Scrap Attack April Challenge

Oh! Bother! I am really not good at this game. My March Scrap Attack Challenge is incomplete. Surprised? Not at all. I seem to be stuck in another time zone, like a month behind time zone. Ha!

Let's look at this mess partial success closer.

It all started with this little piece of paper. It calls for a string project. Do I have enough strings to make a project?

Check. The supply is plentiful. 

What got done with the strings? A placemat.

Well, I did say it is a partial success. (It looks as if we are at the beginning of March instead of at the end of it. 😒)
Since I (usually) participate in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge with Angela  (which I seem to be also neglecting lately)) I used some purple, color of February, and some light green, color for this month and ... and ... well ... yep, that's all.


So what happened?

Well, this happened. The February Scrap Attack Challenge is done.

This is my lab coat that I use when I paint. It is NOT coming apart. Ever. But all the other shirts did.

The drawer once looked like this.

I now have all these lovely plaids to play with whenever I want. I am so happy.

There is a lot of shirts in this pile. Come to think of it, I should have count them. Rats!

I was surprised to find some weren't shirts but yardage. Yay! Bonus!

Two of them weren't plaid at all, hahaha. The one on the left was almost all done since it was used for my big hexagon quilt. You can see it here in the before last picture.

Ta-dah! This is the same drawer now full with usable plaid shirts. There's even some room left ... maybe enough for the shirts from the second drawer to fit in? We'll see when I get there.
Thank you Sarah for hosting the Scrap Attack Challenge. I might not be very good at it, but I am not giving up and will get better (I hope) before the end of the year. 😊

So what else happened in March?

I did do a little bit of sewing.

My design wall has Cécile's little baskets challenge. Very slowly, the sashing is added. The deadline is for April 15th. Well, since you know me, you know this won't happen. It will be done on May 15th. Ha!

Two little 3.5 inches block from the 365 Challenge Sampler were assembled.  On top is "Tangled Briars" a.k.a. "Barrister's Block" (with a beard). It has 44 pieces. Below is "Propeller" with 17 pieces. (I have seen this block somewhere before and I really liked it. Hmmm, I think I will do a little research in my Pinterest account.)

I have signed up for a "sewing-a-thon" or something like that. This lady has rented a hall, is setting it up for quilters and called anyone who is interested to line up. I did. It will happen on the first Wednesday of the month for the next three months. (We'll try it for 3 months and take it from there.) The doors open at 8 am until 8 pm. Since I still have a full-time job, I will be there around 1 pm until ... the bobbins run out. I am so excited about this as it is only 15 minutes drive from my place. Someone has answered my prayers.  😁

I will take my little basket blocks and try to get it all assembled. I need to take something that doesn't require much attention to detail as I know I'll be curious to see what the others are sewing and chat with them and ... hopefully, at one point I'll sit down and stitch for a bit. 😉

The Scrap Attack Challenge for April is ...

Cut up the fabric in the Big Pieces drawers. Well, that's not a portable project I could bring to the sewing-a-thon. Wish me luck.

That's all for now. I have a very long weekend off, so some sewing just might happen. Hope you have some fun with fabric too.

;^)

They're Here! They're Here!!

They are finally here. My sure sign that Spring has sprung is when I hear them sing. I'm talking about ...

... Canada Geese.

I was so happy to see them darken the sky on my drive home tonight. Now, it doesn't mean that there will be no more snow, no, no, no. It means that the snow is melting. No matter how much more snow we get, it's all gonna melt. (Photo from Internet as I didn't have my camera with me but it looks so much like what I see on my drive home.)

When I got home, they too were here. Oh! My! Sizzling Bacon! They are HERE! The swap blocks made it home to me from Barb's place. Squeal! I am SO happy to have them and pet them and ... Oh let me share with you all these gorgeous fabrics.

 You can click on the picture to enlarge. Check that blue bottom right. Gorgeous! And that wonderful orange in the middle. To its left there is the coolest color ever because I don't know what it is. (Color will differ with different monitors) It's a purple / indigo / grey color. Just awesome.

Again, beautiful blues and a sweet pink. Love it. I think I know who made the black block in the middle row as I have seen this fabric in her quilt. I won't say a name in case it is a different person but let me tell you that I love it.

Another orange, yay! And a very light green in the middle, so cool. Two lovely purples on opposite corners and a rich rusty one. Yum. 

 Hoohoo! Check these out. Top row, the middle almost look like a leopard print, so cool. The one next to it is black on beige. It is just awesome. And the one underneath, and the middle one, and .. my head is spinning.

This is the last bunch and they are still gorgeous. I love each one of these 43 blocks. No, I didn't put mine in the lot. 😏

But that's not all. We had one set of 44 blocks to do and then, a half set also. Here are the 22 extra blocks I received.

Oh! My! A yellow one. And another orange one. Check that green in the middle. 

Oh I love that pink one and the black in the middle of the last row and more purple ones. 

Hooooooooo. Look at the black and green, so awesome! The light blue on top is much better looking in person. Honestly, I love them all.

Then another kind of fun started.

I grouped them by color to see how many I have and what color should I add.
I have 6 orange/rust, 5 purple, 9 black, 5 pink, 12 brown, 13 blue (whoohoo!), 7 red and 8 green. Oh! and 1 yellow nested with the orange ones. I'll try to find more yellow (at least, one more) next time I go fabric shopping and pink, or purple. I have some orange in the stash that would fit in nicely. Since I didn't get my red one in the extra blocks, I will add that one too.

The blocks I made for the swap. 

I wish I knew who made which block so I could write her/his name in the middle square like for a signature quilt. Wouldn't that be awesome?

Thanks to all who have participate in this swap. I am very happy to have swapped with you. Thank you, Barb, (Fun with Barb) for organizing this exchange.

;^)

Cécile's Little Baskets

Cécile from Patchwork Inspirations, in France, has a quilt-along with little baskets. She has posted a real parade of beautiful basket quilts. Go check it out.

Here are my baskets.  I do have all 16 blocks made but some are still "chained" to the sewing machine. 😁

They are made with little pieces of fabric, those that are too small to join a block. When they come together and get big enough I use them to make the bowl of the basket.

As you can plainly see, I am far from done. I want to add a little sashing so the baskets float in the mini quilt.

I add some color for the cornerstones. (That's why some are still at the sewing machine) Everyone knows that when a block is on point, one needs setting triangles to finish the quilt. Well, I don't have enough of the yellow fabric for that so I need a Plan B. I am thinking little pieces of fabric again. Or maybe strings? Or maybe a more golden-ish fabric? All the baskets' "feet" are made with the same brown fabric. Maybe I could use that? ... No!

Well, I have the weekend to figure it out.  YAY! it's Friday!

I had fun making these little baskets. Thanks Cécile for the QAL. Gros bisous.


;^)

Also joining Sarah for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? 

Jail Break

I want to finish the M&M quilt top. So I added a border of yellow and then,

I added the black border ...

and that's when everything went wrong. The party came to a halt! There were police cars everywhere, officers spilling out of them and closing the area with their yellow tape. "Nobody moves! Hands up!"

"You are under arrest for having too much fun!"

I'm like what???? This cannot be!! I have to do something to help them, I mean, yes they are party "nuts" but who doesn't love the M&M clan? They can't be just thrown into jail!!



"Think, Chantal, think. You have to do something." I called Rebel on my eye-Phone.

"Rebel, I need your help. Come quick!" And then, she was by my side and came up with a plan. "We have to break the yellow tape to set them free", she said.

"Here's how we'll do it. It won't be easy but we can do this."


So I started making some Pinwheels. (Can't afford a real helicopter!)

and I added them to the border ...

nonchalantly, like they belong there.  Slowly I got closer to the M&M gang.



When no one was looking, I slipped them their getaway disguises. They have to dress up at the very last minute to avoid suspicion.

(I did the best I could with the little bit of time I had to find some costumes.)

Unfortunately, our plan came up short.

Not one to give up easily, Rebel tried again.


This time it worked. The tape broke and ...

 the M&M hastily split. 

It didn't take long for the cops to take us in pursuit.

Rebel had non-marked transportation waiting for them.

I mean, she had a means of transport for them.  (Com'on! There's no way they could all fit inside General Lee!)

The important thing is that they all got away ...

... to another bash party near you.

;^)



Phew! RSC2016 is a top.

Joining Angela for Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Joining Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Joining Sarah for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

March's Scrap Attack

Hello! It's me. Remember me?

I know I haven't been very present in Blogland this month and I haven't answered every comment on my last post but life around here got very serious all of a sudden. I have a funeral tomorrow and then, it shall be sunnier. (Hopefully). One of hubby's old aunt passed away after a very brave battle. May she rest in peace.

I did managed to make all the Churn Dash blocks for Barb's swap project. Yay!

22 reds and 44 oranges sent to Barb's place

I also managed to de-bone a few shirts. I do not de-bone à la Bonnie. It takes me a whole lot more than just 7 minutes, lol.  I un-stitch some seams like the yokes and the "X" on the back of some men's shirts.

X on the back of men's shirt

I remove breast pockets very carefully in order to keep the shirt free of holes. And I didn't have a lot of "stitching" or "ripping" time but 8 shirts came undone.

It is a good beginning ... but not a big one as it barely shows in the drawer.

at the beginning of February 

at the end of February

Oh well, I'll try to keep at it for the month of March, (which should be calmer) and I also want to finish the January's Challenge but ... let's get on with March's own Challenge. I stirred the jar of papers and out popped ... 

... 

a string project has to be finished. Ouch!

This is where my strings multiply are stored.

I don't expect to make a dent in any of these drawers but I do have a little plan germinating in my head. Oh! oh! I can feel a sprout of creativity coming up. (Gosh! It must be Spring. Why else would I talk like this?!!!)


;^)

Thank you, Sarah, for hosting Scrap Attack.