I Can Work with Black Again.

Angela announced the colour for July to be blue, as well as dark neutral, grey, and black. I am so happy! I get to play with black again. Ever since I received a squishy envelope, I've been itching to play with Shoreline again. But first, let's see how I did during this bad week. 

I continued working on the Framed 9-Patch quilt and did four more. They were my personal RSC / UFO challenge for June.  

Seafoam Green was helpful once again. Yay! Also did blue, grey, and darks for this month's RSC before I knew what the colour of July was. Awesome! 

I celebrated my birthday (yep, they said that a Covid lockdown was not an excuse not to get older) and I went shopping with my youngest son. Stores are slowly opening here and I enjoyed a few hours in thrift stores. I adore thrift stores! I found these flannels, in MY favourite colours! They couldn't have screamed my name better than that. There's a yard in both. 

Then, my sewing sessions were interrupted. You see, we have a urinal and it broke. It kept gushing water when my youngest flushed it. Needless to say, there was water everywhere, seeping through the floor down to the basement by the time we got this thing under control again. Guess which room is under the bathroom? Yes, my sewing room! There was a lot of fabric soaked. It kept me busy.   

The next day, it did it again. With my youngest one, again! The poor boy doesn't want to come close to it anymore, haha. We were better prepared so the damages were minimal this time. DH will dismantle it and ship it to the dump. I don't want this thing in my house anymore. 

Anywho! It got me looking at my sewing room and realize that I have a lot of projects on my sewing table, so much so that I am running out of tables. It's time to Spring clean my workplace. 

I have the habit of throwing little bits of scraps in bins when I cut fabrics. It was time to sort them out. 

First container, done. 

Second container, done. 

Look at all the scraps I regained! (I did this while working from home, waiting for work to come in through emails. It was a slow week. My laptop is in the upper right corner.) 

Then, Canada had a birthday too. Happy Canada Day! Hope you had a great one! 🍁

Anywho! I won't bore you with every single container of scraps that I cleaned suffice to say there are six fewer containers on flat surfaces. Ha! 

I found some treasures in there, like these cute fabrics. It is a rich brown paired with green and light baby blue. 

They were a project's squared-off end I'm sure, as they were sewn side by side. I unpicked and sewn them on top of the other to make this little mug rug. I had the checked one in the middle then decided against it. 

Sewn the three pieces left of this fabric living on my worktable to make the backing. It's blue and brown-ish. It'll work fine. 

It is now ready for quilting. Quick project and fewer scraps. 

Then, another container is slowly getting emptied as I worked on finishing this tiny little one. 

You think you have seen this SuperNova Star before? Yes and no, as this one has HSTs of only 1 inch finished. The first one finished at 1.25 inches. Such a BIG difference, haha. 

While working on the Supernova, my leader-ender were some more HSTs (surprised?) and I got one block done. This is HST Quilt #2. The green block is my visual reminder on how to sew the block.  

I did a blue one because Angela had announced the colour for July by that time. 

Another one is well underway. Picture was taken in the early morning light as it was too dark last night when I closed the sewing shop. 

As soon as I'm done with SuperNova, I'm heading back to Shoreline, a Judy Martin design, because I received a squishy envelope, remember?

My friend at Amity Quilter has sent me some black scraps. I received her envelope a while back but couldn't work with it as I wanted to finish working on the Framed 9-Patch first. They aren't finished but Angela said black so ... I can work with black again! These fabrics are just what I needed for Shoreline. 

Some will go into other projects as they are too lively for Shoreline, but aren't they gorgeous? Love them all!! The tablecloth is orange so these pictures are washed out. Sorry. BTW the tablecloth is another little treasure I found at the thrift store. It's great linen, as the good old stuff kind of linen. Yeah! 

These scraps are just perfect. I'll be able to make many blocks with these beauties. Thanks again, Pat! I am so grateful and I am so in love with your scraps. 🥰

I have more to show (a tool review, personal RS Challenge for July, tulips) but it will wait for another post as this one is turning into a documentary length. Haha. 

Take care. Enjoy life! 

;^) 

Joining
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Denise at For the Love of Geese
Pat at Life in a Scrapatch

I Forgot the Purple Blocks

When I received these purple blocks, I set them aside intending to get them out when it is Purple Month. And I almost forgot them.

 

Thirty-six purplelicious blocks! (The pictures look dark because I waited for an overcast day. In the bright sunshine, the blocks were blue in the photos.) I think my layout still needs a little tweaking. The biggest challenge is the size of the blocks. They aren't all the same. They were made by 36 ladies and exchanged. Each block has the name of the maker on it. Someone decided not to finish it and the blocks ended up on my front porch. 

That's very nice but how do I finish it? With a wide sashing? What colour? Although some blocks appear to have a white background, all are purple. Only purple! 

One block is not like the others. Can you spot it? 

I love that rebel block! 

Meanwhile, I'm still having fun with the Framed 9-Patch blocks. 

I have this lovely fabric with strips long enough to cut the 8" pieces for the frame. What was left was not long enough to cut the 5" strips.  So I made do. 

Sew pieces together to get what I needed. It's not a perfect fit but it's close enough! 

In this picture, the make-do pieces are on top and bottom. Good enough, right? 

I almost used orange for the 9-Patch in the block on the right. Since I don't want an all orange quilt I decided to go with spring green. It is much happier in person. 

The block on the right is very modern in its print. Quite a few fabrics were auditioned for this one. Nothing fitted. Then I spotted this Seafoam Green in my mother's stash. Well, what do you know? It's a perfect match. Like everything old is new again. 

The dotted fabric I showed you last week sports some hot pink in the middle. Again, I did think of using orange but ... I had enough fabric to make two of these, so ... 

I picked purple! It is the purple month after all, and it is the only colour not represented in the dots. I so love the one on the right. Again, I was lucky enough to find the perfect burned orange in my mother's stash. Old things are useful. 

This is where I'm at. Not bad. 

I might add another row to be a 5 X 7 layout, or 38 X 53 when sewn together. Nah! That would be a too skinny long quilt. Add a column for a 6 X 6? Maybe I should call it done at 38 X 46.5 inches? I had fun making these blocks. 

There's more red in there than orange. I might have to fix that. Lol. 

I am working at a vaccine clinic again tomorrow but we have Thursday off because of our National Day! Yay! More sewing time this week if not during this weekend. See you all next weekend. 

Enjoy everyone! 

;^)

Joining my friends: 

Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Denise at For the Love of Geese
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

When You Work at It ...

... it gets done! Who knew?? the more I work on a project, the more it progresses! Lol.

 

This is a picture from my last post. My multi-coloured scrap basket could barely hold its load. It lost a lot of weight and now it looks like this. 

I dumped everything on the floor, sat down, and sorted. Folding the bigger pieces neatly uses less space so the basket is not as full. I also removed a lot of scraps like that pile behind the basket. Those scraps are odd shapes and will be cut into usable sizes and store in their respective bins (1.5", 2", 2.5", etc). 

I've also removed pieces to make more Framed 9-Patch Block like these: 

There are probably 7 or 8 more waiting to be cut from the scraps I pulled out. 

In the top right corner, those are triangle scraps. Yes! More triangles! 

I also have this one which is bluer in person. I might have enough to make two blocks, but what colour should the solid be? Haha! 

I also pulled the fabrics for the Tulip Block. (Not from the scrap basket.) I don't carry a lot of purples so my choices are limited. 

These are the rejected ... so far, although I do love that polka-dot one. 

Purple tulip no. 1 

Purple Tulip no. 2 

It is so dark. I'm not sold on this one yet. 

Purple Tulip no. 3

It looks pinkish but it not. Will the stripes work for a tulip? 

I'm not impressed with my lot. I know it goes again the Rainbow SCRAP Challenge never-spoken rules, but I might go shopping. 

On to something else ... 

Remember the mysterious block I saw and couldn't clearly recall? I tried to reproduce it and it looked like this in a previous post. 

I've tried different fabrics before stopping at this one. 

I like it but something is still not right. Then I got an email from a quilting friend, Marly Quilts, sending me a link to the mystery block. Thank you so much for telling me about your find. 

The picture I saw was not a magazine's front page but I'm pretty sure it's the same quilt. 

Here's the link to the magazine, in case you wish to purchase it. 

https://jacquelynnesteves-shop.com/products/quilts-you-can-make-in-a-day-book?ck_subscriber_id=264522043

I like the fact that the block asks for lots of slim pieces. My 1.5" log box is pretty heavy at the moment. I'll continue to play with this block on and off. 

Last but not least, when you work at it, it gets done! Second time around. 

I pressed, and pressed, and pressed some more, all those seams open til I thought I would never see the end. 

But the end came nevertheless. 

And look who is a top now! 

Not all the points are perfect but it is done. (Dang! I just spotted one HST flipped the wrong way!) 

Gosh! It's really a scrap overload! I'll make another one like this as I keep finding more triangles. 

Happy sewing! 

;^)

Joining
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Denise at For the Love of Geese

Purple's Happening

Well, between finishing Smile and volunteering for the vaccine clinics, I did manage to play with fabric. Yay!

First, I had to clean my sewing machine which didn't appreciate it, I guess because it wasn't sewing properly after. !!

It broke two needles and bent one out of shape! It would sew just fine when I tried it without the plate. Every time I screwed the plate back on, the thread would catch on something and everything went to hell from there. I let it sleep on it for a couple of nights while I finished Smile. One morning, I put the plate back on and everything was fine. It sews perfectly now. Go figure!! 

My Personal RSC for Purple is the Framed 9-Patch blocks. I have a collection of 16 blocks made back in 2016. Don't remember why I stopped making these. Probably too many projects on the go. Nah! That couldn't be it. 😝

So I got the multi-coloured basket out and dived in. A piece 12 X 6 inches (like this happy, bright, colourful one) is big enough to make a block but which colour should the solid be?? (Answer at the end)

My multi-coloured basket is overflowing. Hopefully, making these blocks will reduce the bump a little. 

Please note that I have a SAFE PLACE now for the fabric I want to keep for a specific project. The last quilt taught me sooooo much! Smile indeed! 

Five more Framed 9-Patch are now done. Three from the multi-coloured scrap basket ... 

... and two from the purple scrap basket. 

And the answer is ORANGE! Orange goes so well with purple even though it isn't in the print. 

And some more HSTs, of course. What would my life be without some HSTs? 

I hope to get the purple tulip blocks going soon. I will pick and choose the fabrics for these this weekend. Enjoy everyone! 

;^)

Joining
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Pat at Life in a Scrapatch

Finally! A Friday Finish

It's been such a long, long time since I've finished something quilty, 

and then, 

POW! 

I got three!

I finished my little SuperNova. Super proud of that one! But it's really not big. 13 inches square. 

I finished the Curve Challenge hosted by Cécile and Corinne. Thank you, ladies, for this fun challenge. 

Overjoy with this one. 

AAAnnnnndd, I finished ...

S M I L E

Ecstatic over this one. 

It wasn't easy. I found the fabric for the binding and I barely had enough. Phew! But I couldn't sew it on because my quilting on the last border was horrible! 

This fold was pretty deep, enough that I didn't even come close to the backing fabric when cutting the edges off. It involved removing the quilting in the center of the quilt, not just the last border. 

Atrocious! 

This ridge is like Mount Everest compared to the other bumps. Again, missing backing fabric after cutting the edges. Sigh! 

Unpicking for a few evenings and re-quilting for a few more evenings got the job done nicely this time. 

I had run out of pink thread when I did the pink block. So I finished that too ... only to have it unpicked too. Bigger sigh! 

Everything that could go wrong with a quilt happened with this one. In the end, I still get to have a wonderful quilt. 

Smile has the seal of approval from our black monster. 

One more just for the heck of it. 

I still have many threads ends to burrow. 

The label is ready for Slow Sunday Stitching with Kathy. Come and join us. 

I'll leave you with some purple. 

I wish they lasted longer. 

;^)

Joining friends 

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Angela at So Scrappy
Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts
Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
Kathy at Kathy's Quilts
Denise at For the Love of Geese
Pat at Life in a Scrapatch