GO FORTH: they are warm. and they shall know they are loved!

i did TWO posts this week! if you're interested in seeing and reading about one of our family's oldest and favorite traditions, click HERE.

 just like the song that never ends, here are some 9 patches that seem to go on and on... 

99 leftover 9 patches, to be exact! leftover from RSC18 (eclectic  AND bohemian) and RSC19 (L/D 9 patches, pieced into an Irish Chain Family table cloth.) ( i see a couple donuts and shoo fly blocks snuck into this top, too...) 

in RSCland December is supposed to be Put All The Blocks Together Month. i try to be a Good Quilter, so after pulling this stack of blocks out of the Parts Department Drawer, i put them up on the design wall, doing my best to arrange them in a pleasing manner. i'm happy with how this top turned out (it's so colorful and cheery!) and i'll take it in to Scraps2Wraps this week, and we'll finish it up. (tying it)

then, it's ready to travel somewhere as a donation quilt- either locally, or even overseas... 

lots of blocks are being assembled this month- go see!

Repeating Rainbows!

sporadic, but colorful sewing happening in the sewing room these days! youngest daughter, BJ (13) wanted to make a Rainbow Quilt for her bed. how's a mother to say no? (purely a rhetorical question, of course! she doesn't...) 

using my AccuQuilt Studio2 cutter, we sorted through my stash of {white based} LV fabrics, and a nice gradation of rainbow colors, and cut out enough rectangles to make her a quilt about 80" X 90". 

BJ wants all the colors to be visible across the bed, so she designed/sewed it with the red rectangles at the top (pillow) end of the bed, going down through to the purples at the bottom. as you can see, the quilt is not all sewn together; it's still on my design wall. i'm loving this quilt, too. it's one of the best rainbow quilts i've seen... 

AND: i even have a finish to show! RSC19 was the year of the 9 patches for me: L/D centers, as well as eclectic AND bohemian color combos. i was hoping to mimic the soft and muted look of Jolene's quilt from Blue Elephant Stitches .

obviously, i didn't quite achieve that, but it's ok! this quilt was completed in time for our *big 4th of July bash*, and it's not really a quilt, per se, it's a tablecloth.  it's shown here on our schoolroom table, which is also the Big Crowds and Family Is Here So We Need More Places To Sit table. 

do you recognize the jelly cupboard in the corner? it's from our New Albany rental house. after a bit of scrubbing and wiping, i decided to bring it to our home and use it for extra schoolroom storage. although, i will say, after bringing it into a *relatively finished and clean* house, i can more clearly understand why it was relegated to the cellar in the first place. it's easy to see more potential in a cellar environment than may actually exist... 

there is no batting in this quilt- it's just the top and a backing. (just like our summer bed quilt.) i love how it turned out- i set the blocks on point, used a brown for the side setting triangles and the binding. ( i read somewhere that brown has all the colors in it; it's great to use it for binding a multi-colored quilt. i follow that advice often.) 

 there was a method to my madness in the laying out and design of this quilt, although it's hard to see in the quilt itself. the colored drawing above makes it much more obvious. i was going for the cascading, converging and melding of the lights/darks/rainbow colors. if you squint hard and run by quickly (or fill the table with lots of food) i guess you can see it?

anyway, if anyone asks, or wants to know, the name of this Family Tablecloth quilt is Converging Memories. there are fabrics from a lot of the sewing that I've done for the last 30+ years. as i was photographing the quilt this afternoon, i spotted a yellow calico from 1988 that was the kitchen curtains in our first home!

also: i should have refreshed my memory by reading my posts from when i first started these 9 patch blocks for RSC19. that was the year that i made the L/D 9 patches, as well as the eclectic AND bohemian 9  patches. i had blogged that i intended to make 2 tablecloth quilts: one for WITH the leaves and one for WITHOUT. 

oops! 

well, this one will fit really well with just 1 leaf. (it fits fine with 2 and no leaves as well, but i wish i had remembered that... ) 

be sure to go see what everyone else is working on- there are lots of creative quilters to meet, and colorful quilts to see every Saturday morning over at Angela's blog. 

finishing ALL the purples:

from the lightest (and darkest) pinks to nearly brown...

life is busy- but i do find some time to have some quiet time up in the sewing room, and keep up with my RSC projects. it's something i really enjoy! 

i added a few more twinkly stars to the growing, colorful pile. instead of keeping the blocks all 3x3, 4x4 or even 5x5 i decided to make them all random, according to the shades of the COM that i had. 

then, at the end of the year, i'll piece the blocks all together randomly, higgelty-piggelty style. i think it will be more interesting that way anyway... 

i made a whole slew of purple donuts and shoo-fly blocks, too. very happy with them as well!

 4 more waffle blocks join the wings, waiting for breakfast time in December. haha. 

i also finished a lingering RSC UFO- from 2019! i made a large pile of 9 patches- both light and dark, planning on making them into a tablecloth. we're having a *modestly sized church/family picnic* tomorrow {what was i thinking?!} and its debut is planned. stay tuned for a post about that. (the quilt, not the picnic, necessarily. i haven't' taken a picture of the quilt yet.. ) 

click on over the our favorite spot for Saturday mornings and see what everyone else is working on! 

a quilty snack: {shoo fly} PIE, DONUTS and WAFFLES!

there is something exciting and even exhilarating about starting a new year of Rainbow Scrap Challenge! new fabric! new colors! new project! new blocks! 

i'm starting off strong with pinks: first up, a twinkly star. scrappy AND wonky. i've not done one of these blocks before, so i'm looking forward to a colorful year. 

*** edited to add: does anyone know of a UFO Finish-along for 2021? Like the kind where you pick 12 projects, and then a number is drawn each month to let us know which UFO to work on? Judy used to do them ages ago, but hasn't for a few years. I know Connie is doing a Dirty Dozen, but that's already started. i love to work along with other quilters- the "pressure" and "accountability" work really well for me. thanks in advance! ***

 

i have done LOTS of 9 patches over my RSC career (this is my 8th year sewing along!!!) i did mention before that this year i intended to "kick it up a notch" so to speak, and include some triangles with my blocks. 

i have a Studio2 cutter (highly recommend) and i've had the 3" square die cutter for a while. i recently purchased (on sale; BOGO) the 2½" finished triangle die to pair with my squares. 

i had a grey piece of yardage come through my sewing room, and i snagged it for my RSC21 donuts and {shoo fly}pie blocks. i cut up enough squares and triangles to keep me piecing these quilty snacks for awhile. no rhyme or reason (or plan) on which i'll piece, or how many. it just depends on how many of each color square i have. i've completed 6, of these 2 different blocks, but still have about 8 more to piece. i don't know where all the pink blocks/fabrics came from... (there were A.L.O.T.) it's a mystery! 

another new-to-me block for RSC21 is the waffle block. Millie, our darling cat, loves quilts + sunshine.  the sewing room is a win/win for her! more on my waffles in another post... 

as i mentioned, this is my 8th year (!!!) i started out with Angela and RSC in 2014. so many 3" squares, so many blocks, so many quilts have gone under my needle and out the sewing room door in that time. 

but still the scraps and squares persist! (not complaining, just explaining, as my MIL would have said) i guess i have made some progress in the last few years- the above pictures are my "stash" of the 3" squares; they overflowed their suitcase into a deeper drawer at one time. (more on that suitcase later, too...) 

this metal drawer is the shallowest of my wire storage units, and with the addition of waffle blocks to my RSC21 plans, i managed to *use* nearly *all* of my Low Volume blocks. but, with that, i THINK I SOLVED THE MYSTERY OF OUR SCRAPS, AND WHY WE ALWAYS HAVE MORE. 

that's a post for another day, and i'll be back soon to tell that story! 

June was blue- or was it green?

although the "official" color of June was (is) blue, for me it seemed like it was really green!

so many green things growing: hydroponic lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, kale, swiss chard, herbs, sweet and hot peppers, pumpkins, summer squash, zucchini, cabbage, cucumbers, eggplant, sweet corn... 

our CSA/Farm Share pickups have started, and with our biggest group of members ever, it's keeping me busy. and mostly exhausted, too. 

i did sort out all my 3" blue squares at the beginning of the month, and sewed 16 of my eclectic and bohemian 9 patches- 8 with dark centers, 8 with light centers. 

9 of my "split rails" of sorts blocks happened, too. i also cut out my isosceles triangle quilt for this month- a dark {and ugly} Kansas Troubles blue with a creamy calico as the alternate triangle. there was so much of the KT that it's the backing and binding, too! 

click over to Angela's SoScrappy blog- lots of beautiful blues happening over there. (and soon it's a new month and new color- can't wait!) 

a quick check in between the yard work and field work and garden work..

i have had some time to sew in the last few weeks. if i have the energy, i enjoy going up to the sewing room to sew a few orange blocks for May RSC19. 

orange is one of those goofy colors that just can't decide what color it wants to be... orange, rust, burnt umber, cheddar, salmon... 

it does drive an anal meticulous piecer like me a bit batty, separating out all the different oranges into their own friendly family....

still, i pieced 6 of my rail fence blocks.

and thanks to the generous contribution of my unknown, but generous friend, Dorthy, i had lots and lots of orange squares to choose from this month! 

i pieced 11 of my light/dark 9 patches. i'm thinking that maybe i'll use these, and also last year's bohemian and eclectic 9 patches to make 2 table cloths for our table at the holidays/family meals (one sized for with the leaves, the other to fit without the leaves) 

i'm almost done with piecing my orange crumb blocks for this month, too, so i'll have another orange post to share next week.

off to work in the flower beds- hubby Dave got a great deal on mulch from Lowes (he works there) so we've been inspired to do a bit of sprucing up around the flower beds near the house. they've been neglected the last few years- i've been busy with the veggies, but now i'm on a roll! maybe i'll share pictures of that next week, too! have a great week (the weather is fabulous today!) and thanks for stopping by!

aqua- such a cheery color!

APRIL! it's been here awhile, and i've been sewing a bit.  just now taking the time to post about my blocks. 

April is a busy time on the farm- so much to do, and all the spring work hits at once! we've hit the ground running with tilling, plowing, discing and planting some of the earliest crops. it won't really slow down too much until we hit the lull in mid-June or so. then we gallop along again until September, where we wind down and are done early October. 

i've enjoyed a few quiet moments piecing my aqua 9 patches, and a "split rail" of sorts. i don't have too much aqua, so that's been a good thing. 

i have no aqua yardage, so there will be no isosceles triangle quilt this month, which is just as well, really... 

i have a modest jar-full of aqua scraps and crumbs- i'll be piecing my (6½") crumb blocks in the next week while waiting to see what Mays color will be. in the meantime, click on over to Angie's So Scrappy on Saturday and see what everyone else has been sewing on. 

adding some cheer to the drear...

some sewing time this week (after my taxes were done *insert happy dance*!!!)

6 16 patch "rail fences" were added to my stack...

and also a total of 14 9 patches, too. (all blocks made from 3" squares).

an equal amount of light and dark 9 patches. although this layout doesn't look too great with only the yellows, i can tell i'm going to really like this quilt as it moves further along...

go see all the other yellow sunshine blocks over at Angie's! also: follow me on instagram @ jlcap69.  (i post more frequently over there) and: i still have some red scraps i'd love to share! just give me a holler... 

Starting Fresh Again!

a new year- a new start- a new color!

my drawer of 3" squares is not getting any emptier

so i thought of a few new blocks to make for RSC19. First up is the light/dark 9 patches, as inspired here. 

i have {only} 5 new projects that i'm planning on working on for RSC19.

the second block i'll be making this year is a take-off of a Split Rail Fence block, using my 3" squares again. 

i was inspired to make this particular looking block while wondering around on bloggy-land or pinterest, but don't even remember where or when the inspiration hit! 

linking up to Angela's blog on Saturday morning. go see what everyone else has started for RSC19!