Black Crumbs and Other Scrappy Fun

Ooh, just realized it's the last Saturday of the month. I've had these little patches done for a couple of weeks but no time to blog. Anyway, here they are--the last of my rainbow crumbs for Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2019. I don't have a lot of blacks in my stash, especially when I left out most of the tone-on-tones that looked mostly solid, so these crumbs are a bit repetitious, but that's okay. There are some interesting prints. The photo's not great. It's very dark in the house today, so I put took these in front of the slider door to the deck.

Here's one with some of its friends and the background fabric (in the upper left) that will be the sashing. 

These will get trimmed down to about 5 inches (or 5 1/2 if I can manage it) before sashing. There are 48 blocks in all. 

I hope to finish the RSC19 quilts by the end of the year, but that may be pushing things a bit, as I have some other things going. 

I have been sewing, but one project I can't show right now. It's so hard not to share, but all will be revealed eventually. I can show you a bit of a squirrel that crossed my path this month--well, not literally, although that does happen from time to time. And it fits in with this post as it is a scrap project. Mostly. In the middle of it, I ran out to buy one tiny bit of fabric--the yellow one with large gold dots on the left--because I felt like it needed something a little more dramatic than I had on hand.

Here's what part of the process looked like. I drew a pattern on graph paper and then made templates from freezer paper using techniques I learned from Ruth B. Mc Dowell's books. This is my favorite kind of piecing--like a puzzle. And this one has the added dimension of a flap for the central vein and stem. I think I'll add more blocks from time to time with other leaves, flowers and natural elements, but I don't have a real firm plan at this point.

So that's it for this week (month?). Today, a great big squirrel dropped into my inbox in the form of a pattern and request from my daughter for a Christmas Tree skirt. Ooh, part of it is foundation pieced! This is just in time, since I can't share the other project I'm working on. 

I'm linking up this week with Angela at So Scrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap. And since there is a little squirrel here, I'll also link up with Sandra's next DrEAMi (Drop Everything and Make It) party at mmm! quilts. 

I hope you're having fun playin' in the scraps.

(I'm not affiliated with any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores I'm just documenting what I used or liked.) 

Brown Bits, Etc.

The past month has been full of activities--so full that I haven't been on social media as much as usual, which is fine, except that I have not been good at responding to comments or at browsing blogs. So, if I haven't commented on your blog or acknowledged a comment from you, I am so very sorry. I haven't done much quilting either--so no squirrels or throwbacks. Oh, well. I do have a few things I can share. One of them happened this week! The color of the month for Rainbow Scrap Challenge is darks--browns, blacks, grays. I've been waiting for this month for so long. My butterflies needed bodies, and I knew my big stash of browns was ready to meet the challenge. I made 56 little bodies, which took longer than you might think because I had about 25 different pieces of fabric to cut into. They are done. And not only that, but I sewed them to the wings of my butterflies, AND I sewed the background triangles to complete the blocks. Here are just a few of them.

I'll share the rest after I get the whole thing together. I love how they look with the green dotted background. I always think of brown as an old-fashioned color--the age of the scraps I used confirms that, I think. Many are from the mid-80's. But really, brown looks so neat with any bright color. I especially love it with turquoise. Maybe sometime I need to feature it more in a quilt. Anyway, these little blocks are done. Now I have to figure out why on earth I decided to make 56 of them. My original plan was to make 48 for a quilt about the size needed by my usual organization for quilt donations. Was I going to put some on the back? Should I cut them down smaller? (There's enough excess to do that.) Should I keep them big and donate to an organization that needs a bigger quilt? I just don't know. I will have to ponder this a bit while I make my other blocks for RSC this month. (Black crumbs!)

Meanwhile, I did a little quilting on my Hollyhocks quilt. 

This is a really long-term project that I pull out on vacations. It's the perfect take-along hand work project. I'm quilting texture into the background. 

The stitches aren't real visible, but the texture is luscious. And because it's just stipple quilting, there's no marking. I'm up to the border now, so I cut some scrap fabric that I pin onto the backing so it will fit into the hoop.

For the interior part of the quilt, I used hot pink thread because I had it and it is the same color as the hollyhocks. For the border, I'm using some leftover variegated blue to amuse myself. I don't know if I have enough, so I'm using it on the upper half or two thirds of the border--kind of like sky. These won't show that much, but it's fun to use up the thread. Actually, the back is looking pretty interesting because it's a more solid fabric so the stitches show a lot. Again, just amusing myself. This will never show on the wall.

I can't end without sharing a few photos of where this project went with us last week. We stayed in a little house in Rogers City along Lake Huron in northern Michigan. There is a gorgeous bike trail there that goes along the lake to a state park and a lighthouse. There is also a waterfall a few miles away, and two more lighthouses a short drive down the coast. Our house had a lake view (lots of ship watching) and was right on the bike trail. Here is a sampling of photos. Such a beautiful area.

40 Mile Point Lighthouse

Of course, I have to share a photo of one of the sewing machines there.

New Presque Isle Lighthouse (1870)

Old Presque Isle Lighthouse (1840) The cottage is not as old.

A peek at a quilt through the cottage window. (It was closed while we were there.)

Ocqueoc Falls. We went here three different times. There is a stone amphitheater to just enjoy the view. One day we saw salmon trying to jump the falls. 

So many natural wonders along the hiking trails. There is a tiny scallop along the edge of these mushroom tops.

A bit of color

And always the Lake...

So much inspiration.

Even though this post is short on scraps, I'm linking up this week with Angela, the host of RSC19, at So Scrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap, just to keep you up-to-date on my scrap projects.

Just one more photo of my favorite season, now that we are back home. I hope you are having a beautiful month.