Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL

 

It’s time to say “Je ne sais QAL” because Sandra, mmmquilts announced her 2023 QAL, Rainbow Neighborhood and, once again, as I have for the past six years, will be participating which is now a rite of Spring and to celebrate her late father, the Famous Canadian, birthday. I had purchased her pattern last December and mentioned to her then that I thought this should be a QAL. As soon as I downloaded the pattern, I printed it which I hardly ever do and it’s been sitting on the studio desk since and knew I could start it once I decided on the fabrics. Imagine my surprise and happiness when Sandra first mentioned the QAL back on March 25th that the Rainbow Neighborhood was the pattern. I was at the GP House which meant the pattern and my stash was at home so I could only think or “mmmull” over my usual reasons for participating. Do I like the pattern, Big Yes, especially since I had the pattern and realized the blocks are 16” and the quilt blocks are 8” and not 4” as I thought they were; can I use fabric from my stash, I’m pretty sure I do but have to wait until I’m at home which won’t be for several days; and since I’m doing the throw size, the schedule for completion is doable since a block a week is sewn until the end of May and then have the month of June to assemble the top for the parade on June 30th. We have two vacations planned during the QAL so the chances of having a finished quilt may be slim but at least you only need a top in order to be eligible to win one of the many great prizes Sandra has lined up. But the main reason for making Rainbow Neighborhood will be explained later at the end of the post.

On the drive home, I decided the fabric I was going to use was my stash of Alison Glass which was the perfect choice since I’ve accumulated stash especially from buying a nice selection of yardage and scraps online from a blogger who was having a destash sale. Once I was finally in my studio I was able to choose the nine colors for my Rainbow Neighborhood along with the background, sashing, border and cornerstones.

I am so happy that I can use my Alison Glass fabrics for Rainbow Neighborhood and I’m having a little tongue in cheek moment by naming my quilt Glass Houses. I have some charm squares for most of the colors and will be using them for the 8” quilt blocks along with the black and white print. The multi-color light print will be used for the sky for each house. I should mention that the yellow green solid is not an Alison Glass print and will be used for the cornerstones. If I do any deviation from the pattern, it will be the sashing and border due to only having one yard of the multi-color black print which I want to use as the border but I don’t like pieced borders which I would have to do since I need at least 60”.

The official start of the Rainbow Neighborhood QAL is April 3rd and I’ve already started after checking with Sandra to see if there was a sequence as to which house to make and there’s not, really. My first block is already done and the cutting and sewing was easy but I need to be better with the quilt blocks measuring 8.5”. I do love that the house blocks are 16” finished, my sewing is much more accurate with large patches. I did press all of the seams open, except for the rows but in the future, will only do it for the 8” quilt blocks. My chimneys did not line up with the roof lines as well as I would have liked so pressing these two rows so the seams will nest might be better. My plan is to make three more blocks before we leave on vacation on the 12th so I will be on schedule once we return.

We did spend half of March at the GP House which the darling Granddaughter did a wonderful job babysitting us and we also celebrated her sixth birthday. Once we were home from our last visit and before I started working on the Rainbow Neighborhood QAL, I did finish my March top for the CountryThreads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge. My plan is to make this a Patchwork Blankie by backing it with a pink plush which has been hanging around the studio. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use Jinny Janome since I haven’t sewn plush with her yet and Juki Junebug is stored away in the dining room or the formal sewing room now. BTW, the problems which I had with Juki Junebug could not be fixed by the last shop and they wanted to ship it to shop in Alabama who said they could fix the thread cutter plus the foot pedal problem. I decided I could live with these problems rather than spend any more money. There would be certain quilts, such as this patchwork blankie, that Juki Junebug could still do. It’s just a matter of setting her up on the dining room table which I may be now in a mood to do.

As mentioned earlier in this Post that I had a really good reason for wanting to make Glass Houses, aka, Rainbow Neighborhood is because I thought it would be the perfect wall hanging to go with my Petal Pop quilt which was finished last year. The plan then was that this quilt would be for the darling Granddaughter and now with the perfect wall hanging to go with it, this will be her new bedroom ensemble. After all, she’s now the big “6” and it’s time for a change. 

Saying Good Bye to 2022

It seems rather funny to write that this is my last post for the year being that the last time I posted was on November 3rd which I explained my lack of productivity in October which now has extended almost through the end of December. The main reason is that my beloved and partner in quilt fun, Juki Junebug, was at the Spa or inoperable until mid December. Sadly, upon her return she still is not 100% since the thread cutter does not work even though it did before, she continues to sew a few stitches after the foot pedal is released or when the needle down and up is pressed and also was not a problem before but at least the needle threader was replaced. The sad thing about owning a Juki is not having a reliable service center by me so I already decided to purchase a new machine next year. I’m eyeing the Janome HD-9 which is a straight stitch machine and the local dealer is thirty minutes away from my house, is one of my favorite quilt shops and I know the owner. I am hoping that Juki Junebug will be able to machine quilt some of my flimsies which have accumulated this year and I still plan on keeping/using her.

Upon Junebug’s return, my plan was to finally finish the Heading North flimsy which I detailed the happy making of it on my last post. There were several reasons why I wanted to finish it; this was my fourth MMM Quilt project I did this year with Sandra being the mmmajor immmpetus and the other three quilts were finished so I wanted my Heading North to be part of the quadruple finishes and thus earning points for my Get Bella card. Also, knowing that I like to have twenty-four finishes a year (two for each month) and so far I only had twenty-three, I really needed to quilt it and I knew it wouldn’t take more than a few days, well before the end of the year. I wanted to keep the quilting simple so I only quilted in the ditch with CT Essential Thread in Latte. Junebug performed magnificently although I managed to swerve in some open places which usually happens to me when I stitch in the ditch. 

I didn’t mention in my post that while I was sewing my Heading North quilt I kept thinking that the colors looked so familiar, that I knew these colors, especially the blue but couldn’t place where I’ve seen these colors.  I even looked at my quilt album to see  if I had made a quilt with these colors but saw nothing. It was really bugging me. After the flimsy was a finish and posted,  while I was at the GP House sitting in the living room where I can look into the dining room, what did my wondrous eyes see, the area rug laying under the dining room table and there was my answer.

I decided that my Heading North Quilt was perfect for the dining room, also known as ESP (Eating, Sewing,Play) room hanging from the blinds on the large windows in the back where I have my small sewing studio. I think it looks quite nice there with the area rug.

I was hoping to have another finally finish to end the year but unfortunately I was only able to sew a flimsy made with mostly Katarina Roccella’s Wonderland fabrics which was one of the projects listed for December in my Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge. I feel I am so behind because I did not even do a project for November since I wanted to machine quilt but Junebug was unavailable. I will write more about this quilt once it is finished which I plan to soon since this will be a patchwork throw for the darling Granddaughter. I was really hoping to finish it today but due to my latest cold which she gave to me before Christmas I was just not feeling up to it. I now have eleven flimsies for 2022 which I think some of them will make my 2023/24 UFO Challenge list.

I’m calling it a year now and closing with a photo of the darling Granddaughter in one of her Christmas dresses which may have inspired my latest flimsy-love that color I call Aquamint. I’m hoping to feel a whole lot better for 2023 because I have quilts I need to machine quilt. And yes, plans are already in my head as what I plan to hopefully sew next year. I should mention that although there wasn’t a whole lot of finished during the past three months, I did indulge in some lovely fabric purchases, big wink here.

Wishing you a healthy and prosperous New Year. Stay warm and safe!