Decision made! Country Charm Scrappy Quilt

I've decided what to do with some of the (accumulated over the years) 2" squares! 

I'm making the quilt below; 'Country Charm'

Does any of you remember this Quilting Magazine? 

Quilt It for Christmas 2000

This has been my dream quilt ever since I bought the magazine! I've always wanted to make it in Christmas colors; red, green and cream. That may happen later, or not, but for now; scrappy. 

How dumb is it possible to be?! It was after I made the green Split-9 blocks, that I realized this quilt is made of Split-9's!!!! DUH! LOL 

All those 2" squares are a bit overwhelming! I was pondering where to start. I participated in swaps (2" and 2.5" squares) for 2-3 years (can't remember exactly how many times the swaps were done). We swapped 100 squares and I still have those I received in their original small zipper bags. Some swappers sent more than 100 squares. Most swappers do perfect cutting, and then there are those who do not (to my despair!)!

So far, with the blocks I have made, I have used 100 squares from one swapper plus some of my own cut 2". Today, I opened swap zipper bag #2. This swapper sent me a lot more than the required 100 squares, mostly beautiful floral fabric in all colors. Unfortunately, many of the squares are not cut to size; about 1/16" is short at one corner and some off with 1/8".  I had not bothered if it had been a few only, but most of the squares are cut the same way. I find it irritating, because I have to be very careful about the 1/4" seam allowance.

I did a couple of blocks (there are four blocks sewn together to make one unit), but these two units did not make it to size; 5". I gave up, all squares went into the zipper bag again and I took a break! I'm not going to use these squares for these blocks because they are causing too much irritation for me. I may cut them into 1.5" later on. The one I've chosen now all squares looks like they are cut exact 2" squares, which makes my life easier! lol 

I have made a few blocks. My goal is to make at least one Split-9 block each day. So far, so good! 

Are you organized? By that I mean; do you stick to daily, weekly or monthly plans, what to do etc? I used to make plans, but almost all failed so I gave up. I prefer starting the day with a blank sheet, and take it from there. Of course I have things I want or should do, but I'll take it as it comes. Speaking of this, I have my looong UFO list in mind; one day at a time too! My goal is to finish at least one UFO each month. Let's see how that pans out. 

I wrote this post some days ago and here's an update on my UFOs:

I'm quilting UFO #10; Blue & White Irish Chain! 1/2 is done. Goal: to finish it this month. 

Someone decided this is the perfect new bed! lol

Next one to be quilted is the pineapple quilt from 2021.

It became a UFO because I'm unsure how to quilt it. Any suggestions welcome! 

Are you on fabric diet this year? If so, how long did it last?

My goal is to buy fabrics / notions I need only. I haven't been that bad, here's what I've bought so far this year: 

5 Advent Calendars on sale for my Etsy Shop

6.5 yards white on white (3 different fabrics)

2 yards Grunge wide backing

4 yards fabric (2 different fabric) for Norwegian Patriotic quilts

1 Fat Quarter Bundle, 25 FQ's white on white

I was almost out of white on white fabrics, what I have bought I need for several WIPs.

I'm not feeling guilty for purchasing these fabrics! lol

HAPPY QUILTING! 

RSC Week #7 - Red Heart Strips

 Happy Weekend! 

How come it's weekend again? It must have been a busy week! 

After doing the last RED blocks (Red chosen for February) for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I tidied up my sewing table by moving the red fabrics to the large buffet (where most of my stash is stored), I thought I was done with RED for this month. 

WRONG! 

Earlier this week, I finished quilting a couple of patriotic / Norwegian Flag table runners and was about to cut strips for the binding. Before I was going to do that, I had a coffee break (very important!) and flipped through a couple of quilting magazine (which I love!). 

My eyes caught the scrappy quilt pattern 'Keep the Home Fires Burning', designed by Emily Bailey. 

SQUIRREL MOMENT!!! 

(Sudden distraction that pulls us away from what we are currently doing. From the movie UP, where the dog Doug gets distracted by a squirrel, sets off to chase it and shouts SQUIRREL!)

Forgotten was the binding strips I was going to cut for the TR's! Instead, I rushed upstairs, pulled out the red fabrics from the buffet, brought it down to the sewing table and began cutting strips for the heart, the centre of the quilt!  

What a pain getting these colors right! Well then, I'm not a photographer! I see now that I could have used more red instead of 2-3 of the red on white, but... oh well, done is done! The background is Moda Marbles #9859 Pastel Grey. 

I had some squares on the table and made nine 4-patches out of 47 required. These finish at 3 inches.

Other scrappy blocks includes; bowties, pinwheels, 9-patches and some strips. 

The fabric requirements are about 8 yards, which should make a tiny dent in my stash!

After doing this squirrel, maybe I'll get in the mood working on a UFO? 

Still hot, humid and rain showers here, no venture out except grocery shopping. We've had a few days 91.4F / +33C, which is hot for the area we live. Hotter on the west coast; 96.8F / +36C. Meteo says it's the effect of El Nino this year... Hotter than usual, for sure. 

Linking up with Angela and the RSC - Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2024

RSC Week #6 - RED Blocks and BOM

Another week has passed and it's time for RSC - Rainbow Scrap Challenge - update.

My intention was not to participate in any BOM or QAL this year, because I have way too many UFOs that have to be finished. 

Did I stick to that? Nope! I couldn't resist Sherri McConnel's 'A Quilting Life' BOM 2024. A new block is posted first Monday of each month. I'm doing the blocks in scrappy RSC colors and here is the January block in green. The blocks come in two sizes; 8" and 16". I'm doing the 16" (more scraps used!) 

I waited patiently for the February block and it did not disappoint! 

I really like how it turned out in red

I made eight Split-9 blocks too

They are made from 3" and 3.5" (HST) already cut 

Linking up with Angela and the RSC - Rainbow Scrap Challenge

  

 

From Green to Red - RSC February Color

 HAPPY SCRAPPY FEBRUARY! 

How did it become February already? I'm sure you've noticed; February has 29 days - leap year - more time for quilting!

February means a new RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) color, and RED is chosen by Angela at soscrappy.blogspot.com

Since February 1 was midweek, we got some extra days playing with GREEN (RSC January color)

It has been a long time since I participated in a BOM (Block-Of-the-Month. I did not intend participating in any this year either, but then I came across Sherri McConnel's A Quilting Life BOM 2024. A new block is posted first Monday of each month. 

I think this BOM is perfect for using scraps as well as the RSC monthly colors. 

The pattern for each block features two sizes; 8 and 16 inches. 

I opted for the 16 inches, hence more fabric used! lol 

I struggled a bit with the small star spikes. Although they are all different green fabric, I noticed afterwards I could have paid more attention to the placement, i.e. there are two almost same green color next to each other at the top right corner / spikes. Those two could have been a tad darker too. Oh well, done is done! 

I running out of neutral / white / cream as background fabric. Moda Marbles came to rescue again! Here I've used 'Flag Ivory'. I had a look at the new Moda Marbles color chart 2023 and 'Flag Ivory' is amongst many colors not printed anymore.

After making the first BOM block, I decided to do the 4 Scrap Jar blocks in RED. It's a good start using some of those (accumulated over the years) 2" squares. I also get to use some already cut 4" squares for the star spikes and background. 

I really like how they turned out in RED! 

I've made some Zipper blocks too.

The sun is finally shining after all the rain we had from those two cyclones. It has dried up a bit and this morning we did some long overdue yard work. 

Linking up with Angela and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) 2024