SAHRR Round #6

So the last round is “Quilter’s Choice”. Let me just say that clue is easy and hard at the same time. I knew after Round 5, my top needed something more. 

I felt like another narrow border of the blue would help enclose the lighter yellow and white colors, so that was an easy choice.

Yes, that definitely helps. A quilting friend suggested I add another purple border, and I have enough purple to do that. I was thinking of something like a picket fence-type border. I made 10 or 12 of the purple blocks, and started doubting myself. 

This is where I started thinking about what I was doing. Everything was looking a little too matchy-matchy for me. I am primarily a scrap quilter. I started with a scrappy center, and I think I need to get back to that. 

I am planning to continue with the picket fence blocks, but make them in more colors. I have started pulling out more of the orange, yellow, and blue. I can still use the purple ones I have made. It will take a little more time, but I think it will be worth it. I’m not sure what the final dimensions will be. I may just keep going until I decide it’s “enough”.

I’m linking this post to Anja Quilts.

Weekend Update

I’m including Friday in my update since Friday, Saturday, and Sunday all kind of blended together. I had grandma duty, but he stayed with my mom on Friday night since I had to be at church early Saturday morning. I picked him up at 11:30 and took him to his soccer game. He is playing goalie again. 

They won 8 to 2. The other team only scored one point while Roger was the goal keeper. About 10 minutes before the game ended, they rotated in some other players, and the opposing team scored another point. 

I really didn’t think about how hot it was going to be since I had left the house early, and I didn’t have sunscreen or an umbrella or anything. I’m a little sunburned, but it will be okay. I am a big fan of youth sports, so it’s well worth a sunburn! 

Needless to say, not much sewing was done, but I do have two of the poppy quilt blocks sewn into tops. 

There is another one on the sewing machine right now, but it’s not finished so no pictures. I hope to get it done today. I brought seven home with me, and I will have another four to do once I get finished with the one that’s currently on the machine. Connie has started adding the white squares as alternate blocks to make the poppy blocks go farther. That actually makes it easier for the person assembling the tops. 

More Green Scrappy Blocks

I’m afraid I let the days get away from me a little bit, and I forgot to make a RSC post yesterday. I have made some more blocks with my green scraps, but not as many as I had anticipated. Maybe I can blame it on February being a short month. Anyway, I got my green blocks out last night and took some pictures, and it’s not too late to write a quick post.

I did another green star to add to the other two I did earlier in February. 

And another one of the nine patches.

It’s really a nine patch variation, or maybe a framed nine patch. I don’t know what to call it. I would have liked to have gotten a few more green ones made, but maybe later. I think I did four of the blue ones in this pattern.

I also got a few more of the little 6” blocks made.

Four more, to be exact, so that gives me a total of six of these in green. I think I have more green strips cut, so this is another one that I may make a few more of before I move to the next color.

Here’s a collage of the green blocks I did in February:

It’s not a lot, but some months are busier than others. The March color is red—my favorite color, so that will be fun! I’m linking to SoScrappy.

Midweek Madness

I can’t believe it’s only Wednesday. I think I packed about four days of activities into two days. When I got home yesterday, I laid down and slept for an hour. I very rarely sleep during the day, but I was pooped. I went by one of the local quilt shops—the one that is making quilts for the central Texas flood victims—to drop off some poppy blocks I made. I forgot to photograph them, butI’ve posted pictures of the poppy blocks before. 

They are still trying to make and distribute more quilts for the affected people. They have quite a system going. I ended up picking up seven sets of completed blocks to sew into tops. 

Connie asked me to cut them all down to 12” since there is so much variability in the sizes they are receiving. I used to do a lot of block swaps, and I know firsthand you get all kinds of sizes. I have been doing the trimming, and I will take the trimmed sets to Thursday’s quilt guild meeting in case others want to help put together tops. 

I thought this one with the bees in the center was super cute:

We are cooking gumbo and rice at church tonight. I bought all the ingredients Monday, and last night I precooked the chicken and sausage. I bought 15 pounds of chicken and 5 pounds of andouille sausage. I’m praying it’s enough. I picked up two bags of red beans, and I guess I’ll go ahead and cook that this morning. I worry about not having enough food for everyone. We are expecting 50-60, but you never really know. 

Another Goal Acomplished

I don’t always remember my goals—maybe I need to write then down on a paper and hang it on my mirror or something! I sometimes go back to my January blog post and see what I want to work on, and that works, but you can’t beat having an actual piece of paper. 

I finished the first quilting goal—Trinity WELCA raffle quilt in January. Friday I finished the second goal which is a raffle quilt for Christ the Victor church. And, here it is:

The size is 92” x 92”, so nice and big. This top is a disappearing nine patch that was completed some time ago and never quilted. Now it is quilted and ready for a home!

  

I used a quilting design called Lyrical and Glide white thread on the front and back. The backing fabric is white on white. 

I would have liked to match the binding to the border, but that fabric is no longer available and the best match I had was a mottled navy/dark denim. 

I’m so glad to have this one done and checked off my list. The good thing about setting goals is the positive vibes you get when you check one off. We have quilt guild Thursday, and we meet at Christ the Victor church, so I will be taking this with me. 

SAHRR Round #5

Here’s my update on Round 5 of the Stay at Home Round Robin. The prompt was “two colors”. That’s an easy one……except I got confused. Not about the prompt, about my measurements. When I finished Round 3, I thought I was at 55” x65”. That’s what I wrote in the Round 3 blog post. The corners I did for Round 4 are 6”, so I needed to add coping strips to get numbers divisible by 6. I added 1/2” to the top and bottom, and 1” to each side. 

I pieced two-color checkerboards for the borders, and the side borders were 2” too big. My 65” measurement was actually 63”. I had to remove the coping strips from the top and bottom and add 1-1/2” strips. 

I really didn’t want too, but I didn’t have a choice. At least not a good choice. I maybe could have fudged it, but I decided to go ahead and make new strips. 

Anyway, the borders fit perfectly once I had the correct measurements.

I added the fan cornerstones. I was hoping to incorporate some white into this border, and I didn’t want a high contrast in colors, so I think the light yellow worked out with the white. 

I’m ready to see what the next round will bring. My top is now 69” x 78”, but I will definitely remeasure it before I start Round 6. I’m linking this to QuiltingGail.

Friday!

Another busy week—lots of meetings and typing up the minutes. I am the secretary for a couple of groups, and I need to stop letting myself get behind on transcribing my cryptic notes into meeting minutes. Of course, there are other things I would rather do besides sitting at the computer (like sitting at the sewing machine), so I put it off as long as I can. It would be so much better to do it when it’s fresh on my mind! 

I did manage to get the binding on Rhonda’s quilt. 

It’s pretty. Lots of different fabrics, but in the same color family. It’s what I would call controlled scrappy. She uses these colors a lot. I’ve been a little tardy about getting it done. Thank goodness she’s patient with me! 

Yesterday was Bunco day, so nice to have a break from the grind. I didn’t win anything, but I enjoyed it a lot. We have started meeting earlier in the day due to some of the ladies not wanting to drive after dark and are no longer doing a meal. Now it is just some appetizers/finger foods and desserts, and I like that better. 

Today, I am thinking about what I need to do for my round Robin quilt. The clue is “two colors” or something like that. I could go a lot of different directions with that, but I will need to come up with something so I can get it done this weekend. I am trying really hard to not go to the fabric store and just use what I have, but it is soooo tempting. I’m pretty sure I’ll need coping strips to get me measurements to work out, and I really hope I have enough of something that will work. I am also continuing on the RSC green blocks, and I hope to do a few more tonight. I’ll post some pictures once I have more done.