RSC Week 13 - End of the GREEN Month and Two Finishes

Goodbye RSC GREEN March - Welcome RSC PURPLE April! 

It has been a busy month after I decided making the green quilt. First I thought of Rail Fence, but after pondering about that, I went for scrappy Churn Dash blocks (12" finished). Those blocks are easy and fast to make. My goal for March was to make and finish the quilt, and so I did! 

Scrappy Churn Dash quilt, approximately 72 x 96 inches / 183 x 244 cm

I had sew much fun piecing the backing! A couple of crumb blocks from table scraps and bits and pieces of green. I always dread whether the four sides become straight and I must say I'm very happy with this one. 

Quilted in an allover meandering design using Aurifil #2902 50 wt Light Laurel Green. 

The binding is Kaufman, Kona Solid Leaf Green

Finish #2 is the PINK 'Disappearing 9-path'

RSC February

I did a pieced backing on this one too, to use up as much pink as possible

A crumb block from table scraps 

I thought this pink leaves on green fabric would make a fun binding. Quilted in loopy swirls using Aurifil wt50 #2437 Peachy Pink

(Look at that white thread!!! Where did it come from?! Have to remove that one asap!) 

These two quilts are gifts to two sweethearts who are moving back to South-Africa in a few months. 

We are already two days into April! How did that happen?! 

RSC color for April is PURPLE - chosen by Angela over at SOSCRAPPY

Do I have purple? Silly question! We all have purple in our stash, don't we?! 

I've never been crazy about purple, hence not a big variety; approximately 12-13 yards. 

Do you see the 'pinkish' one? Number 3 from the left. It's Moda Marbles Fuchsia, where would you place it? Purple? Or Pink? Your opinion appreciated. 

The first I did after I got to know purple is the color for April, was to cut all the pieces for one big and two small star blocks for the Swirling Stars Quilt

(Update: The big block is done)

What do I do with what is left? A bit less than one yard is binding for some placemats (photos later). For the remaining; I have a square quilt in mind, lets see how that pans out. 

Linking up with Angela and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge RSC

HAPPY PURPLE APRIL!

Migration to Africa (UFO) and Other Finishes

Hello everyone! I hope you're having a good week and get lots of quilting done. 

It's winter on the Southern hemisphere. We're having a cold front from Antarctica; rain, wind and 3-4 degrees (Celsius) drop in temperature. (Actually no rain the last days!). This morning we have +14C / 57.2F and 65% humidity. The cold gets into my bones! BRRR! Never in my life did I imagine I have to wear wool clothes in the tropics, but that's what I'm wearing!

To keep my fingers warm, I've been working on my list from my previous post and I think I've done pretty good! After finishing 7 items in about one week, am I allowed to work on something else?! My answer is YES!!! ... but what?! The Pineapple UFO? A bit bored with that one. I have more UFO's to finish, but none of them are tempting. The Cardinal Tea Cozies? Maybe... I shall see...

I happy to finally show the finished 'Migration to Africa'! (A UFO from last year).

It started out with the 'Flying Geese' blocks and the 2 blocks in the center. Those are leftovers from this quilt I made for my dear childhood friend in Norway in 2012. I had totally forgotten about those blocks and rediscovered them (last year) in a box when I was looking for something else. The original plan was to use the blocks for a pieced backing for another quilt (can't even remember which one!). I had no design in mind when I started out. I had the blocks and searched my stash for 'ugly' and 'never-going-to-use' fabrics.  

I pulled out some orange pieces, mottled black (for the stained glass look) a small piece brown checks, dancing African ladies and some other small bits and pieces. 

The last piece I decided to use is a not-so-ugly brown and green fabric. For the border, back and binding, I have used my favorite Stonehenge wide back. I just love this beautiful fabric! I had enough for the border, but had to purchase more for the backing. So you see, not all fabric used in this quilt is 'ugly'! lol 

Quilting: All the 17 'Flying Geese' + 2 other blocks are quilted 'in-the-ditch', and to repeat the triangles, the borders on each side of the 'Flying Geese' I've quilted in a 'Chevron' (triangle) pattern and so are the orange rectangles. The 'Dancing Ladies' and brown/green rectangles are quilted in triangles too with 1' in between each seam. 

For the border I've done diagonal straight seams, 1' between each seem. 'Of course' it didn't match up at the end! I pondered about that for awhile, then decided to rip part of the seams and do horizontal straight seams on each side (top) instead. It turned out as if there's never been done a mistake! lol For the quilting I used Superior Threads King Tut #983. Binding is machine sewn to the back. 

I usually don't note how many hours I spend on an item, but for fun I decided to see how many hours went into quilting (only) this one. Any guess? 56 hours!

Size: 69 x 98 inches / 175 x 249 cm. Maybe an odd size, XL Twin?

I managed to stick to my to-do list (without starting anything new) and here are a few more finishes (not UFO's)

Using up bits and pieces, had enough for a Christmas Card Holder

a small Wall Hanging

...and just enough squares for a table topper. The border is from another fabric line and just enough too. 

3 Advent Calendars finished. I don't have to show all 3 of the same, do I? :) 

... and 9 more blocks for a PSQuilt. These blocks are easy to make, a 36-patches takes about 30 min and fun to do in between other projects. 

This is how my list looks like today:

 - Migration to Africa (UFO) - binding - DONE!

- 3 Tea Cozies, Cardinals - all pieces cut - no progress

- PSQ blocks 36 patches - ongoing project - 9 blocks done

- 3 Advent Calendars - quilting/binding - DONE!

- 3 Advent Calendars - purchase backing fabric - DONE!

- Christmas Card Holder - quilting/binding - DONE!

- Christmas Table Topper - quilting/binding - DONE!

- Christmas Wall Hanging - quilting/binding - DONE!

- Pineapple Quilt (UFO) - make a pieced backing - not done

HAPPY QUILTING!

 

This, That, a Finish and Christmas in May

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a good week and got some quilting done. Since my previous post, I've been busy with several projects. I usually work on one project at a time, although not always get them finished. That's quite normal, isn't it?! :) 

First of all, I have a finished UFO! 

Yep! Another Postage Stamp Quilt! This is #9 (my UFO list). It's the same size as the other PSQ I finished recently; 72 x 95 inches / 183 x 241 cm. 

This is the one I struggled to get the 108" backing straight. We (with help from DH) did manage to stretch and pull making it a little bit better, but still.... UGH! The colors are pastels on almond colored background. I didn't really like it when I prepped the quilt, but after finishing the quilt, I'm in love with it! :) So soft and cuddly! For the binding I have used a dark teal fabric that has been in my stash forever! 

Do you give your quilt a name? Usually I don't, but after spending hours quilting the 'flying geese' blocks for this UFO (that was meant as backing on another quilt), I've named it 'Migration to Africa'. 

It consists of several 'Flying Geese' blocks and dancing African ladies. There are groups of triangles on the dancing ladies fabric. Interpretation; groups of migrating birds. 

Quilting 'Migration to Africa' is time consuming and for not getting bored, or worse; getting fed up with it!, I've done some smaller items in between. Going through my stash, I decided to make a few 'Golf Ladies' mug rugs

Aren't they cute?! 

The Advent Calendar is done! 

While searching my stash for backing for the Advent Calendar, I pulled out some other Christmas fabrics. I had enough to make a card holder, small wall hanging and scrappy table topper. I even found backing fabric for these projects! 

Is searching my stash for fabric good or bad?! LOL Earlier this year (or was it end of last year?), I made this tea cozy. At the time I made it, I intended to make a matching teapot mat, but that did not happen at that time. I pulled out these fabrics again and from what I had left I prepped a teapot mat, 6 mug rugs and 6 place mats! 

This blog post has been in draft mode for some days. I have a few updates: teapot mat is done, all mug rugs are quilted and 2 (out of 6) are done. I'm working on 'Migration to Africa', about half the border is left to quilt. Why on earth did I decide to do diagonal straight seams with 1' in between each seam?! My-O-My! It takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!! I love how it turns out though! :) 

HAPPY WEEKEND & HAPPY QUILTING!