One Monthly Goal March: organising my studio

I've been busy in February, but not working on the quilting project I had anticipated. I failed to reach my goal last month.

I was to have followed a long-arm workshop at my LQS at their new location, but that didn't happen. Once the ladies had installed themselves and their now online shop, they found they didn't have room for their small long-arm machine. In the middle of February I heard the bad news! Too late to do much, so this is all I've done.

Squared Away: the 2019 Rainbow Scrap Challenge lap quilt

Pinned ready to quilt on my domestic machine, which is was to be my goal for this month. I'm not planning on hand quilting it, but I use the frame for layering; it's easier on the back!

Unfortunately my sewing space looks like this:

because we are changing the rooms of our flat around, and my sewing room is changing places with the study (which is also a mess!). You can hardly see my sewing machine which has just a very small working space around it. Not enough for a quilt! While I've thrown out books and papers that were the remains of my teaching career, and so made space for my stash, the last few miscellaneous handwork items are stacked on the cabinet ready for the big change round. The cabinet has to change places with my husband's desk and all his computer paraphernalia.

I would like to make quilting my RSC 2018 quilt, Squared Away, my goal for March, but I think my goal will have to be organising my sewing room, as one is dependant on the other being finished. With a bit of luck both will be finished, but I'm not banking on it!

I'm linking to 

Click on the button to see other people's goals for this month.

Happy sewing

Marly.

RSC 18 finished top

I've finished my top for this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge organised by Angela and Mari. These kind ladies posted one pattern and one colour each month from January to October and a load of quilters round the world made some blocks using the pattern and the colour of the month.

This is also my one monthly goal for December: to move this project on. OMG is a link-up hosted by  Patty at Elm Street Quilts

I made two ten-inch blocks each month and this is the result:

If you read my post last week you may see that I followed the advice of a number of readers and added sashing and cornerstones around the outside. This is it now - no borders - and I shall be quilting it in February during a long-arm course. I don't have a long-arm machine; I don't have the space for a long-arm machine, but have discovered a long-armer who is willing to teach me how to use hers! Unfortunately she is at present changing her business from a physical shop to an online one and moving to other premises. Hence the delay.

A close-up of my favourite fabric in this quilt: bicycles. I'm afraid I don't know the name of the designer.

I'm linking up to:

                

   on Saturday                         on Sunday

Click on the buttons to see more lovely quilty projects.

Happy sewing

Marly.

RSC Red in July

Each month Angela choses a colour and this year Mari is posting a block for the Squared Away sampler.
This month's colour is red and here are my two Round the Corner blocks:

I was in Friesland (one of the most northerly provinces of The Netherlands) last week, and stayed in Leeuwarden,  the provincial capital which has been chosen as Cultural Capital of Europe for 2018. To celebrate this honour the provincial governors decided to invite eleven sculptors to create a fountain for each of eleven towns in the province. A suitable cultural expression considering the importance of water in out lives.

 I photographed the fountains in Bolswaard:

De Vliermuis (the bat) by Johan Cretan

and in Leeuwarden:

Artist unknown to me: I couldn't find a plaque at the site, and no info on the Province's info online

Hold on - a fountain? There's no water!

This country, The Netherlands, is normally wet. In fact historically our greatest struggle has been managing the water. Just think of all those windmills pumping the water off the land from the network of drainage ditches into the rivers, and all those levees keeping the rivers within boundaries and keeping out the sea.

Uncharacteristically no rain has fallen in the last six weeks, leading to depleted water supplies. In some areas, including Friesland, a water shortage has officially been declared; fortunately there is no restriction yet for households, but farmers are no longer allowed to pump up ground water, and town councils have advised that fountains should be still, and garden hoses go unused. Any other year and Friesland's fountain project would have been spectacular. As it is the sculpture is interesting, beautiful, moving and in some cases controversial, but in some cities misses its crowning glory.
You can't plan everything!

I never thought I'd say this, but I wish it would rain! Just a little, and at night!

I'm linking to 

 

Click on the button to see more scrappy redness. 

Happy sewing

Marly.

Yellow for April

Each month Angela at So Scrappy gives a colour and Mari at The Academic Quilter posts a block pattern for the Squared Away sampler. This month's colour is yellow.

I made the 10" 4X Star block twice:

4X Star blocks

There is also a yellow wonky-star block on the go, but I doubt it will be finished by next Saturday; my day job is rather busy at the moment.

 

I'm linking up with So Scrappy for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Click on the button to join the party and see more sparkling loveliness.

Happy Sewing

Marly.

Spring Greens!

As a child I hated spring greens! They were the thinnings from the rows of cabbage, spinach and broccoli seedlings and goodness knows what else besides. My father hated waste so after meticulous washing to remove soil, into the pan they went. A couple of minutes later they landed on our plates, an extremely strong flavoured sloppy dark green mess. Yuck! No waste, remember, especially not on plates!

As the colour for the RSC this month Angela has chosen light and medium green, to remind us that spring is on its way.

A nice thought Angela, especially as we had our first snowfall of the winter (all of 5mm!) last night. I need to explain (but you don't have to read; skip the rest of this paragraph if you're not interested in freak European weather!) that in a cool temperate climate snow rarely falls in flat coastal areas where the prevailing winds are warm. It just rains! For the last ten days we have been treated to north-easterly force 8 winds from Siberia bringing, for us, excessively low temperatures but dry and sunny; if it hadn't been for the force 8 part the weather would have been pleasant. These same polar winds, having frozen our socks off then crossed the North Sea, picking up moisture as they went, and dumping it on the UK which has had its heaviest snowfall ever! Last night the Westerlies blew it back, so we got a light powdering of the white stuff. Now its melting. The ground is still frozen, so it's not over yet!

OK, back to light to medium green:

I've been joining same colour 2" squares as Leaders & Enders. Yesterday I was sorting through the box of twosies (force 8 and -8 degrees C - not going anywhere!) and found I had nearly enough yellow/green to make a 49-patch. Quite a coincidence as I hadn't seen Angela's post then. So here we are: one green block already made! I've never been so quick off the mark!

Now to start cutting for Squared Away. Mari has already posted the instructions.

I'm linking up to 

Click on the button to join the RSC party.

Happy sewing

Marly.

More purple for my rainbow

This week I made two more paper-pieced blocks in purple for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge hosted by Angela. The patterns for the blocks can be found at the blog "Sewn by Leila", along with an excellent foundation paper piecing tutorial.

This first one was going to be purple with yellow, but I got distracted while cutting and cut a third pair of yellow triangles. Not wanting to waste them the block became yellow with purple! I like the result.

 

As I didn't find this QAL until February and hadn't made any of these blocks in January, I also made a blue block.

Further this week my sewing endeavours have focussed on preparing  my "Rainbow Bears' Square Dance" for quilting. It's now layered so hopefully will be finished this month as that's my goal for the month.

I'm linking to

so pop in over there to see more purple goodies.

Happy sewing

Marly.

The colour purple

For the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month Angela has given the colour purple. I have made the Squared Away sampler block for February twice. It amazes me how wide the range of purple is. I'm planning to make 20 10" blocks which I think will make a good size for a lap quilt.

There was very little more purple sewing here this week; I've been piecing the backing (!!) for my 2016 scrappy rainbow and there are two or three purple pieces in it. That's come to a halt because I ran out of the fabric I'm using for the border of the backing. I miscalculated how wide it should be so soon I shall have a lot of royal blue to cut off. Meanwhile I don't have enough for the fourth side so I'm all set to visit the LQS this afternoon. No pictures yet; I'll post them when I've finished it.

I'm linking up to 

 as soon as the link comes online,

so pop in there to see more scrappy purple.

Happy sewing

Marly.

Blue Scrappy Scrap Bag finished

This is my first finish for the Q1 finish along 2018. I posted my goals for the first quarter here.




Each month Angela  gives a colour and the Rainbow Scrap Challenge participants use their scraps in that colour to make something new. This month the colour is light and medium blue. I have made a scrap bag from scraps to join the bags I made last year, but this time stepped outside the RSC limits to use all blues, and aqua and teal. These are colours I don't use much so they don't need a bag each; they can share!

This was also my January goal for "One Monthly Goal".

Pattern from Fiona at BubzRugz

The bag finished at about 8"x7" but, before I cut the pieces out to form the base, it looked like this:

 a rectangle ±16"x22".

I had fun trying out the techniques I have learnt in Jacquie Gering's Craftsy course, "Quilting with the Walking Foot". Even putting on the binding was easier following her advice on using the walking foot.

I'm linking to 

at the end of the month

Click on the buttons to visit the linky parties.

Happy Sewing

Marly.

RSC 17 Roundup and looking forward.

Each month, Angela at Soscrappy gives a colour for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and we work with scraps of that colour for that month. This month's colour is light/medium blue. The first two years I joined the challenge I followed Angela's sampler instructions and made a large rainbow quilt both years. Since then I've made my own project plan, but kept to her colour-using programme. This year there is also a rainbow sampler programme run by Angela at Soscrappy together with Mari at The Academic Quilter

To start with last year's RSC projects: 

I managed to finish very little in 2017. I quilted a couple of quilts made in 2016, made a small wall hanging, and some scrappy scrap baskets. 2018 will initially see me continuing with the same RSC projects:

Scrappy baskets: 

Since I took this photo I have added an orange and a pink basket.

I still have to make two: one for blue and aqua and one for back and white.

Large blocks 

I've been making one square in each month's colour with a white wonky star. I started this about half way through 2017 and will continue until I have enough for ... whatever! Lap quilt, baby quilt, who knows! These squares finish at 14 inches, so I won't need so many, once I've got the 49 2" squares joined, that is.

Jacob's ladders: 

I need to redefine this in terms of scrappy. I abandoned this project after a couple of months because it wasn't scrappy enough. Using off-white solid as background works, and using two other colours also, but not using just two other fabrics. This way hasn't been using scraps; I have to use more than one fabric in each colour for the triangles. It's not that I don't like the result, but it's not helping me reduce my scraps. I have the feeling that making these blocks will be more of a 5-year plan!

6"Jacobs Ladder variation

2018 RSC Sampler Quilt

I haven't yet decided, but by the time you read this I will know more about it and have made a decision!

Some more scrappy projects for 2018:

Trip around the world: 

I'm collecting 2.5" strips and will be joining them as L&Es. This could also take years! My plan is to make a block each month in the colour of the month. This won't be a scrap buster but a scrap builder, because I'll need to buy more fabric in each colour to get up to size!

Framed 9-patches 

I've started making the 9-patches as L&Es, using the ends of the 2" strips used in the Quiltville Mystery "On Ringo Lake".  I plan to collect a pile of 9-patches and will decide when I have enough for a quilt what exactly I do with them. This will continue to be a L&E project. So who knows when I'll have enough for a dancing 9-patch quilt.

Quilting

Much as I love piecing I'm very reluctant to quilt. I never feel that I am in complete control of the machine when quilting. I have just bought a Craftsy class given by Jacquie Gering: "Creative Quilting with your Walking Foot", and am hoping I will gain enough confidence in the next couple of months to tackle these two:

2015 sampler. This is a completed top, I just didn't take a photo with the last 2 squares!

2016: Bear Paws

That's enough I think; I have to be realistic!

Best wishes everyone for a healthy, prosperous and productive new year.

I'm linking to:

 

Click on the button to visit soscrappy and join the party

Happy sewing
Marly.