ABC Table Scrap Challenge + +

The Joyful Quilter called the letters X and O for this month's ABC Table Scrap Challenge. I thought it was an easy one. Here's what I did. 

I challenged myself some more. The additional goal was to use only scraps from the Multi-coloured Basket as it was overflowing (and still is, btw) except for yellow (August's colour). 

This is how it went. Yellow - checked

Scrap #2 - checked 

Colours are truer in this picture. 

This floral scrap was picked because it has little dots of yellow in the background.  


Contrat: Scrap #3 and 4 - checked 

Nope! Try again. 

Mmm, better but ... let's try again. 

Yes! That's more like it. In this picture and the last one, the top fabric is purple and matches the purple in the floral fabric. Just so you know. 

Then, I started to assemble the blocks but I forgot to take pictures. (I know, right! What an airhead! Lol)

It didn't take long to realize that the floral fabric wasn't big enough to make all four blocks. So the hunt in different bins started. Checked in the dark neutral box; checked in the white scrap bin; checked in the 2.5" pieces drawer, and in the 3" drawer but couldn't find another piece. I was only missing 2 pieces. Darn! 

Back into the Multi-coloured Basket for something else. Something that matches? Something that contrasts? Mmmm. How's this one? 

Good enough she said. Whoohoo! 

In no time at all, I had my challenge finished. There's a big "bear hug" in yellow, a little kiss full of flowers and another little hug in purple in the middle of it all. So I call it OXO. It finishes at 16.5" square and it lays flat, flat like a pancake, I say! Not at all like last month's Table Scrap (crooked) Challenge. Haha. 

The quilting was free-motion hearts with lace (?). 

Not sure if you can see this one. It is almost perfect. 

This one is more visible, I think. My stitches aren't always consistent, but I'm improving. 

 The hearts were not all that good-looking. I'm still learning this skill. 

Some look like deflated balloons. 

No alcohol was used to accomplish this beautiful, shaky design, lol. 

It was a great practice piece and I love it. It will not be added to my Wall of Fame as I want this one above my computer. Yes, I want to look at it all the time. 

So, there you have it, my entry for the ABC Table Scrap Challenge is CHECKED! 

Thanks, Joy, for the fun challenge. Xox

On the working front: Some of you know that I'm looking for a job at present. Like any serious job seeker, I tagged many job posting sites with the type of work I qualify for. My mailbox rings from 8 to 42 times a day. Not all of these are as per my specifications or in my region. It turned answering your comments into a hunting game. I will prevail; do not despair. 😉

I managed to turn some Paper Chain blocks into quadrants. 

I took a picture only because. if you're like me, you love to look at other people's fabric, right? 

... and I am joining Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitches as I am stitching down the binding on Jacob's Summer. More on that next week. Hopefully! 

Take care, everyone. 

;^)

Joining these ladies over the weekend. 

Joy for the ABC Table Scrap Challenge

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitches 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  

Thank Goodness for Sunny Yellow

We had a rainy week. It rained almost every day; if not during the day, it would at night. I appreciate the bright yellow in my sewing room. So good for the soul. 

I finished the 3 yellow Irish Stars from the last week. 

Then, I assessed what was missing for this quilt to be completed as all the colours it needs have been called by Angela already. 

Some purple stars were added... 

... as were two pink stars. One more star is waiting for its background fabric to be cut. 

The total is 46 stars done; 8 are missing. I was to do 7 stars of the 7 colours but some colours have only 6 stars done, namely orange, green, and pink. Then I will put the blocks on the design floor and see which colour needs one more star. I'm thinking bright yellow as two of its stars are gold and kind of dark. Also missing are 29 alternate blocks. Two were constructed this week bringing my total to 25 blocks.

I finished 10 blocks for the Friends' Favourite quilt. 

These are so much fun to do as anything goes.

Six blocks and four alternate blocks.

I quilted Jacob's Summer this week as the weather permitted me to do so outside a few times. 

That's all I have, my friends. 

Have a lovely week. 

;^)

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  

Moving to Yellow

A wee problem with the Internet this morning; I had none.

A wee bit of sewing this week.

Two yellow Irish Stars and ... 

Two golden Irish Stars. They are more golden in person but that's the best I could do because I'm a lousy photographer. Sorry. 

Since the Internet was MIA this morning, I sewed some more. 

I have three more yellow Irish Stars waiting for their turn at the sewing machine ... 

... but I'm having too much fun sewing Friends' Favourite blocks to finish the stars. Haha. 

More on that next week. 

Have a great one! 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies: 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Try, Try, Try Again ... and Again

It's the most positive title I could find for this post as everything else (a red mess, a series of unfortunate events, a collection of bloopers, big waste of time, etc.) sounded too negative. But they described it so much better.

It all started with Joyful Quilter reminding us of her challenge: ABC (Table) Scraps Challenge. The letters A and G and the colour Red are the honourable guests this month. Since all my blocks for the month were made, I thought I could join in the fun. 

Right away, I thought of Angels and Gabriel as it is my youngest son's name and I often call him my angel (behind his back because he doesn't really like that). Anywho! 

Looking for a way to make a mug rug with an angel.

Pictures taken from the Internet for inspiration

Something like that but not Christmas-y. 

Looking, and looking, and wasted a lot of time looking and thinking how to do that. While looking in books for inspiration, I grab this old book from 1985 by Maggie Malone. 

There are lots of blocks I want to try in this book, so I flipped through it, knowing full well that there's no angel in it, but by then, my mind had forgotten about the angel challenge. (ADHD) So, I found this block that I loved for a long time. It's called Spider Legs. In French spider is Araignée. It's a start, right? 

I pulled out some fabrics and started to trace the patterns because, in this book, all the pieces are traceable from the pattern pages. 

Sounds like fun, right?  No!! 

Got all my little papers ready to trace onto the fabric ... can't believe they used to make quilts like this. All. The. Time! What a waste of time. 

Don't forget to add a quarter seams allowance on all sides. 

Finally, I started to sew. 

Wait. What? That's not right. The white triangles are wrong. What have I done wrong? I looked in the book again, found the pattern and yes, all the measurements were correct; so what? So, there's a mistake in the text? The piece A-1 is NOT the right triangle for this block. I had to figure out which one of the other triangles was the right one. Needless to say, that took way too much time. Then, a lightbulb moment, I thought: just draft it. 

Yes! Drafted, traced, cut and pinned. 

It was correct on one side but not on the other, so I redrafted and redrafted. In my defence, my choice of black fabric wasn't the best. Even though it is cotton, it is as flexible as polyester and somewhat stretchy. An unpicking hour was an understatement. 

At one point, the result was both ends were not right. 

I give up, I said. "That's it, I'm done! Hands in the air, white flag and all. I don't know how to sew angles, that's all."  

Go get another coffee. 

"What am I doing? I'm no quitter!"

Rolled up my sleeves and went at it again. And again. 

One perfect section was the reward. "Okay, make that again, just like that one ... please!" Another mistake I made: not starching the black fabric. That would have helped me with the sewing. 

By the time I got to this stage, it was late Saturday night and there was still one section that didn't behave. Well so be it. (Thank goodness, the link party for the challenge is open all weekend long.) 

Sunday morning saw me quilting and binding this little beauty. 

Some ladder-like lines in the red and straight echo lines in the white. Nothing in the black. I am snubbing that one. The middle where all the triangles join is a big mess, but I manage to lay it flat. 

If you think it looks wavy, yes it is, and I don't care because it is done! I might add a big button in the middle to create the spider's body (and to hide the mess). 

So, this is my ABC (table) Scrap Challenge entry! It's an "araignée rouge (red spider). What do you think? 

- Chantal, did you do something for G? 

"Do the words' Good Enough' count? LOL

This cute "little angel mug rug" has metamorphosed into a 16 inches block. 

G is for Giant!  Une Araignée rouge Géante! Voilà! (added to my wall of fame)

Although I've learned some valuable lessons this weekend, I'm happy this project is over. I will revisit this block someday ... in the distant future, haha. 

Have a great day, everyone. 

;^)

Joining these talented ladies: 

Joy for the ABC Table Scraps Challenge 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

More Than Just Red

I've been busy sewing up some red scraps. But not just the reds got my attention. Let's check it out. 

Four Irish Star blocks were added to the 3 I did at the beginning of the month. 

Two bright reds, one orange-red and one purple-red. 

Sorry for the dark photos. The weather is very temperamental lately. The sun shines intermittently and so is the rain. Taking pictures outside is slightly better than in the basement. 

After the stars, I worked on my red Friends' Favourite blocks. 

I ended up with 12! The top right block is black with red dots. It doesn't show well here. 

Then, all the RSC blocks for the month of July were done. I decided to finish one project: Scrap Jar Star. I really love this quilt so it was easy to work on it. There were 3 blocks missing and while I constructed these blocks, some blocks were produced as leader-enders. 

Three 25-patch blocks for the Irish Star quilt ... 

... and eight more Paper Chain blocks. 

Scrap Jar Star needed one yellow block with a multi-coloured centre. 

One dark green with a multi-coloured centre 

and one dark blue that turned into a rainbow block 

A day was spent working on the sashing (and leader-enders) and Ta-dah!  Scrap Jar Star is a top! 

Again, sorry for the dark photos. I will switch the orange and the yellow blocks in the corners. The two orange ones are in the same row and the yellow ones are on the same side of the quilt. Why didn't I notice that before? Anywho, now I just can't "unsee" it. 

I will add a white border. Not sure if I have enough of the fabric used for the sashing and there was none left at the shop. I've ordered another white print online. The waiting has started. 

You might have noticed a dark spot in the bottom right of the Paper Chain picture. It wasn't my foot. Here is the full picture. 

Raven made sure the wind wasn't disturbing the blocks. He was so cute. 

Now what? All is done for July with plenty of days left. Maybe Jacob's Summer will finally have the attention it deserves. 

It was an awesome week. Praying to have another one just like that. I'm hopeful that your week was amazing too. Enjoy! 

;^)

Visiting these lovely ladies' blogs this week. 

Angela at So Scrappy

Frédérique at Patchwork and Quilts 

Cynthia for Oh Scrap! 

Alycia for Finished or NOT Finished Friday

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict