February RSC18

I'm between big projects right now, so these last few days have been filled with purple strings. When I was a kid, or maybe much longer than that, I was crazy about purple. My bedroom was kind of an apple green with a purple and green flowered bedspread. I had a purple sweatshirt-like T-shirt dress and a dusty purple suedish pantsuit with lots of decorative grommets on it that made me feel way cool in the 70's. My aunt was shocked that my bridesmaid's dresses were peach and not purple when I got married. So you get the picture. Purple was my fave. 

So you would think that I'd gravitate toward purple in my fabric selections when I make quilts. I do put purple in rainbow quilts, I guess, but my purple stash is just kind of pathetic. Lots of dusty grayish purples from the 80's (I think?). And then those reddish purples that I can never decide whether they should go in with the purples or the reds. So my string blocks for February weren't as exciting for me to make as those blue ones were in January.

But make I did! 

Just as I did with my January blocks, I put a strip of the other RSC month's colors in each block for a jazzy little twist. I'm not terribly fond of these blocks. They sure do jump around a lot in value variation. But that's okay. I did have to force myself to use some "uglies," and I have to admit there are a few that I just kept rejecting. I suppose those are the ones that need to be shunted off somewhere instead of taking up space in the bins and drawers. And now I know that if I want to add to my fabric stash, I need to look for purples that make me happy (more bluish purples and more modern prints of any kind of purple).

Speaking of adding to fabric stashes, did anyone else respond to the news of the discontinuation of a major fabric line the way I did: with just a little bit of guilt about buying habits?  Or lack of buying habits? When I make a quilt for a friend or family member, money is no object. I buy what I like/need without one glance at the price. But when I make a quilt to donate (which is the majority of my work), I always try to find the cheapest way out. Sale fabrics, discount companies, giveways, big coupons, and--the latest--my stash. So far this year, I have spent just over 11 new dollars (not counting postage) on quilts, including a twin size quilt, three small quilts, and all these string blocks. I know I can make a case for having spent money in the past, because how else would I have built this stash? But if we all are always out looking for the bargains, are we hurting ourselves in the long run when we want a nice variety of quality fabrics to choose from for our projects? I know it's complicated. Just wondering. Especially this year when my mode of operation is to try to use up what I have on hand. 

Anyway, here are my February blocks mixed in with the January blocks.

I could play with these all day! 

Two things I'm noticing: first, I found that it helps to check my multi-colored and neutral scrap bins when I'm short on a color because there are some colors and some parts of fabrics that will work (see that butterfly in the bottom right corner or that sunflower print from a stripe on a panel); second, I see that I don't have as many modern scraps as old ones. Why is that (aside from all the years of scrap accumulation)? I think that since I started making more scrappy backs and scrappy bindings on quilts, I tend to use up almost all of the modern prints when I make a quilt. I guess there is a case to be made for buying a little more modern fabric than I need--or, perhaps eventually I'll get to a point where all my quilts are from new fabric and there are no leftovers. You think? One last thing that is dawning on me: when you make scrappy quilts, the amount of scraps don't really go away. In fact, maybe scrappy quilting actually increases scraps. They just get smaller. Uh-oh.

So that's it for this month's RSC18. It was a good project for a few evenings of watching the Olympics. To have something to do for the remaining nights, I've finally pulled out my Lake Michigan quilt to add the embroidered beach grass. I've started the skeletons of the stems. After I get those on, I'll start filling them out.

I've also been puttering around with the Hollyhocks quilt, filling in the background with stippled texture. It could be a bit boring, but doing it in hot pink makes me smile, even if it won't show that much when it's done.

I'm linking up this week with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social, with Angela at soscrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap (on Sunday). I'll update the links as they go live.

Have a good weekend, whether you're doing some TV watching/sewing or not.