Friday, July 30, 2021

RSC, Other Scraps and More

Lots of bits in this post. It's a fun summer of sewing. First off, more blocks for Rainbow Scrap Challenge/52 weeks of Scrappy Triangles. Blue again. This time, darker blues, maybe? Since all of my blocks are half dark blue, I wasn't sure I wanted to do these. But I found some prints with some dark blues in them to mix in that wouldn't blur into the navy HSTs. 


Five blocks since there were five Fridays this month. Funny, last batch of blues was also a five-block month, so they've kind of taken over the quilt. That's okay. I'll need to make extra blocks for a whole quilt, and other colors will get repeated, too. Here's the year so far:

Let's play a game: Spot the misplaced block 

I think it needs some orange and turquoise, don't you? I suspect by the time I post this we will know the next color.

I've also been collecting new fabrics this year in the color of the month. I really didn't want any blue as my mission lately has apparently been to get rid of blue. So I bought a loooong length of black dot fabric instead for my next quilt project and then realized that it also fits with the color of the month because an alternate color for this month was dark neutrals. 

So what am I doing with all this dotty fabric? It's the background for another scrappy project: the Confetti Quilt by Rachel Hauser. She had a quilt-along for this pattern recently. I couldn't take part, but now I can make it. It's a fascinating pattern for me. Crumb blocks. If you've read my other scrappy posts, you will know that I don't really care for making crumb blocks. But these are different--a combination of chain piecing scraps to width-of-fabric strips and paper foundation piecing. There are four different blocks to mix together so that the whole quilt will look improv pieced. I love it!! I have pieced three of the first block so far, all from the scrap bins. (Well, except for that background). I'll have more to share about this quilt later.


What else have I been making? I do have my Mercyful Positivity Quilt-Along Quilt finished. But it has to wait for its turn to shine (on location!) later in August. I can show you these placemats that I made from the bonus HSTs from snowballed corners of that project. I'm proud to say I used them up (and added four extras to complete the last placemat). These were sort of fun to make, but more fiddly than I expected. In fact, I think it takes as long to make a set of placemats as it does to make a quilt. Worthwhile to use up scraps, though, and to make for donations to Meals on Wheels. 


This one is 14 1/4 by about 18 inches. I quilted it with turquoise thread in the dark areas and off-white in the lights. Too time consuming, and lots of threads to bury. I needed to piece the back to have enough fabric, but I like it.


 

This one is 13 1/4 by 17 1/2 inches. Diagonal quilting with off-white thread. Pretty rustic quilting. I had pressed seams open and was pretty wobbly in following them. But overall it's fine. Note to self: no in-the-ditch quilting on these projects. Here's the back (easy peasy, and two different lime prints for the binding to use up scraps):


The last is my favorite.


This one is 13 by 18 1/4 inches, with simple off-white quilting in wavy lines. So quick!! And another easy back:


I hope to make more placemats to use up scraps. I learned from this little project how to make them more quickly, so I think I'll enjoy them more. Bigger pieces, simple quilting will be the way to go.

One more project for July. This one is not scraps, but I want to share it. My granddaughter was here a couple of weeks ago and bought some fabric for a purse. At 9 1/2 years old and well on her way to 5 feet tall, she had outgrown (in more ways than one) the mermaid purse I made for her several years ago. I made the new one sort of based on this pattern by Aleah at no time to sew, but I made lots of changes to it (size, process, materials) but it was a good place to start. I won't share how I made it here except to say that as a mostly reluctant bag-maker, I was slow, slow, slow, measuring 50000 times, reading 1000 tips on the internet, and cutting/sewing once. 

I really like the combination of fabrics she chose.


Four pockets inside, and


a big pocket on the back for all of her treasures. I did check with Allison at New Every Morning, as she has been making bags lately, and decided to cut my batting smaller so that there was no sewing through it. It made a huge difference in ease of sewing, and I was able to make the entire purse on my Singer Featherweight without it balking at the bulk. For anyone interested, the purse is 8 by 11 by 2 inches, just the right size for a growing girl and all her stuff.

Okay, I can't resist just a few more photos. We haven't been vacationing yet, but we did go to my dad this week, and instead of taking the highway, took the backroads for a day-cation. We passed some barn quilts; this is the only one I could get a photo of.


And then, this hayfield. It was gorgeous. Photos just don't do justice to a hayfield, but I tried.



Couldn't capture the expanse and light. But, backroads rock!

I hope your July projects and activities brought you as much joy as mine. Sometimes little things are so satisfying! 

I'm linking up this Saturday with Angela at So Scrappy for Scrap Happy Saturday and this Sunday with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap.

Okay, now back to those Confetti scraps.

(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:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I love all of your projects especially the first one and that bag!

Lin said...

What a beautiful bag - your granddaughter must love it. I do like your RSC project and as I cant resist a spotty fabric I love your new scrap project too! Great placemats. xx

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

I always enjoy seeing what you're working on, Janine! The scrappy triangles are developing nicely, and I love those confetti blocks, too. They are a very tempting project! Good for you on the bag - it looks great! Love your back roads photos - that's always our favorite way to travel, too.

Mari said...

I'll bet that purse is really well loved. It turned out lovely and perfect for a 9 year old. Heck, there are plenty of adults who would love it! I really like your confetti project, and I love the background fabric. Looks like it will make a really happy, bright quilt.

Patti said...

I am wondering do you have to paper piece your crumbs
blocks for the one you made by Rachel H.? I am not very good with that, but would love to try to make the quilt. Goodness knows I have enough crumbs! By the way I love you blue triangle quilt!

JanineMarie said...

Hi, Patti. Thanks! You are a no-reply blogger, so I’ll answer here and hope you see it. I don’t usually do that, but others might have the same question. The pattern is designed to be foundation pieced after doing the chain piecing, and I think it would be overly complicated to try to replicate without the foundation piecing. The pattern has really clear markings, and the piecing is easy because the pieces are all rectangles. You don’t have to invert them in your head like you do with odd shaped pieces. I actually had more trouble wrapping my head around the chain piecing until I had made a block. Then it all made sense.

Sandra Walker said...

I love seeing all your projects. That purse is fabulous; that girl has a good eye for colour! That hay field looks so much like the ones in southern Alberta where it's flat. The light--ahh. Here it's very flat, incredibly so, but not a lot of vast hayfields, rather corn, and other veggie crops, winter wheat. I like your confetti quilt - I'm with you on improv so I'll check it out. And it took me a bit but I found the misplaced block :-)

Linda said...

I'm glad you found some crumb blocks you enjoy making! Those are really pretty. Nice finishes on the placemats and your favorite is my favorite. Oh that bag! She chose such pretty fabrics. I like the way you curved the fabric and stitching on the flap. Closeups of your photos are a must for me because they give me inspiration!
BTW I used your sticky note tip for binding corners (and gave you credit!) on a quilt I finished in June. It came out perfect!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

I enjoyed your projects and that purse rocks!!! I know what you mean about hay fields. . .the color before it is cut is amazing isn't it?

Sherrie said...

Hi,
Awesome quilts...and I love bag.
Have a great day!

QuiltGranma said...

I love the little friendship stars, I think they are, in that one placemat. So nice of you to use your scraps for that purpose, to brighten another's day.

Susie H said...

So many pretty things about this post. Love the HST RSC quilt. No, I couldn't spot the block that went awry. Haha! Oh well. The placemats are beautiful and Meals on Wheels will be delighted to get these, I'm sure.

Allison said...

Hi! Thank you for the mention. I'm glad you found a helpful tip in all my ramblings about bag making :-)
I was sorely tempted by the Confetti QAL but I'm already lagging behind with another QAL so I thought I'd better not... It looks like it could be addictive once you get going.

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

A lot of pretty projects! I love your confetti blocks, and placemats. And the bag is a beauty!