Not there yet, but trying to catch up!

Busy busy busy!  I kept thinking I'd get a post thrown up (not in the vomiting sense) (well, considering how many pictures this post has, maybe it kind of is...), but didn't get it done.

I've actually been madly knitting and sewing here in the background, but some of those projects are for gifts and I don't want to spoil any surprises.  But I did manage to get some blogable stuff done.

I'd fallen behind on the Temecula Marvelous Monday Minis, but am now all caught up again.
This Anvil block from the beginning of the month was fussy, but doable.

 But when I saw the next week's mini log cabins using a 1" center square and 3/4" strips, I noped right into another plan.

Sewing together the ends of two 1" strips, I then trimmed the red square to 3/4" from the seam (to be that 1" center) and cut the light 1/2" away from the seam.  That was a whole lot easier than sewing a 3/4"x1" strip to a 1" square, I'll tell ya.

I proceeded with that same strategy, sewing my block-in-progress to progressively wider strips,

and trimming them to size afterward.

And just because I can't leave well enough alone, I made a second block using the traditional half-light/half-dark sequence.

And ended up with two rather nice log cabins, which gives me an extra block if I need one.

Then a quick shoo-fly for this week's block, and I'm all caught up.  Yay!

I even managed to get some blocks done for the 365 Challenge that I started (and floundered) last year.

That takes me almost to the end of May, so I'm only a summer behind now!  This could still happen!

And there was considerable work done on Are We There Yet, even though I made some epic fails that slowed things down a bit.
Like this block that I knew perfectly well what size grid was needed, but grabbed the bin of the wrong size strips anyway.  Directions?  Who needs directions?

Once I made the block the correct size, things went a lot smoother.

Of course, they weren't going quite as smoothly as I thought they were, since I discovered I'd left another mistake in my wake.

 There's a strip of checkerboard that's 1x14 (the blue arrows show the top and bottom of it) that I sewed in upside down, so some of the checkers are incorrectly boarded.
I went back through my photos and discovered that I'd laid out that section right, but had flipped it somewhere in the process of sewing things together.

My seam ripper is my best friend...

There.   That's better.

And now -

It's together, except for one last long vertical seam that joins the left side to the right side.  My original plan was to quilt it in sections and sew that seam afterward, then add the borders and quilt them.   But I just saw a tutorial the other day on quilting in a square spiral, and now I'm thinking that maybe that's what I want, instead of the straight vertical lines that I'd intended.
You all knew that I'd have to have one final dither about this quilt, right?

And I have a few leftovers from all the effort.

There's that too-small pluses block,  and there's an extra log cabin which I'd purposely made in case there was trouble in making the blocks show up against whatever sashing color I ended up with.  Then there's that leftover pineapple, which is a sad sad tale.  I'd been working on the pineapple blocks as I went along, since they're so labor intensive and fiddly that I know I would have burnt out on them if I'd done them all at once.  But they'd gotten a bit scattered, what with being a leader/ender among all the other Long Time Gone blocks.  When I had them almost done, I counted them.  Then I counted them again because I was one short.  Then I counted them again because I couldn't possibly be one short because that would mean I'd have to make another one.  From scratch.  And I was one short every time I counted.
Some of you may have heard the sound I made at that point - it was a cross between a scream and a sob.
But I pulled myself together and made a whole 'nother pineapple block, grumbling all the way, and added it to the stack.
And then counted them again.
And had one extra.
And then I made a whole different kind of noise - a sort of high-pitched keening that set all the local dogs to howling and made all the babies cry...


Linking with Quilting is more fun than Housework for this week's Oh Scrap!  Come join the fun!

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!

Mini Monday strikes again

This week's Marvelous Monday Mini was a little easier than last week's.   An easy churn dash!

Though I have to admit I made it even easier yet by cheating a little.  Well, a lot, actually.

I started with this stripe -

 and cut some 1" squares, some on grain and some on the bias -

and stitched them together with a random plain square in the middle.

Instant churn dash.  Ta da!

I may or may not go back and make a proper block, but for now I'm feeling smug and moving my other projects forward.

Onward to Are We There Yet?

Linking with sew stitch snap SHARE at Koka quilts.  Come see all the fun everyone's up to!

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!

Cussing a blue streak

Since I didn't get many cluckers made over the last couple of months, I've gotten a little out of practice with my foundation paper-piecing skills.  Not that I had much in the way of skills in the first place, but the hiatus sure didn't do me any favors.
Not to mention the fact that it was about 9000 degrees in my studio yesterday, which made it entirely too hot to think.  My valiant little box fan tried to help, but failed to make any difference whatsoever.
After a certain point, my brain just refused to participate any further.
This made paper-piecing ridiculously a bit more difficult than it is even on a good day.
I swear, for every seam I sewed, I ripped out two.  Sometimes three.  I put pieces in backwards, upside-down, sideways, and/or the wrong color.

So, I believe this clucker's name is "%&$#*&!%" -  a blue streak for a blue chicken.

In other news, the auditions for sashing color for Long Time Gone continue.

I only had some small pieces of gold handy, but I like the warmth of this color.  I'll try a buttery yellow next, I think.
And orange is on the horizon.  Gotta give all the other colors a fair chance first, though...



Linking with SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday.  Come see what's up with blue this week!

Monday's Mini Madness

This week's Marvelous Monday Mini was fun, though I departed from the instructions to make the block.
I took one look at the 'draw a line corner to corner on 1.5" squares and sew on either side of the line' direction and said a big 'Nope!'  Instead, I grabbed a couple of handy 3" squares and  did the 8-in-1 trick.

A bit of squaring up to get those teensy weensy 1" HSTs

and I was (almost) done.  The only problem with the 8-in-1 trick is that you only get eight HSTs, and I needed nine.

So, I made and trimmed one more HST, this time using a couple of scraps, and filled in that center.

Some 1" strips were added as the borders, and another week is done!

I've made better triangle points in my time, but these pieces are so tiny that I'm not going to unpick and re-sew.  It's certainly good enough for a galloping horse - even a lumbering turtle would have a hard time spotting such itty bitty booboos!