Jacks and Nines and Split Rail Fences

Despite my plans to get some more RSC sewing done this week, I got precious little accomplished.

This Jacks and Sixes block is all I have to show for this month's dark neutrals.  At least it's a friendly block - check out that cheery 'hi' in the center.

I did get a few more nine patches assembled for the cornerstones of my Burgoyne Surrounded quilt.   At some point I need to figure out how many I need, but since there's no such thing as too many nine patches, I'm not too worried about it.

And in the general category of projects I'm not starting, these split rail fence blocks appeared.  This is Bonnie Hunter's newest leader/ender SAL, and I've been intrigued by the blocks since she first suggested them.

I had tried to stay focused on sewing the checkerboards together in the same way, but look at the one on the left.  I was kicking myself and looking ahead to a session with the seam ripper.
But wait...

When I set the blocks next to each other to see how they'd look, this is how they'd look:

 Huh.

So, I grabbed that 'wrong' block and tried it instead.

That's better.  And good to know this early in the game.  Imagine if I was months down the road with a couple hundred identical blocks.
You would have been able to hear the swearing from orbit, I'll bet.


Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday (late again!), and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come see what everyone is up to!

A Paucity of Pink

I don't have a lot of pink on hand, so pickings are slim this week for the RSC.
I made a pinwheel block, but it's so pale and anemic that I'm afraid it'll be overwhelmed by the other blocks I've been making for this quilt.  I'll have to wait and see.

My Buckeye Beauty shines a little brighter.

Every time I make one of those little cuties, I have to stifle a sudden urge to drop everything and make a bucketful of them.  I'm already knee-deep in bucketfuls of four-patch blocks, so the last thing I need is a new obsession.

Speaking of four-patch blocks, this was an unexpected journey -

A trip to Palmateer Point  gave me this little quilt center.   It was a natural little squirrel chase, what with me already playing with four-patches.  I'm thinking a blue border or two will finish this right up.

And to all those who were tempting me to carry on making blocks for my double-four-patch project? 

Yeah, it worked...



Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday, and Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come for the pink, stay for the scraps!

Pretty in Pink

With her dark head and legs, and light fluffy coat, she looks just like one of the Shetland sheep I used to have.

 Well, except for the part about being pink...



I'll be linking my little pink delight with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.  Come see all the pink rainbow goodness!

Last of the crazy orange cluckers

As September heads off into the sunset,

we wave goodbye to orange.   (My clucker seems to be waving goodbye with her tail feathers...)  I'll miss orange, but they say all good things must come to an end.

Okay, October, ready or not, here you come!  Bring on the next color!


Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.  Come see all the scrappiness!

Orange party chick

Since I'm swiftly running out of September, I really buckled down with my orange scraps these last few days.
As long as I had that fabulous fluffy orange print on the cutting table, I did a bit more cutting.

A Jacks and Sixes -

and a cute lil red orange hen.

And once there was one clucker on the table, who should come racing up but this wild girl.

Don't let those staid feathers in her wings fool you.  I'm pretty sure she's covered in ice cubes - probably from some kind of spiked orange punch.  Definitely a party chicken!

And once more with that orange print.  I've got a four patch project in mind to use some of those hundreds of four patches I've been sewing for leader/enders for the last few years.

And for leader/enders for that project, I'm making nine patches for my Burgoyne Surrounded sashing.

Some days it's just all about the itty bitty squares.


Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday, and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come see what all us scrappy folk are up to!

Well, orange ewe fluffy?

 Yes.  Yes, ewe are...

Not a lot of orange sewing has been done this busy busy busy month, but at least I got one of Sally T's fabulous sheep added to my small (but growing) flock!

Orange stars, Monday Minis, and slowly expanding BS

Finally some RSC content!  (You knew I wasn't going to be able to resist orange, right?)
I grabbed the bin of my sadly neglected Centennial stars, and got right to work play.

Check out the star points in that block in the lower right corner of the picture.  I could only squeak out seven triangles from my orange pindot scrap, so I rummaged through my pile of scrap triangles for an eighth one.  Luckily I found an orange polka dot scrap that would work perfectly as long as I wasn't picky about dot sizes.  Win!

I made a sixteenth Burgoyne Surrounded block, but apparently forgot to photograph it.  It's the blue-centered one being cut off at lower left -

and then I whipped up a couple of quick nine patches and tested out the 3" sashing version of BS.  I like it better than the narrow sashing, which is going to result in a much larger quilt.  (Fifteen inch blocks with three inch sashing is going to be honkin' huge.)  This means I might as well stop making more blocks.  Or start another BS quilt.  Whichever.

Proceeding from large to small, I next turned my attention to my Monday Maniacal Minis.  (Was that the name of it?)  I counted up my little blocks and what with the extras I'd made (because my math skills don't seem to include counting), came up with twenty-three.  There's no sensible layout I could think of that used 23 blocks, so my choices were to discard three blocks for a count of twenty (like in the Temecula pattern) or to forge ahead and make two more blocks for a total of 25.
I forged.

A couple of framed square-in-squares gave me the desired total, and I started sashing these itty bitties.

Cue the dithering for the second sashing color.
Green?

Yellow?

Orange?

Pink?

Red?

Rainbow swirls?

What's that last fabric again?

I found a backing for Are We There Yet.  I love these big multicolor circles sooooo much!

(And my Monday Minis are currently in timeout while they think about their total lack of cooperation in sashing choice.  I'll get back to them when their attitude is a little better.)


Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday, and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come see what all the happy scrappy folk are doing!

Orange is the New Neutral

(Y'all knew I was going to go with the orange, didn't you?)  (And since the RSC color for August is neutral, the only way I can be in this month is if I count orange.)  (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.)


With my checkerboard blocks well underway,

and my nice neutral for the sashing in hand,

I've started assembling blocks for my "Are We There Yet?" version of Long Time Gone.

The left side is shaping up nicely.

I think I'm going to really like this!


Since this quilt is all about the scraps and the neutrals and the neutral scrap, I'm linking up with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday (late again!) and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  See you there!

Are We There Yet?

Well, everything's done but the checkerboards for Long Time Gone - or as I'm calling my version:  Are We There Yet.

I'm still auditioning colors for the sashing -

There's a nice yellow with white dots that I like

and I've got a batik that's the same color, more or less, that I might combine with it, just for texture.

I've also found a nice green/white mesh print that isn't horrible.

And a melon color which is almost, but not quite, orange.

And then it was time for the orange to step up and sing.

Yeah.  Picasso had his Blue Period.  Looks like I'm having an Orange Period, because I always end up liking the orange the best.
How many orange quilts is too many?

Some of the sharper-eyed LongTimeGoners might have noticed that I've made some non-standard blocks.  The two bowties blocks just didn't capture my heart, so I made a couple of Georgetown Circles, instead.  It's always been one of my favorite blocks (I know, I have so many favorites...) and it has that same circular vibe about it that the bowties were contributing.
I wasn't sure which I would like better - a scrappy version, or a two-color version, so I made one of each, figuring I'd make a second one of whichever style I liked better.

Turned out I like them both, so I'm going to use them as is.

And I wasn't entirely thrilled with the version of Jacob's Ladder that was part of the pattern, so I decided to keep that diagonal aspect, but hunt around for a different block.

And then I realized that I had a small bin of Buckeye Beauties that I've been lackadaisically making for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for the last year and a half, and I had one of those lightbulb moments.  It didn't take long to stitch together a handful of those little cuties to make just what I had in mind.

So once those checkerboards are done and I make a final decision on sashing color, I can start assembling the top.
I'll probably go with the orange.  Or, you know, maybe the yellow.  That was nice, too.
And that blue wasn't bad at all...


Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday, since I actually used some rainbow blocks!  Woohoo!  And Sunday I'll be linking with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come see all the pretty progress!

This clucker's got stars in her eyes

Or, more accurately, she's got stars in her butt, but eyes sounds better...

This little biddy went together a lot more smoothly than her predecessor.  Hardly any swearing at all, and that's counting the fact that the background is all stripy and not completely whacked.
I think I'm making progress!
I really didn't get a lot of blue done this week for the RSC, but since this Burgoyne block has some blue in it, I guess I can claim it for this last Saturday in July.

This is now Burgoyne #13, which means I'm apparently not stopping at twelve.  I thought I was stopping at twelve.  The plan was to stop at twelve.  But for some reason, I'm still choosing colors and cutting bits for more Burgoynes.  I think Cathy's gorgeous finished Burgoyne flimsy might have a certain amount of blame inspiration to it.  Can't quit now!

Speaking of not quitting, the Mad Monday Minis were quite a trial this week.   Seriously?  Itty bitty 36-patches?  Itty bitty 36-patches composed of 1.25" squares?  Itty bitty 36-patches composed of 1.25" squares that measure 4"?  FIVE of them?!?

(Edit:  Diann's comment reminded me that the squares were actually 1 1/8" rather than 1 1/4", which  made it even more ridiculous.  So, the following paragraphs should refer to 1.25" strips cut into 3.5" sections to make the strip sets, and 1 1/8" slices for the actual assembly.  (Note to self - don't just rely on memory for blog posts, especially when hungry...))

I immediately tossed out that 1.25" squares idea.  Nope.  Not going there.
I cut 3.75" lengths off a double fistful of 1.5" strips and sewed together a bunch of pairs, then trimmed them to 1.25" wide before pressing the pairs open.  Then I sewed on another 1.5" strip, pressed, and sliced them into 1.25" units of three squares.

I sewed these units together in sets of six, trimmed them to size, then sewed pairs of the 3x6 units together to make the 36-patches.

The directions said that if they didn't come out to exactly 4" square to adjust the seams.
Nope.   Not going there, either.

Most of my blocks were a bit too big, but no way was I going to mess with seams.  I centered my ruler on the center seams and slivered off a smidgen from each edge.  At this size, there's no way that such a tiny discrepancy is going to show.  (If anybody comes at this quilt with a magnifying glass and a ruler, I'll just gently show them the door.)  (Well, pretty gently...)

Amidst all that work, I did manage to get a few more blocks built for Long Time Gone.  (Maybe I'll call it "Are We There Yet?")

I'm going to have to make that sashing decision soon.  In the meantime, I'm still liking the golden yellow.
Though that stack of oranges over there on the shelf are starting to make hooting and whistling noises...


Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!  Come see all the scrappy fun!