Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2014: still red in week 30

 This week I can show three blocks.The first two are still warm from pressing;

Left: Big Dipper; Right: jewel box

the third I made last weekend.

Flock

I still have a few red sampler blocks to make, so maybe I'll get them done in July.

I'm linking to Soscrappy:

  

so head over there and see what else has been going on.

Happy sewing

Marly.

A little of this and that on Wednesday

My design wall is full because I'm thinking. I've been doing some experiments with fabric and now have to decide how to go further.

Clockwise from centre top:
1. some 2.5" strips I won in a giveaway last winter, five of which are in ....   
2. the centre of a cushion cover which needs a wider outer border. I'm trying to decide whether that should be off-white or pale yellow. A second cushion cover is at the moment under the walking foot;
3. some experimental playing with scraps, à la Victoria Findlay-Wolfe, inspired by her blog;
4. a few Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks, which have been there since Saturday;
5. an exercise in "Intuitive Angle Piecing" from "Intuitive Color and Design" by Jean Wells. As I'm not intuitive with colour I need all the help I can get. This isn't a representation of anything particular, but if you see something in it, that's up to you.

Here's a close up of the intuitive angle piecing: 

All these pieces were originally straight strips, cut at an angle and then sewn together straight on the grain. (It is a rectangle, even though it doesn't look like it in the photo.) Now I'm thinking about how I'm going to quilt it and embellish it further.

All these little odds and ends make a change from the bed quilts that have been occupying me for the last few months. Also, with the exception of the RSC sampler blocks, I'm not working from a pattern, but from my own ideas, influenced by the inspiration I find online.

I'm linking up to:

   

Hop over there and see what else has been happening.

Happy sewing

Marly.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2014: week 29

In July THE colour is red.

Hashtag

I only made one red block last weekend, but managed to play catching up with some purple and green blocks. 

Cracker and Cactus pot

Calico Puzzle and Broken Dishes

I'm not happy with the Calico Puzzle block on its own; there is too much contrast between the greens. Maybe I'll remake it, but I'm going to wait and see how it fits with all the other green blocks. I also got quite a shock when I checked Angela's sampler index page this week and found the colour for May had been emerald green. That I'd missed somehow. I don't think many of mine qualify as emerald.

To see how other people have been busy with red blocks this week hop over to 

where Angela is hosting a linky party.

Happy Sewing

Marly.

RSC 14 week 28

Angela at Soscrappy posts block patterns for a rainbow sampler each week. These two blocks were from last week, and I made them a week ago.

Starz

Stripes

There were two more blocks this week, but I haven't made them yet.

I'm sure other people have made the new blocks, so head over to Soscrappy

 

to have a look.

Happy sewing

Marly.

Finish Along Q3: proposed finishes.

Once again I'm participating in the Finish Along hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle.

If you need help setting targets for finishing your handwork projects maybe this is for you too.

I have six projects for this quarter, including two left from last quarter:

1. Cardigan

I haven't touched it since I put it away after taking a photo of it three months ago.

2. Toadstool house

Toadstool House in July

I have done some work on it,

Toadstool house in April

 




 but hit a problem with the reverse appliqué for the windows.

fabric prepared for
the reverse appliqué

I can't see how I'm going to do it because the window panes are so small. My solution is not to do reverse appliqué at all but to tack the curtains in place on the outside of the house, and then appliqué them using a wide satin stitch which will serve as window frame. Only that's not the pattern, and not my reason for doing this: I want to improve my appliqué, and learn to use the appliquick tools. Can anyone point me to a tutorial on reverse appliqué that will solve this issue - the small space, and the right angles I have to work with?



I have added two more projects:

Cushion cover no. 1: centre

3. Three 16" square cushions
for the living room. I started one last weekend, but I need to buy dark blue solid for a narrow border, and white solid for the outer border and the back of the cushion. I also need to find a fabric suitable for backing the quilting. Does anyone have any ideas what I can use for this?

Cushion covers 2 and 3 are at the sketch stage.



4. Tulip mini

This is a kit for a doll's quilt I bought at a quilt show a few months ago. I haven't started it yet, but I don't think it will take long. It's part of the  Cat or Dolly Quilt Club from Birdblocks Quilt Shop in Amsterdam. (In the link scroll down past all the dolls and cats story and you'll see photos of some of the quilts). I'm just doing the one, even though I love them all, but I didn't want to commit to one a month. I shall use it as a wall hanging.

Further I have to do some serious practice on FMQ, and continue with my EPP and appliquéd medallion quilt, but that will certainly not be finished this quarter (or this year!).

Happy sewing

Marly.

Rainbow Red in July

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour for July is red. I have only made one block this week, although now I see that Angela has posted two more sampler blocks.

I struggled to match the points on this one and then gave up. I get 0/4 for points. (Don't tell me otherwise: I know!)

I thought it was great fun seeing 6 months' worth of Rainbow blocks from a lot of people last Wednesday. If you didn't see them then they are here at Soscrappy.



There are no rainbows here this afternoon, just plenty of rain!

I'm linking this post to Soscrappy 

so hop over there to see the fabulous blocks 

others have been making this week.

Happy Sewing

Marly.

Celtic Solstice finished

I joined the Finish Along at The Littlest Thistle for the second quarter in 2014 and my list of projected finishes is here. This is my third finish for the Finish Along. I have no hope of finishing the other two projects. I will carry them over into the next quarter.

My version of Celtic solstice

Celtic Solstice was Bonnie Hunter's mystery pattern last November - December. There were five posts with instructions for five different 3" squares and a final reveal on New Year's Day. In the final reveal Bonnie gave instructions for putting all the 3" pieces into 2 different 9" square blocks, the layout and the borders. I finished on June 30 so it's taken me exactly six months to put it together! How some people manage a quilt a week I really don't know!

Pattern: Celtic Solstice by Bonnie Hunter
Size: 75" square / 191cm
Fabric: assorted scraps and Fat Quarters
Wadding: cotton (no details known)
Backing: "In the Bog" by Anne Ormsby for Clothworks (great fabric name if you're in the UK, but it doesn't smell!)

quilting on the centre

I quilted on my Bernina 440 QE using the BSR foot, using a freehand swirly pattern, making it up as I went along. On the whole I'm satisfied, but there are still strange hooky breaks in the pattern where I had to move my hands. I know I have to stop the machine, and then move my hands but still when I restart the fabric often pulls off in the wrong direction. 

detail of swirls quilting in the border

The swirls in the border were smaller, and better; I could manage one unit of the pattern without moving my hands.

detail of borders 
and pieced binding

In the border triangles I tried the technique I learnt from Angela Walters' Craftsy class, "Dot to Dot Quilting". Not exactly with success! Again the weight of the fabric tends to pull the needle off course. I guess I just have to keep practising!


I made the binding from left over pieces of the fabric used in the centre: width of fabric where I still had some, and otherwise half-widths from the few FQs still big enough.

Having taken lots of photos on the balcony in an effort to get the lighting right - spoilsports were the bright sun, a wall of white glass and an awful lot of sky - I took the quilt indoors and took one last shot which is really better than the rest as far as lighting goes. No artificial lighting; hand-held camera.





Even though I'm reading Ruth's Photo Friday Posts I don't seem able to cope with sun, sky and a white glass wall!

I'm linking to 
Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing for 

and Quokka Quilts for

This is my third finish in Q2 of Finish Along.

 I'm linking my finishes to Katy at the Littlest Thistle. Click on the logo above to view other participants' finishes.

Happy Sewing

Marly.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: halfway marker

Angela at Soscrappy is organising a rainbow scrap challenge this year, and posting a number of 6" blocks each week which some of the participants, including me, are making. I'm glad she does the maths to make all the blocks finish at 6". Angela also chooses the colour each month which, in the first six months, have been:

January	Blue
February	Pink
March	Teal
April	Purple
May	Green
June	Yellow

Here are my blocks for the first half year:

I still have more blocks to make in most of the colours to maintain this layout, but I'm waiting until the end of the year to decide definitely.

I'm linking up with:

  

so head over there and see what other busy fingers have produced.

Happy Sewing

Marly.