Moving on with my 52 Weeks of Scrappy Triangles (pattern and tutorial by Leila Gardunia), I've finished my yellow month for Rainbow Scrap Challenge with my yellowish blocks. Wow, this is going to be a crazy quilt. I wonder what I'll end up doing for those big background triangles. It's really too early to start thinking of that.
I didn't have as many multicolored fabrics with yellow as I thought I did, but I did find bits and then just filled in with basically yellow fabrics. My favorites are in the upper right corner block--those blue strips with tiny fish were actually two different print fabrics. Took a little fussy cutting to make sure the yellow fish showed up.
Here are the yellows with their pink mates:
Another random layout:
Who knows how this will end up over time? (And now I've just wasted a bunch of time trying to figure out the punctuation of that last sentence/question. Was I asking a question? I wasn't expecting an answer. But I digress. We all know my grammar and punctuation are mushy at best anyway.) There are some fairly large triangles in there. If they stand out too much later, maybe I'll add in a bit more fabric to make them smaller, but we'll see. This will change significantly as the colors get added in throughout the year.
Who knows how this will end up over time? (And now I've just wasted a bunch of time trying to figure out the punctuation of that last sentence/question. Was I asking a question? I wasn't expecting an answer. But I digress. We all know my grammar and punctuation are mushy at best anyway.) There are some fairly large triangles in there. If they stand out too much later, maybe I'll add in a bit more fabric to make them smaller, but we'll see. This will change significantly as the colors get added in throughout the year.
I know I had high hopes for using up my multi-colored scraps, but these really don't put a dent in that bin. Recently one of our local fabric stores showed all the placemats they've been collecting in the past year to give to recipients of Meals on Wheels. I'm thinking I might start making some of those. They don't have to be in sets so really any fun improv piecing and fabrics will work. I have some quilts ready to send out as donations, and I will continue to make those, but with the rising costs of sending quilts long-distance, I've been thinking I need to find some organizations to donate to closer to home. This seems like fun and will use up a lot of odd pieces of batting, too. So perhaps I will add those little projects into my quilting this year.
I have a lot of beloved yellows so I didn't really need them, but I did add some goldish yellows as well as a couple colorful low volumes. We'll pretend that that bottom one has yellow in it. It's actually a lime green but I couldn't pass it up. Just as I did last month (not really planned), I purchased these from Lark Cottons. I like that I can put together my own FQ bundle, and that the selections are not overwhelming to sort through.
My other little monthly task, if you remember, is upping my fabric supply with the color of the month. Here's this month's batch.
I have a lot of beloved yellows so I didn't really need them, but I did add some goldish yellows as well as a couple colorful low volumes. We'll pretend that that bottom one has yellow in it. It's actually a lime green but I couldn't pass it up. Just as I did last month (not really planned), I purchased these from Lark Cottons. I like that I can put together my own FQ bundle, and that the selections are not overwhelming to sort through.
So that's February. What a long short month it has been. We have had snow on the ground the entire month. Kind of unusual in recent years, but similar to what I remember from my childhood. Not sure if those memories are accurate, but I do remember wearing snow pants and boots, and sometimes black "stretch pants" under our dresses because we girls weren't allowed to wear pants to school. Fun memory: at the end of recess, the custodian (probably our favorite staff person at school) would stand just inside the door with a big soft broom, and as we filed in from the playground, he swept all the snow off of us so we wouldn't walk it into the halls and classrooms. We thought it was great fun, although it might be frowned on today. Then we lined up all of our wet mittens and hats on the heating system blowers to try to dry them out before the next recess. What a stink of wet wool! I thought of all that the other day when I was trying to sweep a load of snow off our porch. Now you know I'm an oldie. "When I was young" and all that.
We went for a walk to the old gravel pit near our neighborhood. There is still ice, but it looks a little soft. There was only one fishing shanty left and the current of the stream flowing out was fast.
I haven't minded being inside and sewing this month, but signs of spring are nice. We did have a power outage for about 10 hours on Monday. We usually get these when there is no explainable weather-related reason for them. The official word was "equipment failure" that affected much of our part of town. This one started in the middle of the night, which is not good because we keep our thermostat set quite low at night, so there was no residual heat from the daytime. The worst thing was that there must have been a power surge because it set off all of our smoke detectors and they wouldn't shut off. Standing on a chair in the cold dark in the middle of the night taking them down from the ceiling and removing the backup batteries is not fun. (Well it wasn't fun for my husband. I just held my cell phone up for some feeble light because I didn't have the presence of mind to pick up the flashlight next to my bed.) We piled on the afghans and went back to bed, and then bundled up with layers, afghans and quilts in the morning to wait for the electricity to come back. Usually in a situation like this, I go immediately to the treadle sewing machine because I like the smugness of being able to sew during a power outage. But it was just a bit too uncomfortable this time. The one good thing was that when we lose power in the winter, we don't have to worry about losing refrigerated food. If it had gone on longer than it did, we would have just put the food in the garage. So that was our excitement for the week. It made me feel so bad for people in other parts of the country who have gone much, much longer without electricity or water and who now have damaged homes and businesses to repair.
(Just a reminder: I'm not affiliated with any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores I'm just documenting what I used or liked.)
During the last few days, we've had melting. I went out on the porch in my socks and without a jacket to take a photo. I could smell things again and hear birds, and dripping! Yay!
I haven't minded being inside and sewing this month, but signs of spring are nice. We did have a power outage for about 10 hours on Monday. We usually get these when there is no explainable weather-related reason for them. The official word was "equipment failure" that affected much of our part of town. This one started in the middle of the night, which is not good because we keep our thermostat set quite low at night, so there was no residual heat from the daytime. The worst thing was that there must have been a power surge because it set off all of our smoke detectors and they wouldn't shut off. Standing on a chair in the cold dark in the middle of the night taking them down from the ceiling and removing the backup batteries is not fun. (Well it wasn't fun for my husband. I just held my cell phone up for some feeble light because I didn't have the presence of mind to pick up the flashlight next to my bed.) We piled on the afghans and went back to bed, and then bundled up with layers, afghans and quilts in the morning to wait for the electricity to come back. Usually in a situation like this, I go immediately to the treadle sewing machine because I like the smugness of being able to sew during a power outage. But it was just a bit too uncomfortable this time. The one good thing was that when we lose power in the winter, we don't have to worry about losing refrigerated food. If it had gone on longer than it did, we would have just put the food in the garage. So that was our excitement for the week. It made me feel so bad for people in other parts of the country who have gone much, much longer without electricity or water and who now have damaged homes and businesses to repair.
Our other excitement this month has been getting our first vaccination doses. My husband got his a few weeks ago and I got mine on Thursday. We are really happy with the way our county has been working hard to get essential workers and people in our age group vaccinated. There were so many volunteers working cheerfully and efficiently in the clinic that was set up. I'm dreaming of a bit more freedom in coming weeks, although we will continue to follow guidelines for keeping others safe.
I've been deep in my blue fabrics during the past couple of weeks. I was sure I could use up all my blues on a fairly good sized lap quilt. Ha! As if that would ever happen. I just finished the top a few minutes ago. Now to figure out a backing and how to quilt such an unusual top.
I hope you have had time to sew scraps or otherwise this month. I also hope you have been free from weather-related disasters or have been able to recover from them, and that you are seeing a reason for optimism in vaccination roll-outs.
I'm linking up with Angela at So Scrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap.
Stay safe!
(Just a reminder: I'm not affiliated with any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores I'm just documenting what I used or liked.)
14 comments:
Such an interesting batch of blocks (and some wonderful stash enhancements!!)
so glad you have both gotten your first vaccine - we both get ours on Thursday and so does our daughter by coincidence - as a county worker she gets one - so we will all be finished at the same time and will be save to visit and hug by mid April!! so happy. Your snow adventures remind me of mine growing up in WI - snowpants, boots - walking to catch the school bus with pants under our skirts as we couldn't wear pants (how crazy is that in freezing cold weather)
Love your yellow blocks!!
Thanks for sharing your blocks - and the link to triangle site. What fun ahead for me!
Just thought I would tell you how much I enjoyed your post, it is like listening to an friend talk about her day. I also have a love of yellow. If I was tech savoy like you I would show you a picture of my Yellow Brick Road quilt. It was such fun to make and the matching pillow with scrappy yellow are on the bed in my sewing room, of course mostly covered with projects but it peeks out and I love it!! Who will ever want it when I am gone, I can't imagine. Keep up the good work, and stay safe.
This is the best post - News from your week, remembrances of your past and your beautiful scrappy triangles. I love all of it. I went to a Catholic school and wore wool skirts from 1st to 8th grade. I remember that wet wool smell. When we got caught in the rain or rode our bikes home in the rain, that smell was there. Your post brought that up for me.
So nice you got your first vaccine. Hurray for you and Henry!! Take care and have a great weekend Janine!
Interesting crazy triangles, looking forward to seeing what you will create with them.
Glad you got the first vaccine. Stay safe and warm, it is beautiful but it is cold outside.
I'm looking forward to see what you end up doing with your crazy triangles. Everyone seems to be using scraps & I did make one very scrappy one last year in a QAL hosted by my friend Joy. Actually the one I'm TRYING to do as a QAL of my own at the moment is from larger scraps. Just realised that. Your weather couldn't be more different to ours, though we have had a cooler than average February here in southern Victoria which is unusual as it is quite often the hottest month & what we describe as bushfire weather. Take care & stay warm & safe.
I’ve downloaded those triangle patterns, but haven’t done anything with them, yet. Glad you received your first vaccine! Me, too. Yes, I remember a lot of snow as a youngster. Sometimes several feet at once. Can’t help but wonder sometimes, what’s the big deal, it’s nothing new. Of course, the population and development has probably tripled+ since then, so it makes a bigger impact on daily life. I’ve been slowly working on a scrappy plus quilt. The blocks only measure 5”, so progress is pretty slow in regards to having enough for a significant size. It’s my only scrap project right now. Stay safe, stay healthy! Above all else, stay sweet! XO
Those are very pretty blocks, love the colors. I think it's a good idea to replenish stash with the monthly color - nice choices.
When I was 8 or 9 Mom said it was 5 degrees one morning after it snowed. I don't remember being cold as I played outside. We keep our thermostat low at night too, so that is not a good time to lose power. All in all, I'd rather lose power during the winter. I can pile on blankets to get warm, but I hate being too hot.
When I was growing up, my Mom and I loved reading Christmas newsletters from family friends/relatives. We good-naturedly made fun of some, but for the most part we enjoyed them. Your posts are such an enjoyable read for me, somewhat like those old newsletters. :)
I think your triangles are a lot of fun! Are they paper-pieced? I remember wearing either snow pants or black stretch pants under my dresses, too! Guess that also makes me an oldie. Glad you are on the way with your vaccine - we are, too, here in Colorado. It's always a big celebration when you find out your friends have gotten an appointment! Slowly we'll get back to (a new) normal.
So many times I’ve wanted to join in the scrap projects but ended up didn’t because I didn’t have as much variety in my scraps as I thought. My scrappy blocks end up looking alike with too many of the same fabric. Your scrappy triangles look great. Thanks for sharing.
Since we are living in a stationary 5th wheel travel trailer, that has support, siding and insulation under the sides, In winter when the fridge on the porch freezes thing, we just put them in the floor inside where we are living. Cold floor!
I really enjoyed reading your post. Lovely mix of patchwork inspiration, reminiscences and news. I'm not too sad has gone. No weather or power dramas here but for a short month it did seem to drag on. Now we are surrounded by lots of signs of Spring and have even done a bit of ground prep at the allotment. Our age group should be receiving vaccinations in the next few weeks too :-)
Your new fabric acquisitions have a good range of values. How big are the large HSTs? I look forward to the use-almost-all-the-blues quilt. And don't worry about punctuation too much - the pictures do most of the work anyways :-D
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