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RSC2025-November ends

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I finished these County Fair blocks in August. The pattern is by Amy Smart, found in the book, “Scrap School” by Lissa Alexander. Last week I cut sashing strips, cornerstones, & setting triangles. This week I got it up on the wall & the photo is cracking me up. I put the blocks up with my head to the side in order to see the rows come together & the result is a diagonal slog to the right. Hilarious! But if you look in the upper left, I have the first two rows together, plus the next two rows sewed with a sashing strip made. So a nice start. The sashing all came from backing trimmings. I backed two quilts recently in the new Hush Hush wide back that has all the prints from the line included in small repeating chunks. So it cuts up into lovely low volume pieces that compliment the LV squares. I had the pink cornerstone fabric in my stash. I will have to shop the stash for a colored stop border, then more of the backing trimmings. Looking ahead at a busy week, maybe two weeks to get this together??

November check-in: I have a goal to get 12 WIPs to flimsy stage this year, meaning a project started before 2025.

  1. Mister Rogers flimsy donation (gone)
  2. Chandelier quilt donation (gone)
  3. red Amy Ellis quilt donation (gone)
  4. red Amy Ellis baby quilt donation (gone)
  5. Brightly #2 (quilted, not bound)
  6. Scrappy Hearts (finished)
  7. Rainbow I-Spy #6 flimsy donation (gone)
  8. 12 Days of Christmas (auctioned)
  9. Purple pansy flimsy donation (gone)
  10. Blue pansy donation (getting quilted)
  11. Friendship Stars flimsy donation (gone)

RSC2025-Sept wk. 1-odds & ends

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It’s finished with a scrappy binding, made from leftovers of other bindings. This is an RSC2024 project called Two-Step from Lissa Alexander’s book “Scrap School”. Of my 6 projects for last year, I’ve finished 3, have 2 quilted & waiting for binding, & the 2.5″ rail fence blocks spilled into a project for this year. So I feel pretty good about progress. This is not to say that there aren’t projects from previous years still hanging out, but ya know……..

If you need a fun L&E project with no stress, this is all 2.5″ squares. Two are the same color, two are scrappy low volumes, then the 2-patches are sewed together. That’s it. I laid it out scrappy, but it could be ombre, rainbow, monochromatic, so many fun ways to make this quilt.

I started on the fabric baskets I’m making for my Monday quilt group as Christmas presents. I sewed some of the mini charm square panels, then decided to add the pieces to one & see how it looks. I bought some mini charm packs to get matching sets & not have to cut, but am hoping to get all the bottom panels & linings from the stash. So far, so good with #1. I need 10 of these, but bought enough stabilizer to make 12.

I never got around to the August block for my Frightful Fun BOM, so I started on it this week. This is the B for the BOO! block. September’s block is the haunted house & then assembly. I want to focus on this with my limited sewing time so I can get it to the quilter & have it for Halloween. But FPP takes time & these blocks have lots of little pieces!

My long-time Thursday quilt group started a new project this week. We “finished” the quilt from h*$# two weeks ago, but we have to put the borders on ourselves at home. I haven’t pulled it out to finish because I can’t stand the thought. The pattern writing was such a nightmare, it was a chore every week. And the blocks don’t fit together, blah, blah, blah. I’m in no hurry to finish & I have quilt tops hanging in the closet waiting for quilting, so no rush. This is “Clippings” by Thimbles & Needles & we are doing it all from our stashes. I found large chunks of the black swirl & the LV equations/writing that is backing trimmings. I love this & have used it for several backings. Then I went through my stash & cut up all the wild prints into 5″ squares, then 2.5″ squares, then into the string bin. So lots of old fabric got processed into usable pieces & out of my big boxes & the mental guilt box of not using it. YAY! I may end up making another one next year with all the leftover colored triangles & donate it. It seems like a perfect RSC2026 project.

RSC2023-April is purple

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I’m working four projects this month & since they are all log cabin variations, I chain piece a side on each, press them, go again. I got six of these RW&B String Bean blocks from Pat Sloan finished to go in the pile for a donation quilt.

In April 2017, we made a road trip to the Midwest that included a stop in Hamilton at Missouri Star Quilt Company. I bought all the fixings to make 2 quilts that have never been started. Why??? So I got one cut out & started this month. It’s River Log Cabin by Amy Ellis from the first MOD BLOCK magazine. 10 blocks done.

This is not really a log cabin but it goes together a piece at a time, so it works with this system. I got this Ombre Weave kit pre-Covid, so it’s been waiting patiently. I have the sets in piles by my machine & was just randomly sewing colors.

Then Angela announced purple as the April color, so I dug through the piles to find some purples and play along.

And I have 3 sides on my polaroid blocks for Selfies that is my L&E project.

I packed up my sewing stuff because we moved into our new home yesterday! Don’t know how long until my new studio is set up & I can sew again, but I’ll see you soon.

RSC2022-green May done

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I finished the masculine donation quilt top No. 2- Star Trails by A Bright Corner. I purchased the green woodgrain background on clearance, but gray stars & blue scrappy trails came from my stash.

Chasing Rainbow blocks with their matching string border blocks. These things take a while to make with all the cutting & piecing, but they sure are cute!

I made the six green blocks I need for the Tula Pink sampler. I’m happier with the contrast in these than the ones I made last month. I also did a third Covered in Love Block Drive block & two more September Sky stars. A bunch more of those to go! With another week of May left & my green blocks all done, should I work a WIP???

My current status for the six five RSC2022 projects:

  • 4 red, aqua, & yellow, 5 pink, 6 green blocks from the Tula Pink 100 Modern Quilt Blocks (on track)
  • 1 red, aqua, yellow, pink & green twinkling friendship block inspired by Deb A. (on track)
  • 3 red, 2 blue, 2 pink, 2 green Shine blocks from the free pattern by Melissa Corry (on track)
  • 14 red, 16 aqua, 4 yellow, 14 pink, 6 dark green blocks for Sweet Kisses by Gigi’s Thimble (on track)
  • 7 red, aqua, yellow, pink, & green blocks, plus matching border string blocks for Catching Rainbows by Bonnie Hunter (on track)

Gentle Spectrums 2019 wrap-up

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This was my 6th year for the Gentle Spectrums challenge and I had a goal to read one book in each category. Any books read after that until the end of January 2020 were a bonus. I ended up with a great variety in the amount of books in each category, but I did make my goal of at least one in each category. Thanks to Carolyn for hosting!

LIMITLESS PALETTE ~ COLOURS!
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg
A Light in Dark Places, Jennifer Graves
The Darling Dahlias and the Silver Dollar Bush (Darling Dahlias #5), Susan Wittig Albert
Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik
The Planet of Junior Brown, Virginia Hamilton
The Black Moon (Poldark Saga #5), Winston Graham
Throne of Jade (Temeraire #2), Naomi Novik
Black Powder War (Temeraire #3), Naomi Novik
Empire of Ivory (Temeraire #4), Naomi Novik
A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox #1), Charles Finch
Crucible of Gold (Temeraire #7), Naomi Novik
Blue Lily, Lily Blue (Raven Cycle #3), Maggie Stiefvater

CANADIAN Books by or about Canadians / Canada and closely-associated attributes. Books set here work great.
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, Jim DeFede
The Celtic Riddle (Lara McClintoch #4), Lyn Hamilton
Justice Hall (Mary Russell #6), Laurie R. King

CONTINENTS Choose titles that mention continents, any books in or from continents other than yours, atlases, geography other than your continent.
Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha #1), Tomi Adeyemi
The Woman on the Orient Express, Lindsay Jayne Ashford
Wildflower Hill, Kimberley Freeman
A Question of Honor (Bess Crawford #5), Charles Todd
Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot #10), Agatha Christie
The Family Under the Bridge, Natalie Savage Carlson
Breaking Stalin’s Nose, Eugene Yelchin
The Golden One (Amelia Peabody #14), Elizabeth Peters
Children of the Storm (Amelia Peabody #15), Elizabeth Peters
Guardian of the Horizon (Amelia Peabody #16), Elizabeth Peters
Treacherous is the Night (Verity Kent #2), Anna Lee Huber
Blood of Tyrants (Temeraire #8), Naomi Novik
Homesick: My Own Story, Jean Fritz
Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa, Francis Kalnay

FASHION AND DECOR
A Pattern of Lies (Bess Crawford #7), Charles Todd

EDUCATIONAL Look for words associated with education. Or they can be instructional, whatever their titles: manuals, school readers….
Educated, Tara Westover

HOPE AND TRIUMPH!
Sinner (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #4), Maggie Stiefvater
Three Times Lucky (Mo & Dale Mysteries #1), Sheila Turnage
The Law of Finders Keepers (Mo & Dale Mysteries #4), Sheila Turnage
Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World, Ann Shen
Getting Near to Baby, Audrey Couloumbis
Full of Beans, Jennifer L. Holm
The Tyrant’s Tomb (The Trials of Apollo, #4), Rick Riordan

ANIMALS
The Eagle Catcher (Wind River Reservation #1), Margaret Coel
Wolf Hollow, Lauren Wolk
Dash, Kirby Larson
Hiss and Hers (Agatha Raisin #23), M.C. Beaton
Ginger Pye, Eleanor Estes
His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire #1), Naomi Novik
Dogsong, Gary Paulsen
The Four Swans (Poldark Saga #6), Winston Graham
The Fourteenth Goldfish (Fourteenth Goldfish #1), Jennifer L. Holm
The Serpent on the Crown (Amelia Peabody #17), Elizabeth Peters
Tomb of the Golden Bird (Amelia Peabody #18), Elizabeth Peters
The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse, Alexander McCall Smith
Victory of Eagles (Temeraire #5), Naomi Novik
Tongues of Serpents (Temeraire #6), Naomi Novik
League of Dragons (Temeraire #9), Naomi Novik
The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1), Maggie Stiefvater
The Raven King (Raven Cycle #4), Maggie Stiefvater
Some Like It Hawk (Meg Langslow #14), Donna Andrews
The Hen of the Baskervilles (Meg Langslow #15), Donna Andrews

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT Title associations, or books prominently featuring natural environments.
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic, Leigh Bardugo
The Shattered Tree (Bess Crawford #8), Charles Todd
He Shall Thunder in the Sky (Amelia Peabody #12), Elizabeth Peters
Beyond the Bright Sea, Lauren Wolk
The Crossing Places (Ruth Galloway #1), Elly Griffiths
M.C. Higgins, the Great, Virginia Hamilton
Hello, Universe, Erin Entrada Kelly
Buried in a Bog (County Cork #1), Sheila Connolly
The House at Sea’s End (Ruth Galloway #3), Elly Griffiths
The Scorpio Races, Maggie Stiefvater
A River in the Sky (Amelia Peabody #19), Elizabeth Peters
Open Season (Joe Pickett #1), C.J. Box

THE ARTS Fine arts, photography, music, film-making, poetry. Key words in titles, or books about these.
The Blood Card (Magic Men #3), Elly Griffiths
An Artless Demise (Lady Darby #7), Anna Lee Huber
American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee, Karen Abbott
Johnny Cash: The Life, Robert Hilburn
Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
The Painted Queen (Amelia Peabody #20), Elizabeth Peters
The Vanishing Box, (Magic Men #4), Elly Griffiths
King of Shadows, Susan Cooper
Scandal in Skibbereen (County Cork #2), Sheila Connelly
I, Juan de Pareja, Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
Now You See Them (Magic Men #5), Elly Griffiths
The Zig Zag Girl (Magic Men #1), Elly Griffiths

TOYS OR HOBBIES
The Darling Dahlias and the Texas Star (Darling Dahlias #4), Susan Wittig Albert
The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover (Darling Dahlias #7), Susan Wittig Albert
Doll Bones, Holly Black
The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel, Alyssa Palombo
Roller Girl, Victoria Jamieson
The Double Cross (Someday Quilts #3), Clare O’Donohue

HEALTHFULNESS! Happy feelings, drink, food, exercise, medicine, energy: you decide!
Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter, Kate Clifford Larson
If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period, Gennifer Choldenko
The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
Out of my Mind, Sharon M. Draper
The Third Mushroom, Jennifer L. Holm (Fourteenth Goldfish #2)
Dead Man’s Bones (China Bayles #13), Susan Wittig Albert
Eggs on Ice (Cackleberry Club, #8), Laura Childs