OMG!

No, I don't mean the "One Monthly Goal" Link-up that many bloggers are participating in.  I mean this...

This is my cutting table!  Earlier this week it was such a mess!  How many different projects can one person have going at a time?  An infinite number, it appears!

There was this lovely bundle of low volume scraps that I received from a giveaway over at Quilty Therapy -

which turned into this fun pile of scrappy goodness!  Thanks, Tisha!

I also had been cutting up a charm pack of  North Woods by Kate Spain into 2 1/2" squares so that I could participate in the Charming Plus QAL that Tisha is hosting.

Then there are the wool scraps I didn't remember that I had!  I pulled them out to work on a penny rug hand stitching project.  I've been joining in with the Autumn Jubilee series hosted by Carole at From My Carolina Home.

They are turning into this - which I'll be working on this afternoon for a little Slow Stitching Sunday time!

I hadn't even put away my Halloween fabric from other projects finished earlier this month!

They are definitely put away now, and some cleaning and straightening up has happened.  But there probably needs to be more... 

I did make progress on one big thing that had been lurking in the background.  That is getting my Nighttime Blossoms quilt basted and the quilting begun.  Hooray for that!  

I'll be working on that some more today, too!  Plus I'll be spending a little time checking out the other scrappy projects linked-up to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.  

A Little More For October

This week, I've been -

playing with Halloween monkeys... They like candy corn and black cats!

Checking out my troop of monkey blocks...  I love these little guys!

and starting a new pile of maple leaves... Shhh!  Don't tell my husband; he will want to rake them up!

It's hard to believe this weekend brings us just about to the end of October!  I'm looking forward to seeing what's been going on in the RSC16 world this week at the ScrapHappy Saturday link-up tomorrow at SoScrappy.  See you there!

I Like Thursday #2 - the Friends edition

I am so blessed to have a wonderful variety of friends, both locally and all around the world, really!  Many of the things I like have to do with my friends!

1.  I like quilting! (You probably already knew that!)

My quilting hobby began with my local quilt group which started around 20 years ago (yikes!) with a bunch of teachers and other people who worked at my school.

Here we are in January of 2013, modeling scarves that we made together with a fun dying process that one person in the group taught to the rest of us.  We've done a ton of things together over the
years - friendship quilts, swaps, charity quilting - you name it.  These women are pretty special to me!

2.  I like golf!

Now that doesn't mean that I am a good golfer.  Actually, I am pretty bad at it, but the thing that makes it fun is my friends (many from my quilt group) who I play with every Tuesday.  We play at the Par 3 golf course here in town, and we spend much of that time laughing about our playing, enjoying the conversation and the walk and the beautiful weather along the way.


                                                  

3.  I like to read!

That has been true my whole life.  I am never very far from a book (or my iPad or Nook, which I also read on.).   Lucky for me, my friends also love to read, and our book club has read many interesting books during the time we've been together.  The town we live in, Loveland, Colorado, has a program called Loveland Loves to Read.  The book for this year, and my book club's October book, was The Work of Wolves, by Kent Meyers.

For our October meeting, we attended a talk given by Kent Meyers, and we were all so fascinated by the way he described his writing process.  Just as characters become real to the reader, they also become real to this writer, and when he sits down to write, he says he can't wait to find out what these characters are going to do in the story next!

4.  I like blogging, and all of the friends I have met and made through this activity!  I hope you know who you are!  

I so appreciate the people who read my blog and leave comments, and the people I've gotten to know through places like the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Oh Scrap! link-ups.  I made this quilt in 2014 because I started following Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework and participating in her Scrap-a-Palooza series, and discovered the world of scrappy quilting!  My quilting life has really never been the same since. Quilt bloggers are a huge source of inspiration and fun for me!

5.  One last thing I like - going out for breakfast!  And this morning I get to do just that with two of my retired teacher friends.  We're going to celebrate our friendship, and find out what's going on with each other in this new stage of life, and eat at one of our favorite restaurants!  Yum!

                                                            

Wishing you a lovely Thursday, filled with all the things you like!

A Few More Scraps

This week I had the chance to work on a couple of other projects that were in my pile.  I stitched up four string blocks for Covered in Love.  These are for the October block drive.

These are fast and fun to make!  Kat said anything goes for color and fabric choices, so I had fun just pulling the strings out of my scrap basket and sewing away.  They finish at 10 1/2 inches.

I also used some of the Autumn Jubilee blocks I made last week to sew a fall mini quilt.

After sewing together the four blocks, I added 1 1/2 inch borders in the background fabric, layered it with a fun backing, and quilted it using edge to edge wavy lines.  The quilting reminds me of all the wind we've had here recently - which brought most of the leaves around here down into our yard!  Lots of raking has been done here this week, too!

Since I don't have a mini quilt stand for displaying little projects like this, I pinned it up in the corner of our bedroom, right next to my antique chair that holds the pillow I made out of the same fall fabrics.  I like it there!

That does leave one poor orphan maple leaf block still sitting on my cutting table.  But I don't think it will be alone for long!  I'm thinking it would be fun to make these blocks in all kinds of colors - my next Rainbow Scrap Challenge project, perhaps?  Hmmm...  So many ideas to consider!

Linking up with my favorite Sunday party - Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework!  

20 Scrap Jar Stars!

This month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge our colors are yellow and orange.  While looking through my pile of Scrap Jar Stars made during the year, I felt like I had plenty of yellow and orange represented, so I decided to make my last two stars scrappy and bright, including some yellow and orange!

Look at those orange leaves - aren't they the perfect fabric for October?  That was a fun find!

I also decided my layout for this quilt would be (sort of) random, alternating the darker blocks with the lighter blocks, but in no particular color order.

With my last little bits of Kona White, I started working on the sashing, which will have the quilt look something like this - pinned up on my design wall.

You have to use your imagination a bit, but I know you get the idea!  I was inspired to finish the quilt this way by someone else who was posting about her Rainbow Scrap Challenge Scrap Jar Star finish earlier this year, so if you recognize this, be sure to leave me a comment and take credit!  I loved the nine patch blocks that are created this way. Now I just have to stock up on some more Kona White and start cutting 2 inch strips!  The middle of each nine patch will be a 2 inch square left over from a fabric used in the quilt.

Linking up tomorrow with Angela at So Scrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday!  See you there!

"I like" Thursday #1 - the Orange Edition!

A quilt blogger I've discovered this year, LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color, recently started a series called "I like" Thursdays, and I've been enjoying reading her posts so much that I decided to join in!  It's been kind of fun to look around and pay a little more attention in the last few days to see what I might like to post about today.  It turns out, this week's things I like happen to be orange!

1.  I like marigolds!

I'm not much of a gardener, but I love flowers, so when I figured out that the marigold seeds I planted years ago would re-seed themselves, I just let it happen!  And now, every year, I have all this glorious red, orange, and yellow color in the flower garden at the front of my house.  These are the last of the marigolds this year that I brought in while cleaning out the old plants so that I could put in some bulbs this fall.

Which leads me to - 

2.  I like daffodils!

Daffodils don't bloom until the spring, but in order to get them, you have to plant the bulbs in the fall, and that is what I did yesterday afternoon.  Crossing my fingers that my minimalist gardening skills will be enough to get some beautiful yellow, white, and orange blooms come spring!  (Does anyone have any advice about fertilizing daffodils?  :)

3.  I like carrots!

Yes, I actually grew these this year!  They aren't very big, but they sure were tasty!

4.  This time of year, I like all things pumpkin!  Especially, it turns out - pumpkin yogurt!

Noosa Yoghurt is made right here in Colorado, and it is like dessert for me!  Sprinkle a little granola on top, and yummy!

5.  I like little bundles of fabric!

This is a bundle of fat eighths that I found in a quilt shop on our trip to California recently.  I don't know what I will do with these fun, colorful polka dots, but I did notice that there is some orange and yellow in there. Just looking at this makes me happy - maybe I will never undo the string, just keep looking at it!  Lol!

6.  I like the Golden Gate Bridge!

Also on our trip to California, we stopped off at a couple of the spots where you can look at and photograph the bridge.  Did you know it's painted a color called International Orange?  I had to look up why this is, and it turns out it is a special kind of paint designed to keep the bridge from rusting due to the moisture from the fog that comes in from the ocean to San Francisco Bay.

7.  I like orange leaves in the fall - especially in vineyards!

My husband and I like to visit wineries when we are in California, and especially this time of year, we have fun walking through the vineyards and looking at the leaves on the vines.  They can be just beautiful!

Wishing all of you a good end of the week, and hoping you will find an opportunity to think about the things you like!

Quilty Orphan Adoption Update

As a newbie to the Quilty Orphan Adoption event this year, sponsored by our scrappy fearless leader, Cynthia, at Quilting is More Fun than Housework, I was the lucky recipient of TWO sets of fabric!  I posted about the beautiful 3 inch squares of fall fabric and the little pillow I made out of a few of them back in September.  But there are a ton more of these little squares, and I found the perfect project for them this week!

Carole, over at From My Carolina Home, is holding a month-long celebration of all things Fall over on her blog, called Autumn Jubilee.  Carole posts about all kinds of crafty things, but of course, I am participating in her Autumn Jublilee QAL, where we are making Maple Leaf  and Pumpkin blocks in various numbers so that we can make a mini quilt, or table-topper, or whatever our hearts desire, I'm sure!

I've made four maple leaves and a pumpkin, so far:

These are perfect for my fall 3 inch squares!  I even made the pumpkin out of them, since my orange stash didn't really have the right color for a pumpkin!  I had in mind that I would make a table topper out of these, but that may need more blocks, so I'm still thinking about what will happen next with these blocks.

The second project I have been gifted with through the Quilty Orphan Adoption came from Susan at Mrs. Pepper.  This fabric is going to make a sweet little mini quilt that I am planning to donate to a local charity called the B.A.B.Y. Foundation for their silent auction in the spring.  This will be my third year donating a small quilt to this organization.

Susan sent me a lovely package with all the pieces and parts cut out to make this fun quilt:

Although she didn't send me the directions for the quilt (because they are in a book she owns), it was easy to figure out based on a picture from her blog, and a little internet sleuthing!

I think I've got it right!

These blocks are great for a leaders and enders project, so I have all the pieces matched up and ready to go whenever there's a place to stick them in.  It is wonderful to have a project to work on that requires no cutting, and all the pieces (including borders and backing) are ready to go!

There is something very exhilarating about giving away an unwanted project to someone who wants to make something out of it, and in turn, receiving someone else's unwanted project!  Who knew it would be so fun?!

I'll be linking up with Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is More Fun than Housework tomorrow to see what other quilters have been up to this week.  But, for now, I'm back at the sewing machine, stitching up more maple leaves, pumpkins, McGuffey blocks, and who knows what else!

One Rainbow Flimsy

I've been on a roll this week, sewing blocks together, and then rows, to finish up my first quilt top made from Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2016 blocks.  This has been my first year participating in the RSC, and I have loved it!  Since I like to work on more than one project at a time, it works out perfectly to just have a few blocks to make each week.  Then, here comes October, and I have a whole lap sized quilt ready to go!

So, here is my RSC 16 patch quilt top:

This morning I was trying different shots to see what would show it off the best!  How about as a picnic quilt?

Or on my dining room table?

An artistic shot!

I love scrappy quilts so much, and this one is a perfect example of why.  It's full of my favorite fabrics - scraps from friends, and old projects, and then newer pieces that I've collected here and there.

I love them all!  Now this flimsy goes into my queue to be basted together and quilted.  I'm not sure who this quilt is going to belong to in the end, but I have sure enjoyed making it!

Linking up to ScrapHappy Saturday at So Scrappy with all of the Rainbow Scrap Quilters.

16 Patch Love

One of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects for this year has been making 16 patch blocks.  I started out making six blocks each month in the chosen colors, which gave me a wide range of scraps to work from.  As the year has gone on, I've noticed that some of the blocks I made in one month, fit better with the color choices of another month.  So, as I've been laying out these blocks to decide on a layout, it's been easy to move them around from one row to another.

Here is my most recent layout - 49 blocks in a 7 x 7 square.

I started with pink, then red, orange, yellow/gold, green/turquoise, blue, and finally purple.  Even though the colors for this month are orange and yellow, I think I have enough of both of those that I don't need to make any more.

But...I do have some gray blocks that I made in August for the smoky purple/gray month.

To make the quilt a little longer, a rectangle instead of a square, I decided to add 4 more gray blocks.  Back to my stash I went to see what gray fabrics I could find.

These blocks are so simple to make - a 2 1/2 by 21 inch strip of the main fabric, and the same size piece of a low volume background fabric.  I've made every single one of my blocks different, so there are a variety of low volumes included, and 56 different main fabrics.  This will make for a very scrappy, but I think interesting and fun, quilt!

Last night I stitched up my 4 last blocks.

Although originally, I thought I would use the gray as the last row, I've started to think that maybe I will put it in somewhere among the rainbow rows.  A little bit of a surprise!  Or maybe a place to rest your eyes.  We'll see!  :)

Off to start sewing up my rows!  I'm excited to be at this point!

Linking up tomorrow with Cynthia's Oh Scrap!

Candy Corn

Don't this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors make you think of candy corn?  Yum!

                                                    
Earlier this year, I came across some candy corn fabric in my stash and ended up using it in some of my April RSC blocks.

When October rolled around and the colors for the month turned out to be orange and yellow, I immediately thought of that fabric and decided I wanted to make something else out of it!  I also wanted to try some Relief Quilting based on this tutorial by Bernie at Needle and Foot.   

So... combining some candy corn fabric and trying out some letters made with relief quilting, here is what I ended up with!

I love how this turned out!  I have never made any Halloween decorations for my house before, so this was fun to work on and now I'll enjoy using it for the rest of the month!

Bernie's tutorial for the relief quilting was excellent, and so easy to follow.  Even though my lines of stitching are a bit wonky here and there, I really like how the letters turned out.  I used a scrap of batting which was a bit loftier than my usual Warm and Natural, and that helped the letters puff out and created some great texture.  The rest of the quilting is a combination of stitch in the ditch and some wavy, criss-crossing lines in the borders.

The backing is a fun yellow polka dot, and the binding is a combination of my two candy corn fabrics.

Having been out of town for the last week, and wanting to get this finished when I got home, I haven't done much with my RSC blocks yet this month, but that is my plan for this weekend.  It's going to be exciting to see where those projects are headed next.  I'll post an update on those soon!

Linking up with Needle and Foot's Halloween Linky Party here

and So Scrappy for Scrap Happy Saturday here.