Cool Aqua During a Heat Wave

This week the temperature was 3 degrees to cremation. Some companies closed their services in the early afternoon because of the heat. The humidity was so intense!

Some of us (like my cat, Raven) aren't bothered much by the heat. I wish I could sleep through this wave too. 

Let's leave that behind and dive into some cool aqua fabric.

I ironed this aqua forest for my April Fool block. Then I saw "it". Whoah! There's something looking back at me in the forest. Lol. How "cool" is that? (It's an abominable Yeti.)

Two light aqua blocks were assembled last weekend and a dark one this week. I'm not sure about the teal. Will it play nice with the others? If I remember correctly most of the blocks are light to medium. Is it the only dark one? I need to check this out. I've to search for more aqua fabric too. 

Baby Quilts Kits

I cut more fabric this week for the kits. Since I have a lot of dark blue, I'll make a kit with blue instead of black for the "I Spy with B/W" kit. 

Got the dark blue scrap basket out and from this 

I got this. (I don't know why the photo is so blue. Too hot for the camera to function properly?)  Anywho! 

The basket holds what is not right or not the right size for the kits. The plastic bag has the little bits for crumb blocks. On the left of it is the pile of the "good" dark blue for the kits, to the left of that, Surprise!, some teal was hiding in there as well. On the top step, there's a binding piece and some too-light-to-be-there blue. 

I'm so happy with this progress of scrap sorting that I got the red basket out. I can kit a red and white "I Spy" quilt, right? It would be different. We'll see what comes out of there. 

Same steps as in the previous photo. My deck is not blue. 

Then, I got bored one evening. Fed up of the heat. Too hot to cook or bake. Too hot to clean. Too hot to sleep. Too hot! Too hot! Too hot! I just didn't know what to do with myself. 

In other words, I felt like a teenager looking for trouble. 

Well, trouble was found, lol, in the form of 2.5" squares 

and some strips. Maybe sashing? Nah! 

Got the box of 1.5" squares out and started sewing. 

Still have a long way to go (boy, there's a lot of squares in that little bag), this is what they'll be. The pile of square is close to 2" high still and I got quite a few done.  Will there be enough for a baby quilt? Hopefully! If not, borders will be added. I'm having so much fun with this, instead of working on what I'm supposed to. 😝

EDITED: there are 120 blue squares. How did she packed that in the little bag is amazing. Anywho, I have 60 done. The count-down is on! 😊

I also did these. No, I'm not starting a new project. Well, indirectly. 

The Hollow 9 blocks are examples to use when we gather for the "Build Some Kits" day at the Artisanat. Some girls in the group might not know what a Hollow 9 block looks like. I'll also bring the  Potato Chip block.

And finally, the usual little 9-Patch blocks made with whatever I get my hands on. 

Hope your weekend is amazing and cool. 

Happy sewing. 

;^)

Want more inspiration? Check these ladies' blogs. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Nina Marie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

Aqua Month

What is aqua? I have lots of blue fabric, navy blue, sky blue, denim blue, light blue, but aqua? It's a rare one.

This is all I could gather of aqua and light blue. Not one piece sewn yet! Sigh! 

On the left, a regular Ziploc bag full of blue for size. 

I was busy cutting. Cutting!! 

Remember this poor Multi-coloured Scrap basket? 

And now! 

I fold the rim a bit so you can see the dark fabric on top. Almost half of it is gone. Cut, cut, and cut. In front of the basket are 99 pieces of 6.5" scraps. Two sets of 3 same (or almost) fabric are missing to have 3 kits of 35 pieces each. Not all of the squares came out of this basket, but it sure gave its fair share. 

When the pieces were smaller than 6.5", they were added to these containers. 

Running out of containers so I'm using some envelope boxes from the office. Squares and strips are together because the boxes holding the squares are full. (Note: need to find better containers.) The 2" box also has the 2" strips and the 4" strips. Ditto for the 2.5" box with strips and 5" squares. Three inches are in the plastic containers. There's also a container for the 4.5'', the 5.5", and the 6". 

Some scrap gifted bags were emptied too; many more to go. All this preparation is for the "Building Kits Day" that I would like to do with the girls at our group. I have a plan and hope it works. 

This lone Bonus Point block was finished when I pushed some red fabric under the needle. 

That's all I got for you this week. 

This weekend, my intentions are to sit and sew some aqua blocks. I hope you get a chance to do it too. 

Enjoy! ;^)

Want more inspiration? Check these ladies' blogs. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Nina Marie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

Still Sew Purple

There was just a tiny little piece of this beautiful purple. What to do with it? 

I had to do a make-do to finish a purple Stained Glass Block. The piece was not large enough for the tip of the Stained Glass window. So ...

Yes, I sew purple, orange and red with red thread. Someone has to use up Mother's stash of thread too. :^) I just couldn't get the pattern to align properly. I tried, tried, and tried again, until I realized that it is directional and I was holding the little piece the wrong way. It sure fooled me. 

Now it is beautifully framed and ready for the next stage: adding the white triangles. 

While I was at it, I framed the two pink ones done back in January. 

Can you find the little piece of scrap from the first photo? 

Crumbs blocks not finished and finished and one 18 Bars blocks. 

The usual 9 Patch blocks along with some Rail Fence blocks. The flower print in the middle blocks is just one long strip. You might see it again paired with yellow, red and maybe blue if there's enough of it. 

Cathy shows us her gorgeous Black-eyed Susan flowers. I miss my yellow rudbeckia. 

 This picture is from a few years ago. The rudbeckia around the clothesline post. 

My clothesline was to the left of this picture. Because the branches of the spruce tree were growing in the way of the clothesline, my DH decided to move the post to the right. I wanted to cut the tree down but the post got moved instead. The grass is mowed but I asked DH not to mowed the rudbeckia bed in the hope that they will grow back. It doesn't look like it will. :^( 

I couldn't find one rudbeckia leaf in the usual spot but if I look behind the hostas ... 

Peek-a-boo! I will move them to the other side so I can admire them from the kitchen once again, next year. 

The end of the month means scrap bags comparison time. Let's see how purple did. 

July first: 

I didn't had much to begin with and ... 

I have even less now. Oh, I'm happy about that! 😸

Baby Quilts Kits

The cutting is still happening. I didn't cut much purple this month but got lots of novelties cut for Happy Blocks and I Spy kits. Hopeful that some will be completed this weekend. 

Today, I'm diving into Aqua! But first coffee! 

Have a wonderful weekend with plenty of sewing time. 

;^)

Meanwhile, I'll be joining these ladies 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Nina Marie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

Playing with Purple

but photographing blue. What?

The Flying Home blocks look blue on the camera lenses and purple on the computer's monitor. I'm not sure which colour they will turn out to be at your place but they are purple, just believe me please.

I am still decluttering my sewing room (when I get tired of cutting fabric) and did another trip to the thrift store. To donate that is. But yes, I just had to walk to the fabric and bedsheet section. If I didn't, I knew that I would turn around and come back into the store before reaching the car so ... here's what I got. 

This panel is big enough to be a baby quilt on its own. I'll add a few pieces of green, brown, yellow and orange, and kit it just like that. Whoever grab this kit can add another border or make blocks, or not. Priced at $3.99

These were also too good to leave behind and besides, I don't have much pink in my scraps. Although these are not scraps; one meter and one and half meter for the number print. Priced at $4.99 each. I love the pink scooter. 

I think the best deal was this blue whale one. It's a little over 3 meters for $7.99. It was a "Start the car" moment. Lol. (Check IKEA ad Start the Car)

I've been cutting fabric to make kits and going through my quilt magazines. I'm saving the ideas I like from the magazines and then giving them away. Too many, waayyy too many!  

I love the flying geese in this setting. Haven't see this one before. 

They call this beautiful block in plaid, Road to Oklahoma. Funny, but all I see is Buckeye Beauty. Either way, I love it. 

 

And my usual 9-Patch blocks measuring 3.5" along with a few Rail Fence. 

I have more purple scraps under the needle, trying to finish another Stained Glass block and some crumbs. Hopefully, the purple scrap bags will be smaller for next weekend photo session. 

Have an amazing and cool week everyone. 

;^)

Want more inspiration? Check these ladies' blogs. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Nina Marie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

It's July and It's Stinking Hot

It will be another humid, sticky, stinky 35 to 40 Celsius here (again) today. Enough, please!  

On to fun things. 

To make an April Fool block, you need a large piece of scrap. Since my purple scrap doesn't amount to much, I had to get some bigger pieces from the local quilting store (read my stash)! 

I wish I could use and finish this purple one from 2009 but, nope, too small.  

Six more were done over the weekend, three on each day. 

Then the last 2 were done during the week. Yay! All the purple blocks are made for that project. 

The pieces pulled from the stash are now part of the scraps, so instead of decreasing the scraps, I added to it. (Sounds familiar, Diann?) 

Today, I'll look for pieces for Flying Home blocks. 

Of course, I did the usual 9-Patch blocks instead of the Rail Fence that need to be done.

Nine Patch are cuter than Rail Fence in my book. Bottom left is a block for the Bonus Point quilt, all purple and orange. Mmmm! So pretty. 

I had to go to Walmart for some personal items and walked to the craft corner for some white threat. 

WELL!  Can you guess what happened? 

Oh, yep! 

These jumped into my arms. I really don't know how that happened. LOL

The black one is for the baby quilt kit "I Spy with black and white squares". So, that one is needed. The others wanted to be adopted. Sigh! What can I say? I have a sensitive heart. 

I did a new Puss in the Corner block in purple. The block used up all the diagonal purple print I had. 

The blue one has been pinned to the design wall for a while now. It's hard to read on the photo but above the sewing machine it's written: You're Sew Amazing. Awwwhhh! It came in a gifted bag. My friends give the best scrap ever. 

Anywho! It's still on the design wall because I can't find something that matches or compliments it. 

The adopted fat quarters were so happy to be rescued that they went to work right away. 

Ta-dah! 

Also did 2 Rail Fence blocks as leader-ender because I felt bad for ignoring it. 

Tonight, we are celebrating my MIL 85th birthday. It's a BBQ. Outside. I wonder how she will enjoy it in this humidity and heat, poor MIL. 

That's all from me. Have a great week. Stay cool. 

;^)

Want more inspiration? Check these ladies' blogs. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Nina Marie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

The Purple Invasion

Last six orange blocks missing were made. Three on Sunday and 

three on the first of July. 

It was fun to just sew. I have acute "fed-up-itis" of cutting fabric. I'll take a break for a while. 

But! As I was getting the purple scraps out, two fabric begged to become April Fool's blocks. Who am I to say no? So, I cut some more.

Where did the orange scrap finished at ? 

Beginning of June. 

End of June. See the difference? Beside the little baggie getting fully stuffed, I don't see much differences. The basket looks like it was fluffed up. 

On to purple, which is a rare colour in my sewing room. 

Two regular Ziploc bags. Not much of an invasion, haha. I hope I'll have more time to sew in July than I did in June.  

Baby Quilts Kits

Some baby kits were cut, tagged and bagged. I love to look at the crate filling up. 

These are milk crate because in Canada, milk comes in bags. They are very sturdy and light (the crates, not the milk bags, lol).  

To be honest, these are not all CUT baby quilt kits. 

The ones in the crate were mentioned in the last post. 

On the deck, from the left, it's a panel with some matching fabric, not cut. The next three are just matching fabric, not cut. All these have no patterns. The ladies can do whatever they want. They are called Surprise Pattern. In the L'Oréal bag are strips for a Jelly Roll Race kind of quilt or a Surprise Pattern. As they wish. If there isn't enough fabric, we can always add border(s). 

The big bag next to the crate is full of strings. I don't know if one of them likes to make string blocks but I'll soon found out. 

Total is 9 kits done. 

Then I did this: 

Not the best lining job but it works. When we'll get together for a "Cutting Scrap Day", each crate will hold a certain size. The crates carry way more than my little boxes so it will be less trip to car to load everything up at the end of the day. They also stack up better because of the ridge they have. 

The lining fabric is almost as old as I am. It's from my mother's stash. I thought it was a good place as any to use it up. If it rips, so be it. 

Today will see me sewing some purple blocks. Maybe line another crate but will definitely grab the graph paper and plan more baby quilts. It will be an easy, lazy weekend. 🧵✂🍹

Hope you find time to do things you enjoy too. 

;^)

Visiting my stitching sisters for more inspiration. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Nina Marie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever

The End of the Orange Brick Road

It was a fun month playing with orange, but all fun things come to an end. I did managed to sew ...

 one more orange Stained Glass block accompanied by one 18 Bricks block . . . 

and two not-yet-trimmed 8.5 X 6.5 crumb blocks (mindless sewing). Some prints look peachy-pink in this picture but they're staying. 

Again, the colours aren't true in the picture below. We have rain and thunderstorms today. It's a dark but cool day. 

Only two April Fool blocks were done. Six are MIA.

In my own defense, the month is not officially over, so I still have a bit of time. 

June is my birth month and I spoiled myself this year. 

First I got a new sewing chair. 

It's mint green (because I didn't want it white, or black and they didn't have it in orange. Ugh!). I should have taken a picture of my old chair. It was part of my foster-mother's kitchen set back in the 70's. It was the last surviving one from a set of six. We got our money out of that one, lol. 

Then I spoiled myself again. I bought a pergola. 

(Image from Internet)

We will be able to enjoy our deck any time of the day. We should have bought this a long time ago.  If the rain could stop, we would finish setting it up. More photos to come with me enjoy it. :^D 

Baby Quilt Kits

And I cut, and cut, and cut, and cut some more. I know some of you suggested that I keep the quilt kit patterns to simple ones. I understand the logic behind this but I also know that these ladies have been sewing long before I started quilting. So, my logic is if I can make these patterns, so can they. ;^) 

I drew this pattern (I call it Stack) inspired by a photo seen on Quarter Inch Caper blog. Since my scraps don't have very big pieces (especially that this one needs 3 big pieces and 6 more pieces of the same print), I decided to add some white pieces. It's perfect for my scraps now. 

Instructions:

For the six different prints or colours, cut 6 rectangles of 6.5 X 2.5 and 12 rectangles of 3.5 X 2.5 

Then cut 12 white rectangles of 3.5 X 2.5, for each colour. It should finish at 36" square. It is different yet very easy. 

I also cut some fabric for the one I call I Spy Black N White. 

It's from Pinterest and I can't find the maker. (I was sure it was from Treadlestitches but nope.) If you know who did this, please let me know so I can give her credit. 

Instructions:

Cut 35 squares at 6", only one square per print. Cut 35 white squares at 3.25 and the same for the black blocks. It does make a fast and easy I Spy quilt. (Makes sure that the black squares are facing each other.) 

I kitted two like this. The black squares are still to be cut for both kits. My blocks aren't as bright and happy as the prints in the picture but it will be good enough for a donation quilt. 

I have more patterns to write and cut. Since Canada Day is on Tuesday (day off), I'll be working on at least one more pattern. 

I've emptied a scrap bag then I thought about my multicoloured scrap basket AFTER I finished cutting 70 different prints for the quilt above!! Ugh!  

Let's see how many prints I can get out of this one. 

And, of course, my forever to-go block done with pink and brown.

They were SHIBs (Squirrel Hiding in Bags) that wouldn't stop nagging me but they turned out so cute. Pink and Brown look so good together. Ohhhh! You know what? I could cut a kit in pink and brown . . . OH! and I love brown and blue together too . . . . Oh! MY! BLT Sandwich! I need more TIME! 🤪 Lol. 

Hope you have time to sew and cut and to enjoy your sewing room. 

😎 ᓚᘏᗢ

 

Visiting my stitching sisters for more inspiration. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts

Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Nina Marie at Creations - Quilts, Art, Whatever