RSC 2020: Dark Green

Kermit knew it best. It isn't easy being green.

Dark green doesn't take up much room in my fabric stash.

Or my mind.

It's easy for me to say I don't like dark green.

It feels depressing to me. 

Like murky swamp waters where creatures live under the slimy mossy surface. Ick. 

I was going to jump in and get this month's challenge done and I had hopes of finding that dark green and I could build a friendship. Not best friends, but at least we could nod to each other upon passing. 

 In early May, I gathered the dark greens that hid out at the bottom of my green fabric pile. Apparently, they don't get along with the lovely limes, tantalizing teals, opulent olives, captivating celadons, magnificent mints, lyrical laurels and shameless shamrocks of their color genre. 

Nope, these dark greens here huddled deep and alone, waiting for a day to be chosen for a sewing project. 

I yanked them out. I started cutting. I used a few curse words. They were not pretty...neither the words or the fabrics. It didn't help that the next day (after a break), that I realized all of the squares were cut too big. I needed 2" squares, not 2.5" squares! 

The horror of 2.5" squares will be around to haunt me for a long time now.

I pushed through and recut them. Then started stitching. I got them all stitched together in one afternoon. No bonds of friendship were formed. 

Those dark greens kinda stick out like a sore thumb. 

I may end up taking them off.

We'll see what June's color is and I'll revisit this. 

Poor Kermit. 

Linking up to:

http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

RSC 2020: Light & Bright Blue!

One upside to staying home is giving myself more time to sew. It feeds my soul and nourishes my mind. There are plenty of other things I should do, but those things don't give me the same satisfaction. 

Maybe come mid-summer (if this pandemic is over), I will wish I had spent more time cleaning closets and tidying up the garage. 

But for now, for today and likely tomorrow, I will sew.

I had my 2 rows of 9-patch blocks completed in just 2 days. 

I surprised myself at finding that light and bright blues weren't flourishing in my stash. 

It's the medium and darker blues that win out.

All four colors are sewn together and are becoming friends. 

It's going to be such a pretty quilt!

Linking up with:

So Scrappy

RSC 2020: Aqua!

The color for March's Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) was aqua.

 Sometimes also called teal or turquoise.

 I like to pronounce that last color  "tur-quah"! 

Makes it sound fancy, doesn't it? 

Whatever you prefer to call it, 

I had enough of it in my stash this go-around to fulfill 

what was needed to make 24 more 9-patch blocks. 

Of course, the moment I lay it out on the floor (my design wall), 

it becomes something to lay on. 

Sophie approves!

She tends to be camera shy. 

The only way I can get her to look at the camera is to say "Where's Jenny?".

Jenny is her groomer and although Sophie always behaves herself there, 

she'd rather hide under the bed. 

 

Here we are with the first 3 scrappy strips sewn together!

It's going to be a colorful one,, for sure!

Tomorrow, April 1st, the new color will be announced. 

Hmmm...I'm guessing purple!

Linking up to:

SoScrappy

Stay home and stay healthy, my friends! 

Vibrant & Vivacious: Project Quilting Challenge 11.6

This week, more so than others, was a great way to escape from what's happening in the world. 

I'm sure many of you can relate. 

There's little I can think about when I have my sewing machine needle piercing through fabric. 

It's a wonderful thing to create, isn't it?

This week's challenge at Persimon Dreams was to use vibrant colors! 

It's been rather bleak, gray weather here in my corner of Iowa, so playing with these fabrics added some joy.

I've had a pattern on my Pinterest board for a long time, and I knew I could figure it out without too much trouble. 

Who needs a stinkin' pattern to buy when you can finagle on your own? 😁

I was trying too hard to  make my Flying Geese matchy-matchy and I wasn't really getting the effect I wanted. So, I threw caution to the wind and put crazy combinations together. So much easier!

Here we go with my layout....looking good, right? Vibrant and Vivacious?

I even sewed up all those cut-off corners for another project down the line. 

I wanted to try mitered corners and this was the perfect time! 

I found a great video from Fons & Porter. 

Easy, peasy...except for one corner that I had to re-do THREE times!

Details on quilting and getting that binding just right. 

Now, if I could just learn to take a decent photo! 

This is a perfect rectangle...believe me!

Measurements: 29" x 15"

Made in my home in Dubuque, Iowa

Linked up:

Persimon Dreams PQ 11.6

RSC 2020: Orange!

My mama would be proud! In fact, she would be gushing at the progress this month and requesting an entire quilt be made from these blocks.

🧡Oh, how Hazel loved orange!🧡

At one time, she even drove an orange car! 

In full respect, orange is not one of my favorite colors.

Even though I had one reader offer to send me orange scraps 

(bless your ever-loving orange heart), 

I spent a few bucks to purchase a few fat quarters 

and even found some orange remnants in the bin at JoAnn. 

Many strips were sewn and cut to make 24 more 9-patch blocks....

2 rows of 12 blocks.

Sewn to the green strips and we have ourselves the beginning vision of a colorful quilt!

 

Mom, orange you happy? 😉

Linking up with:

So Scrappy

Put a Heart on It! Project Quilting 11.3

I have participated in the Project Quilting challenges for the past several years, but this last week's challenge is the first one I've taken on for this year.

 I just couldn't pass up creating something with hearts!

I think it was just a few days before Kim at Persimon Dreams announced the topic for this challenge that I received the "Love Is Scrappy" tutorial from Blair in her Wise Craft Handmade newsletter. I knew I had to make one! 

The one major change I made was to make mine smaller. Blair's finished wall quilt measures in at 32" square. Mine is a mere 16" square. 

Yep, that's a lotta 2" squares!

Fortunately, I had only to shop my stash for this mini quilt.

 No shopping required! (Shucks!)

It was fun to lay out the scrappy squares and get a visual for the final project. 

You might notice my orange strips at the top. 

They are waiting to be sewn into 9-patches for the RSC project. 

Sewing the tiny squares together was going just fine til I got to the 

top of the heart. 

I blame it on Oprah. I was listening to her podcast and got distracted. 

My husband thought I was sewing a fox head.

Simple, straight line stitching for quilting the 3 layers together. 

I  had a fabric piece just the perfect size for the backing. 

In my stash, I also had a package of bias tape that served very purposeful here!

It was a bit tricky since it was so narrow, but it worked out.

This 16" x 16" mini will be a gift for my daughter on her 30th birthday. 

She celebrates on Feb. 16th, but we've always considered her a

 Valentine's baby. 

Linking up

Persimon Dreams Project Quilting 11.3

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Jumping into RSC 2020!

I've been a spectator on the sidelines of the RSC parade for several years.

Late last year, I told myself I was going to join the fun for 2020!

For the first month of the year, light and bright green was the color. 

The RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) is hosted by SoScrappy.

Each month, a new color is chosen and the participants search through their stash and scrap bins 

to sew whatever their heart pleases!

 No rules, just sew with that color!

I like sewing by those rules. 

Lime green fabrics seem to be abundant in my stash, so this month was no problem.

I chose to make the classic 9-patch block using a white center.

After making 12 of these 5" blocks, I was pleased, but felt I needed another row.

This time, I alternated the white centers so it would look like a white ribbon 

weaving through the blocks. 

January's green RSC rows are 56" long and 9.5" wide. 

That's 216 2" squares!

I'm already worried about February.

The color is orange!

Orange is not abundant in my stash. 

I may have to go shopping. 

Linking up to:

 RSC 2020

Quilting is More Fun Than Housework