Rainbow Strippy Group Quilt

As I have previously mentioned, I have joined in with Betty’s merry band making blocks for group donation quilts each month. 

For the first half of this year the brief was slightly different, in that each month we were to make a strip in a colour of the rainbow.  

Here are mine.

Once all the coloured strips were completed and returned to Betty, she mixed them up and sent strip sets out to each of us to make into a quilt top.  Some were very creative and clever.

I finally got around to joining the strips I received into this flimsy.  Not very creative, but I think it is rather striking.

Instead of returning the quilt top to Betty for the girls down there to finish off, I have quilted and bound it here.  

I just used a gold thread for the quilting and a bright blue wideback for the backing and binding.

With Betty’s blessing, it will be donated to a local charity in Bathurst.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements -62" high x 64" wide

Pattern - None.  Rainbow strips for group quilts.

Fabrics - All from stash.  

Quilting Design - QCT6 - Loopmeander

Batting - Cotton/Poly

Backing - Wideback from Spotlight

Thread - Glide - Cleopatra

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Complete for August.

The weather on Monday was rather feral, with the temperature only reaching about 6 degrees C and windy.  A good day to stay indoors and sew.

Therefore, I made the yellow RSC blocks for the month.

I only needed one crumb block, as I had made two yellow ones a couple of years ago.

It is good to be making progress.  Only two more colours before it is time to start putting the quilts together.  I do hope to have the three completed by the end of the year.

I have linked up with So Scrappy.

Stitching Wrap Up for July

It’s amazing what you can achieve when you are not travelling all over the countryside, although I did have some fun days out.  Let’s see how I went.

Firstly, my Main Monthly Wish was to complete the Simply Serene Quilt.  I’m pleased that it was done well before the deadline.  

Then it was Rainbow Scrap Challenge time.  That too was achieved easily.

The other main thing was to complete the Corner to Corner Rug for Wrap With Love.  Another one ticked off the list.

Then it was time to play.

I did make some good progress with my knitted alpaca jumper and have exceeded my wish of having it knitted up to the armholes.  I’m well on my way up the back. It is knitting up quicker than I expected.  I just need to get back to it. Yes, it will look wonky until it gets blocked at the end.

At the Wrap With Love Knit In Day I started another C2C Rug, this time making 10 inch squares to sew together at the end.  I’m using lots of variagated yarn.  It works well with the C2C stitch, as there are no lines, just a nice all over mottled effect.  There will be plain blocks in the rug as well.  I have four blocks completed so far.  There is no time frame for this one and it is a nice and easy thing to take along to my stitching days.

Betty sent out her July block details for us to make.  It was a challenge, but the completed block has been posted back to her.

Meanwhile, the rainbow strips needed to be pieced together into a quilt top.  I took the very simple option of just adding black sashing between the strips.  Not terribly creative, but still effective.  It is now in the quilting queue.  I hope to have it completed before our Zoom get together next Saturday.  It should be quite achievable.

Finally, I quilted and bound the quilt for my friend in Queensland.  

Oh, and at the last minute on the 31st I pulled out the batik fish blocks ready to advance that project.  It is about time to get it finished.

15 MINUTES A DAY

I did rather well this month.

July = 28/31

Year to date = 171/212  = 80.66%

Not too bad.

As it turns out, most of my stitching has been donation projects, being the Simply Serene Quilt, both C2C rugs, the rainbow strip quilt, Betty’s block and probably the Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts when they are completed.  That is a good feeling.

A Deceptively Difficult Block

This looks like a relatively simple block, doesn’t it.  Well, looks can be deceiving.  There are Y seams at each corner of the centre block that are a little very tricky to manage.

Susannah Twist was the block that Betty sent out for us to make this month.  The feature fabric is the one in the centre.

We were advised to make a test block first, so that is what I did.  Coincidentally, Brenda from Conquering Mount Scrapmore YouTube channel posted a tutorial for this block earlier in the month, so that did help a bit.  However, I still struggled.

The first decision to start with was what fabrics to use for the test block.  In the end that was easy.  I started tidying up my sewing room and recent scraps that had come my way when I came across this bright floral, which just happened to have the gold sitting next to it.  That worked.  Also, there were some orphan four patches in colours that matched, in the correct size.  Great, let’s unpick the centre seam and use them.  It was meant to be.

My first attempt was a dismal failure, due to me joining the corner sections without an overhang.  There was no way I was going to get points….unpick. 

Even after fixing that I still could not get points.  In the end, I drew the seam allowance on the back so I had reference points to match.  

Finally, a success.  I really like how it turned out.  Now I need to put my thinking cap on to find a way to use this pretty block.

OK, time to tackle the real block.  A hunt in the stash revealed suitable fabrics.  The same gold as in the test block worked well.  The brownish fabric is one of the first patchwork fabrics I ever bought and is featured in the wall hanging I made for my Dad that now hangs in my sewing room.  The blue for the corners came from who knows where.

This time I started out by marking all those seam allowances but still struggled with the centre points.  After only a couple of unpicking sessions, as opposed to about six, it is done, as good as I can get.  The sizing is just a tad under what it should be, but I’m sure it will be made to work.

Thanks Betty (I think…) for giving us a challenge and making our brains work.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge for July

I have completed my blocks for this month.    The nominated colour was Aqua.  However, as I substituted Aqua for Pastel last month I had to make a second substitution.  The colour I had prepped was Dark Blue.  I suppose at least it is in the same colour family.  

Firstly, the Potato Chip Blocks.

Then the Crosses.

And finally, the crumb blocks.  I only needed to make two this month, as I had already made one previously.

It is fun to see these projects grow.  Now to see what next month’s colour is.  Hopefully, it will align with what I have prepped.

Simply Serene Quilt is Finished

The main goal that I set myself this month was to complete the Simply Serene Quilt that I started at Scrub Stitchin’.  

All that I achieved then was to make the half square triangles, so I had a fair bit more to do this month.

I used a variety of plaids and related prints.  Some of these have been in my stash since I first started quilting in the very early 2000s, others have been thrifted or gifted to me in scrap bags.

Having the design curtain made the process so much easier.  After a bit of a fiddle, I had the lay out sorted.

Next. it was time to decide what to use for the setting triangles.  Some versions I have seen have the cream, others one constant plaid.  In the end, I decided to use a variety of the plaids.

Then, it was the tedious task of joining the blocks into rows and the rows all together.  No, I wasn’t going to attempt the webbing method for this one.  That's looking better.

Next, it was time to add the borders.  I had plenty of the cream for the first one, but not enough of the red for the second one.  A bit of a look in the stash revealed this russet brown that I had acquired somewhere along the way.  It had obviously been an offcut from a backing, as it was double width with a seam in the middle.  The border width was determined by the dividing the fabric left after cutting the binding strips by four.  It worked out perfectly, with nothing left at all.

I was liking the way it looked and thought it would need a rather blokey quilting design.  The one I used came with the software for Elly May, my quilting machine, and I think it suits it perfectly.  Cowboy bits and bobs are not something I would usually add to a quilt, so it is a nice fun design to have a play with.

The backing was made from various offcuts of a wideback from Spotlight.  The colour is a charcoal that is much darker than it is showing here.  I have used it a few times before and I also had some that came from a destash.  A great way to use them up.  I still have yardage for future quilts.

This quilt will be another donation quilt.  I hope the recipient likes it as much as I do.

And, of course, the outside photo.

Mick felt this one needed to have a photo shoot by the potting shed.

Before handing it back to me to fold up.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements -70" high x 50" wide

Pattern - Simply Serene by Pleasant Valley Creations.  I made it a bit smaller than the original.

Fabrics - All from stash, much thrifted.  

Quilting Design - Cowboy Essentials by QCT6

Batting - Cotton/Poly

Backing - Left over wideback from Spotlight and a destash

Thread - Glide - Warm Grey 4 on the front and Silver on the back.

My Wishes for July

Now that we are back home it is time to have a look at what I can achieve this month.

MY MAIN WISH

This has been a hard choice to make.  There are lots of things I want to work on, but where does one start?  I had one idea, but for what should be the cold, quiet time of the year, my calendar seems to be rather full, so I don’t want anything too time consuming.  As I type this I’m still trying to decide……..

…… OK, I’ve written the rest of the post, so time to make that decision ……. 

It will be to finish the Simply Serene Quilt.  That way it will be finished for Show and Tell when we return to Baradine in August.  So far, I have made and trimmed the HST and cut the plaid squares.  Time to play on the design curtain and then cut out the setting triangles, before stitching the rows together.  I'm looking forward to seeing this one come together.

RAINBOW SCRAP CHALLENGE

The colour selected this month is Aqua.  Well, as I used that colour last month I have to make another substitution.  I’ve decided to go with DARK BLUE.  That is sort of related and I don’t think it is a colour that will come up……I hope.

BETTY’S GROUP PROJECT

I haven’t made a start on piecing the rainbow strips together as yet.  I still have to come up with a plan.  Let’s keep the goal simple, by just coming up with a plan.  If I can get the quilt top together, that will be a bonus.

A new block pattern has been released by Betty, so that will be made and posted to her.

USING ELLY MAY

Poor Elly May has been under her cover since the middle of May.  There is no definite plan to for her at the moment, but I do hope to get her up and running this month . . . . . . . . . .Now that has changed, since I finally made my Main Wish decision.

CROCHET

The Corner to Corner rug should have been completed last month, but I got side tracked with my red scarf.  In theory, I just needed to do a couple more rounds of half trebles to have it done…….then I layed it out on the floor and could see that it was still too narrow for Wraps With Love, so a few more rounds are required.  It should be finished in the next couple of days, ready to donate at the Knit In in the middle of the month.

I will have to find something to work on at the Knit In, so will probably start another C2C rug.  This time I will make four 10 inch strips to the length of the rug, as it will be more portable, and then stitch the strips together.  That’s the plan anyway.

KNITTING

I NEED to get a wriggle on with my alpaca knitted jumper.  My wish is to have the body knitted up to the armholes by the end of the month.  Surely, I can knit a 100g ball of yarn a week?

STITCHING DAYS

Now that I have pretty much completed the C2C rug, I need to come up with a new project.  There is a fair chance that will be the alpaca jumper, but there may end up being something else.

SASHIKO

I am going to attend a Sashiko workshop on Sunday.  I have completed a few panels now, and have said I’m not going  to do more, but this little workshop is working from marking out the project on the fabric, rather than using preprinted panels, so should be interesting.  The plan in the back of my head is to make a little four sided bag with whatever I create.  Watch this space.

15 MINUTES A DAY

That’s the aim….

OTHER WISHES

1.    Try a new recipe

2.    Read (or listen to) a book.

3.    Have a fun day out - there are couple in the pipe line.

4.    Finish writing up our Queensland holiday.

It will be interesting to see what I manage.