It's Been A Scrappening Kind Of Week

The Scrap Happy Rail Quilt is a finally finish and was only a "flimsy" for less than a week.  Last week, I posted about the making of this top, you can read the post here and normally, once I finish a top, it usually lays around the studio for at least several months or seasons before it is quilted.  I must be having some good quilting mojo since this is the third quilt I've quilted in the last four weeks.

I couldn't decided if I wanted to quilt it with straight lines or wavy organic lines so I did a combination of the two and I think it turned out pretty well.  I wanted to make sure my post included some close-up shots since my last post had only one photo.  Thanks for the gentle nudge, Preeti!

I backed this quilt with my last piece of Ikea fabric which is no longer available, of course.  I'm so glad I bought this several years ago when they had this fabric and other fabrics like Nummer which was so perfect for backings.  The last time I backed a quilt with this fabric was for another scrappy quilt--this print just picks up all the colors of the quilt top and I wish Ikea would bring this print and the Nummer print back.

As if I haven't worked with scraps enough this year, I have now completed a trifecta of Crazy Mom quilts.  (I previously posted my June Quilt, you can read the post here ).  While searching for some scraps for a road trip project, I came across two pieces of my Scrap Vortex quilt which I started around  two years ago.   In order to finish this top, all I had to do was sew two scrap slabs, one measuring 13"x 47" and the other 10" x 57" and since the scraps for this project were still together I decided to finish this top once again even though I was supposed to be cleaning my studio and getting ready for a road  trip.  This is the sixth quilt I've made with scraps this year.

When I originally finished the top the first time, I was so excited that I was going to straight line quilt it with my then brand new Juki 2010Q.  As mentioned in previous posts, the Juki Walking Foot does not like to do straight line quilting.  After quilting around a third of the quilt and seeing how the quilt was getting distorted, rather than removing the stitches, I chose to cut off the part of the quilt that was quilted and made one very long mat for exercising.  Now that I can straight-line quilt on the Juki, I looking forward to quilting the second Scrap Vortex top and I'm really hoping I won't be making a matching floor mat again.

I did get a chance to make some other things from my fabric stash. I've made some blocks for another Christmas quilt, one of the blocks, the Tree Farm Block designed by Janda Bend Quilts is from the A Very Merry Christmas Quilt Along, you can read the post here.  Teething time has arrived for my Granddaughter, Micah Rose, so some leashes with teething rings needed to be made.  I wasn't looking forward to adding the snaps since I wasn't very good with eyelets but I have to say these KAM Snaps purchased from Amazon went on like a "snap"--no problem at all, there is a very good YouTube you can watch.

As I am posting this today, I am traveling to Yellowstone with my husband and son and have taken the Scrap Happy Rail Quilt, which has now been renamed the Happy Trails Rail Quilt.  My road project will be doing some hand sewing with scraps.  I just can't seem to be able to get away from scraps.

Hopefully during this trip, I will not be tempted to buy fabric because I had a little tumble this week.

Previous YTD Total:   -62.25 yards
Current YTD Total:    -59.25 yards

Linking up with:
My Quilt Infatuation: Needle and Thread Thursday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict:  Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?
Busy Hands Quilts:  Finish Or Not Friday
Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework: Oh Scrap
MMM Quilts: dreami Linky #7

Scrap Happy Rails Top

This is the second top I've made from Crazy Mom's "No Scrap Left Behind"book (I previously posted about it here)  and the fifth modern quilt I made with scraps this year.  With the exception of the June quilt which was made with feedsack scraps, the scraps for this quilt were from all of the Cotton + Steel quilts I ever made since the fabric line came out as well as the other modern fabrics which I don't use or have as much.  This is a happy quilt because my modern scrap stash is pretty low now which means I need to make quilts with new modern fabrics so I can replenish my stash.  As much as I like the "cleansing" feel when making a quilt with scraps, I need to re-stimulate myself with the new fabrics which have been sitting too long on my shelf.  Tula Pink, here I come, oh wait, there's new Cotton + Steel fabrics.  I'm hoping to start quilting the Scrap Happy Rails top today since the backing has been sewn.  Maybe I should dangle a fresh fat quarter of new fabric in front of me to really help me press the metal to the pedal?

Quilt Size:  60" X 84"
Block Size:  12" Finished, thirty-five blocks total
Block Construction:  Three rectangles, 4.5" x 12-1/2" Cut, middle rail plain (Cotton + Steel Macrame) with two scrappy rails on the outside 

Previous YTD Total:   -49.75 yards

Current YTD Total:    -62.25 yards

Linking up with:
My Quilt Infatuation: Needle and Thread Thursday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict:  Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?
Busy Hands Quilts:  Finish Or Not Friday
Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework: Oh Scrap

Smitten Blocks: Sew Ready Now For A Quilt

Slowly but surely, the Smitten Blocks are starting to look like a quilt.  It's been well over a month since I finished sewing all of the blocks with the exception of the side triangles which I needed to make  the paper templates myself since they were not included with the paper piecing kit I purchased. For the price I paid for this kit, it would have been nice if these twelve triangles came with it but I understand why since these triangles at the base measures over 10".  

Well, I was not looking forward to making these twelve triangles and I took my sweet time to finally realized they could easily be rotary cut--I just measured the width of the base and the height of the triangle, cut the rectangles, determine the center and cut along the 60 degree lines on my ruler (I should mention that I now finally understand how the degree lines) and voila' they were done.  I only messed up once and I still have all of my fingers.  Once the side triangles were basted, I was finally ready to lay out all of the blocks.

I had an extra block and decided that this one would be the one to be left out of the quilt.  I chose this one because I thought it would stick out because of all of the light diamonds on the outside and thought I could make a pillow with it.  I realized that the two girls in the center hexagon reminded me of my friend Carol and I--Carol is the reason why I am making the Smitten quilt.I thought I could give it to her but I decided I would just send her the paper pieces and fabrics so she can make it herself after she finishes her Smitten blocks.  I really do like this block.

I see plenty of late night sewing while finishing binge watching  Blue Bloods. I'm only on season two and still have five seasons left, so hopefully the top could be sewn together by the time I finish watching all of the episodes.  I'm keeping my fingers crosses even though I know my fingers are going to be sore.

Linking up with KokaQuilts: Sew Stitch Snap Share

Backings, Blocks and A Baby Blanket

Another "B" week for me, lots of sewing but no finished quilts or tops yet.

• I sewed backings for five quilts which I've sent to my Long-Arm Quilter, Jan.  It's that time of year that  have to decide which quilts I want to do myself and these are the ones that need more than straight line quilting.  Four of these quilts were made before I started blogging so once they're done I'll have something new to post.

• My seventy-two rail blocks have been sewn and trimmed and ready to sew with the Cotton+Steel gray fabric which I've been saving for the right project.  This quilt will be the second quilt I've made from Crazy Mom's "No Scrap Left Behind" book and it made quite a big dent with my modern scraps.

• Sixteen framed square blocks measuring 18" and made with blue and green Cotton + Steel and Thimbleberries fabrics (talk about modern traditional) and ready to be quartered to make another Stacked Square quilt.  I got the idea to combine the two fabric lines when I received the New Attitudes book by Lynette Jensen who made quilts using her patterns, one with Thimbleberries fabrics and the other one with Cotton + Steel fabrics.  I thought combining the two fabric lines in one quilt would be fun, after all I have just as much Thimbleberries fabrics as I do Cotton + Steel, which is now the fabric I have to buy everytime a new line comes out.

• My Granddaughter, Micah Rose, has a pink "storebought" fluffy fleece blanket which she is very fond of and I being the thoughtful Grandmother decided to make her a pink fleece blanket with some cute yardage that's been sitting in my stash--it's good for Micah to have a back-up "Grandma-made" blanket when her pink blankie needs to be washed or heaven forbids it somehow gets "lost" when I happened to be visiting.

My Minus 100 Yard Challenge is improving with all the backings I made this week plus it really helps that it's been over a week since I purchased any new fabric. It's going to be a busy next four months seeing that I still have over fifty yards to use, that is, if I don't buy any new fabrics.  Losing weight and using fabric is a never-ending battle for me.

Previous YTD Total:   -38.125 yards

Current YTD Total:    -49.75 yards

Linking up with:

My Quilt Infatuation: Needle and Thread Thursday

Confessions of a Fabric Addict:  Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?

Busy Hands Quilts:  Finish Or Not Friday

Pets on Quilts 2017

Today is the first day of the Pets on Quilts 2017 Linky Party and I would be remiss if I did not enter Sophie's photo, a.k.a., the World's Worst Dog, you can read about Sophie and her quilt here.  This photo was taken right after her grooming appointment last week and I was totally unaware of this linky party until I read about it today on Lily Pad Quilting's blog: The Best Show Ever! Pets on Quilts 2017!

There are wonderful sponsors and prizes for this Linky Party, so be sure to enter.  It's a great way to see the pets of quilters, I wonder if any of them have their own quilt like Sophie. 

Linking up with:  Lily Pad Quilting

It's the Ernie Interruptus Quilt's Turn To Be Finally Finished

I made and finished this quilt while I was waiting for the birth of my first granddaughter, Micah in March, and previously posted about the inspiration, stats and the thinking behind the making of this quilt, you can read the post here.  It only took me four months to finally quilt it and I was probably working off the adrenalin from quilting the Dear Tula Pink quilt last week.

I backed this Ernie Quilt with some of the few remaining yardage I have of the Ikea Nummer fabric which I dearly love and only use it for my modern quilts which are Nummer worthy.  If I could be granted one quilting wish, it would be for Ikea to bring back this fabric because it is so perfect for backings.  As you can see, I did straight line quilting along each strip row with intermittent diagonal quilting. The quilt feels so nice and soft.

This is the fourth quilt in the Ernie Quilt series I made which was inspired by Mr. Quilt Muse himself, Ernie Jo Mauer, the American Farm Tiger owned by Mary Etherington, Country Threads, who also made the first Ernie quilt, you can read the post here.  The Ernie Quilts are strip blocks made with 2.5" strips which can be made any size depending on the fabric or jelly roll you may have.  This is one of my favorite patterns since I can use my die-cutter to make the strips and also a great way to use up stash and scraps.

These are the other three "Ernie" quilts I've made and you can see this pattern is so versatile and can be made with modern, traditional, reproduction, etc. fabrics.   I have other "Ernie" quilts lined up to make which I can't wait to make--I have some new Cotton+Steel prints in my stash--whoo-hoo!

I'll wait until the next post to give an update to my Minus 100 yards Challenge. I thought I finally stopped shopping but then Crazy Mom's new fabric line "Emma & Myrtle" came out and I had to buy the four yards I just had to have now which should be arriving soon.  Hopefully I can get some quilt tops done to reduce the stash down before then.

Linking up with:

My Quilt Infatuation: Needle and Thread Thursday

Confessions of a Fabric Addict:  Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?
Busy Hands Quilts:  Finish Or Not Friday
Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework: Oh Scrap
Main Crush Monday

The Dear Tula Pink Quilt is Finally Finished

I started my Dear Tula Pink Quilt in 2013 right after I retired and this was going to be the quilt project to make sure I kept my focus on quilting and not waste any of my newly acquired "free time."   

I purchased Tula Pink's 100 Modern Quilt Blocks right after it was published in 2013.  To prepare for this project, I had the book spiral bound, purchased a Moleskine graph paper book to keep track of the blocks and the fabrics used for each block and I even set up a Pinterest board.  I called this project "Dear Tula Pink" because this was going to be, for me, like the "Dear Jane" quilt started by Brenda Papadakis which was very popular at that time, and may still be, and it was the quilt to make for those who like a challenge.

One of my favorite color combinations is black, gray, brown, tan, gold, taupe and beige. I used a mash of Civil War, Asian, Traditional, Modern, Blenders, Florals, Geometrics and Novelty prints for this quilt.  Luckily for me after I pulled these fabrics from my stash, I found a print online of the Skyscrapers which, to me, tied in all of these colors.  I was planning to use this for the borders.

These are some of the blocks which you can see the different fabric types used.

And now for some stories as to how my Dear Tula Pink was made and finally finished after four years.  First of all, I intended to make all 100 of these blocks.  After I had made a few of the blocks, I happened to show them to my two quilt peeps and they wanted to join in--it would be a nice group project they said.  Each one of us would make three of the same blocks and share them with each other. Unfortunately, this idea ended less than a year after one peep made around 30 blocks and the other one whose idea was to do this together only did 21. I ended up making 39 blocks.  I was disappointed, but understood, that the other two peeps didn't have as much time as I did and when you think about it, 39 blocks multiply by four (I made two of each for myself) is 156 blocks and I was getting tired of them, especially making four of the same blocks and they were 6" finished which is too small for me.  I do like to think if I did the project by myself and only made one of each block, I probably could have made all 100 blocks.

After the decision was made to discontinue making the blocks. I made this quilt using some of the blocks made by one peep based on one of the layout ideas in the book.  I used two shades of dyed muslin and a colorful stripe fabric I had in my stash.  It's only a coverlet, no batting, just a backing of tan corduroy with light quilting.

It took me around two years to finally come up with the layout for my blocks and the funny story is that I had just finished putting together my Gypsy Wife blocks last year and if you are familiar with this pattern, the blocks are set in strips of fabric which I just didn't want to do (I was mentally exhausted after making those GW blocks) so my blocks were laid in a Sampler layout.  But with my Dear Tula Pink quilt, I wanted to set these blocks with fabric strips and solid pieces of the Skyscraper print.  After a couple of false starts this year, I finally quilted Dear Tula Pink with straight line quilting using a variegated black, brown and tan thread.

While I was finishing up this quilt and I was on Pinterest, I noticed that someone had pinned one of the blocks I had on my Dear Tula Pink Project board.  It turned out it was a block made by my dear quilt blog friend Susan Snooks, PatchworknPlay, and I had probably pinned before we became friends.  I noticed her block had similar colors and fabrics like my quilt so I went on her blog to find her finished quilt and I was amazed at the similarities between our two quilts using the same colors and fabric designs and that her blocks were laid out in the skyline layout (remember I featured a Skyscraper print in my quilt).  I sent a message to Susan asking her for the link to her quilt so you can check it out for yourself: Susan's City Skyline Quilt.  Pretty freaky, don't you think?  Susan started and finished her City Skyline quilt in 2013.  Too bad I didn't know her back then, maybe I would have made more blocks, we definitely could have shared blocks.

On my Minus 100 Yard Challenge, I guess I shouldn't have been so over confident that I could reach this goal, maybe I should have tried for a Minus 10 Yard Challenge instead.  In defense of my fabric purchases so far this month, all I can say it's July and that means sizzling Sidewalk Sales.  Sadly I didn't have to leave the house to make my purchases.

Previous YTD Total:   -49.125 yards

Current YTD Total:    -38.125 yards

Linking up with:

My Quilt Infatuation: Needle and Thread Thursday
Crazy Mom Quilts:Finish It Up Friday
Confessions of a Fabric Addict:  Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?
Busy Hands Quilts:  Finish Or Not Friday