blog post below and share the project that you are ending the year working on.

Scrappy Saturday

The RSC'ers have been busy sewing up their dark scraps in the month of October. I didn't get as much accomplished as I had hoped, but did make some progress.
The week I have been cutting some pumpkin seed blocks to hand applique. I haven't even finished the orange seed blocks yet from last month :)
Oh well, progress is still being made!

This is the Leaves Galore ruler I have been using with this project and it is awesome!
Now that a new month is here it is time to move onto another scrap bin, which this month will be light blue.
Hop over to SoScrappy to see what the scrappers are up to!

Scrappy Saturday

I am still dragging my heels from leaving the orange scraps!



I threw my pumpkin seed blocks up on the design wall in no particular order. 
I was disappointed because:
a) I thought I had sewn way more blocks than this, and 
b) it looks kind of blah. 
I think it needs more light, more orange, and gold/yellow blocks.









So I really got to work on some orange blocks, and have a few in various stages of completion.
They will really help to boost this project.
To see more scrappy posts of bloggers who are probably following the rules and working on the proper coloured scraps, hop over to SoScrappy.

Scrappy Saturday - Pumpkin Seeds

It's orange month over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge but as you can see, I am still finishing up with some green blocks from last month. These 16 pumpkin seeds are hand appliqued and I have them sewn into 4 blocks to add to that project.
Although I call this shape "pumpkin seed", it is known by many other names. 




And if you like it as much as I do, you should definitely check out the "petals" blog tour.  There are so many beautiful and creative projects shown using this seed/petal/peel shape. But beware... you could get lost in that linky list and spend way too much time on the computer (not that I would know!)

I might never stop sewing these blocks!
But for my rainbow scrap challenge quilt,
I think orange is the only colour I still need to add.  I have a good start on some orange seed blocks, and a few gold ones slipped in there too.

This past week I started the letter sew along over at Temecula, and sewed an orange 'B' block using the hand dyed fabric I won from Vicki Welsh in a previous month's draw. Thanks for sponsoring our scrap challenge Vicki!
Hop over to SoScrappy to see what other orange projects are being sewn today.

Scrappy Saturday - Green and Yellow

I made a few more spools for my block collection, even though I said I wasn't going to make any more of these blocks this month. I just couldn't resist cutting up the scraps and sewing a few!  There is such a pretty variety from bright sunshine yellows, to orangey yellows, to brownish yellows. I love these scrappy blocks and the range of light background scraps I have found to use up.

I also finished up a few more pumpkin seed blocks. I hand appliqued the seeds and sewed together 5 green blocks from last month, and 2 yellow blocks from this month. 

I also sewed up a 6" green scrappy wonky star block that I had cut last month.

To see what other scrap quilters are sewing with yellow, hop over to SoScrappy and visit the links posted.

Scrappy Saturday Green

There are 5 Saturdays in May, so we will have an extra week to enjoy working with our green scraps. To see what other quilters are sewing with their scraps, hop over to SoScrappy.
I have been cutting and organizing, and have started to applique some pumpkin seed blocks. I cut 16 different green seeds, which will make 4 blocks to add to the seed collection.

See those little green scissors there? I bought them for my friend Barb, but I haven't seen her recently, so I just started using them. If I don't see her soon, I might "forget" they were purchased for her, and I might claim them for myself... they are so cute and perfect for snipping green threads!
I have a lot of hand stitching ready for Slow Sunday Stitching tomorrow... drop by and stitch with us!

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?!?

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.

Slow Stitching Sunday - Pumpkin Seeds

Happy Slow Stitching Sunday! 
The first order of business is to announce the winner of the 100 blocks magazine draw. The winner is...
commenter #22 which is Maureen, who is listed as "no reply" blogger, so I can't contact you Maureen. Send me an email and I can get your magazine sent out to you.
Now onto my slow stitching project for today...
One of my projects for the Scrappy Rainbow Challenge that I started in August is pumpkin seed blocks.  These blocks started as a way to practice my hand applique stitching and I am encouraged that I can see improvement with each finished block. 

These are the blocks I have finished. My goal is to make this a true charm quilt with each seed and each background fabric used only once in the quilt.

These are my two favorite pumpkin seed making tools.

1) I am using the "Leaves Galore" ruler to trace the seed shapes, and it works perfectly. 

2) And I am using the Bohin mechanical chalk pencil to draw the sewing lines. The chalk has never broken on my pencil, it makes a clear line that is erasable, and the point is always sharp.  This week I had to change the chalk and couldn't remember how to do it. I was thinking it is "mechanical" so there must be something to push or twist, some kind of mechanism to figure out. But nope! As with many  things in life, it's really easy if you know the trick. 

And this pencil is totally "old school"... no magic required. 

This is how to put in the refill...

*pull the white eraser off the top of the pencil 

*stick the refill down into the pencil

*push the white eraser back into the top of the pencil.

*repeatedly push the top of the eraser to get the chalk to come down into the writing position.

Easy peasy. 

What a great product!

Today I hope to finish some brown pumpkin seeds to add to this collection. Did you notice the Thanksgiving block with the fussy cut turkey (top right block)?!?

This week I felt like starting a few green blocks to get into the Christmas spirit. Just look at that pointy point! I think I might be ready to move on to some more challenging shapes!
But this is still a really fun scrappy project, so I will continue making more blocks until I get tired of them. 

What are you stitching by hand this week? Are you making any gifts to give at Christmas? Share your project with us by linking up your blog post below.

Scrappy Saturday - brown started

It is brown month over at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 
I just finished machine quilting a brown quilt for a friend, and she is going to share some of her awesome brown scraps with me, so I'm looking forward to that.

I had a cutting frenzy this week and organized a lot of little batik bits for more Alamo Star blocks.

I had a wee bit of time with my brown scraps and so far have sewn 1 brown spool block and 4 Alamo Stars.
And I also finished up all the black blocks I cut last month...7 more spool blocks, and 3 pumpkin seed blocks.

To see what other quilters are sewing with their scraps, hop over to SoScrappy.

Pumpkin Seeds

I very rarely do not post a Design Wall Monday photo. But there was nothing on my wall yesterday, and I didn't want to post a photo of my blank wall! 
The reasons for the blankness are numerous...

1)  Fall is my favorite time of year, and we are having such amazing fall weather with warm temperatures and spectacular colour, that I just can't stay indoors.

2) I am tired from all the outdoor activity and fresh air, so don't have the motivation to work on a large machine pieced project right now, or the energy late at night to even do some hand stitching (you know it's bad when...)

and 3) I am obsessed with Pumpkin Seeds!

My hand applique project has totally captured my interest, which feels very odd and unexplainable even to me.
I keep gravitating to these blocks, so I am trying to go with the flow of creative energy.

I was planning to make each block with the same colour of seeds, but then thought it might be fun to mix up some fall looking blocks with different colours. You can see that all four of these seed blocks are unfinished! 
I didn't like it. 



So I went back to making four seeds for each block in the same colour.
Then I struggled with getting the center points to line up. Why was this all of a sudden so hard?
Oh yah, I remembered that I was not putting the centers in to make an X shape, I had planned to make an O shape. 
Sheesh... where are the brain cells and where is the seam ripper?!?!?


Here are the 12 blocks I have sewed together so far on the design wall today.
Perfect... just what I had in mind!
Now, if only I can remember the plan next time I put a block together!