Red is for September

a bit more time to sew, and even time to blog!

red is a prolific color in my stash- I've pieced 2 granny squares, with 7 more to go... that wasn't even using all my reds- just the ones that I especially like...

another row for my low volume plus quilt- with just yellow and black to go, it will soon be ready to put together! can't wait to see this one finished!

and finally, finally, FINALLY, the Simply Woven quilt is finished. judging by the likes, comments and hearts on both facebook and instagram, it's a popular one. that 's a good thing, as it will be sent to one of the MCC quilt sales (Texas, I think...)

 

 

my friend Karen is a long-armer, and we partner together to send quilts to different MCC auctions. I love to piece; she's great at quilting, and so it's a nice partnership. she's been doing it for years, I just jumped on board a couple years ago... I love to piece, and get WAY TOO MANY quilts for my house, and even still too many to share with my children, so it just works out nicely all around...

 

 

I'm updating the RSC tabs at the top of my page; come back later to see... meanwhile, click over to so scrappy and see what everyone else is up to! 

Grey fabrics; sunny skies

the weather here has been absolutely gorgeous! green trees (with just a hint of fall color), blue skies and clear, crisp air. we call it "birthday weather" at our house. my birthday is next week, my twin sons the following week, and the baby of the family has a birthday in early October. half of our family birthdays are in 2 weeks' time, so it's always been known as birthday weather!

13 grey crumb blocks are done- I've got a nice little pile of these.

both of the grandbaby quilts are done- one is delivered, one is at the quilters now. i'll share more about them later. we're just 6 weeks and counting now for the first baby, and while the second baby (a girl) is due on November 15, it's in WA state. (we live in PA) BUT: the good news is we've already purchased our tickets- December 1. can't wait! (and B is already making her list of what she's going to pack. it's a big deal to be an aunt when you're 8!)

4 more granny squares to add to the pile. I'm steadily working through the blocks (hundreds and hundreds; many different blocks!) that I made last year and getting them into quilts. I'm working on updating my RSC15 tab, too. it feels good to get the blocks out of drawers, and into quilts that can be used...

i'm still here... and i'm back!

holy smokes! what a summer... drought, wind, hail, exhaustion, bronchitis, more drought, even a "monsoon"... this has been our most difficult growing year yet, but we're almost done, and still managing to produce (and harvest!) lots of good food for our CSA members.

 

I completely missed out on August's sewing, so I'm slowly catching up with the greys. why do I love grey so much? no idea...

I've done the row for my low volume plus quilt, and can also pull the reds for September and get working on them.

I finished my pink crumb blocks, (and it was still August- so only one month behind on those!)

 

I made one baby quilt for grandbaby #1- due in October. and I've got a great start on the quilt for grandbaby #2- due in November.

 

I haven't done any more rows for the column along quilt for RSC16. I fell behind with the green flying geese, and then got a bit stumped with the grey row... I'm doing the quilt in all Kona solids, and my background is grey.... so i'll have to figure that one out pretty soon... I don't want to relegate yet another quilt to the WIP/UFO pile!

 

speaking of which... my pile is getting bigger and bigger! I just can't keep up with all my ideas- I really need to get some of those started quilts finished! I think that will be a good project for me to work on after the gardens are put to bed!

 

click on over to Angela's to see all the other beautiful quilts!

11 months, 189 16 patches and 3024 3" blocks later...

they say slow and steady wins the race, and if my stack of completed 16 patches is anything to go by, they're sure right!

 

I don't have anymore greens to piece into the 16s; I used all my greens already... (forget what month that was, it seems ages ago!) the background fabrics are all creams/tans/beige- no whites. each of the background fabrics repeat several (many?) times, but the colored blocks are all different.

 

so: out of the 189 blocks, there are 189 different fabrics. and each of those fabrics I chose because they were my favorite.

 

how is this possible? what's the matter with me?! can I really have 189 favorite and/or meaningful unique scraps of fabric?

the answer is yes, it seems. there are dresses, many other quilts, shirts, purses, aprons, bonnets, fabrics from friends, on and on it goes ~ it's all in here, and represented in this one conglomeration of a quilt. for me, even though it may seem just a tad ridiculous, it adds another depth of meaning and sentimentality to my quilt.

 

I plan to piece this pile of 16 patches into 2 quilts- I'm debating what the ultimate use of them will be. it's a toss up between a quilt for my table at farmer's market (using all the animal/veggie/country fabrics) and a table cloth to be used on our table at special family meals and holidays. or, I might do matching quilts for the (twin) guest room beds.

 

click over to angela's to see all the other RSC15 projects as we finish up another great  year.

it's hip to be square!

in-between my other sewing, I've still been working on my 16 patches, and they're slowly coming along. I still have lots of the blacks and greys to do (I used those 2 colors in place of the indigo)

there is something so endearing and addictive about these humble and simple little blocks- they are certainly one of my favorites!

with so many different fabrics and backgrounds to choose from, I could never decide which one is my favorite block of them all... and it's good that I don't' have to choose: I have almost 200 at last count! yikes!

I do plan to make 2 quilts from these 16 patches- one for my table at farmer's market (using all the veggie fabrics) and another for the dining room table for family holiday meals. these 16 patches finish at 10"; just a nice size.

 

 

here's a picture of the whole top of the Bethlehem Star that I pieced last week. it's 72" X 80", but it sure looks dwarfed in this picture! scroll down one post to see what else i've been up to while I was absent from the RSC link-ups. and be sure to click on over to angela's to see all the RSC goodness for this week!

 

PS: did you see that the colors for Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt came out this morning? I'm so excited- the color combinations are FANTASTIC this year! who's planning on quilting along? 

It's time: let's get these quilts together!

after sewing and sewing all these squares together, I decided to start sewing some stuff together (even though technically, I'm a month early for that...) I wanted to see some progress, and not just piles of blocks...

these 16 patches are left over from last year- if i remember, i had just stalled on what to do with them.

last week i decided: why not potholders? my old ones were pretty grimy after using them in the summer kitchen when making applesauce, and what better way to use and enjoy my favorite fabrics than in the kitchen?

let's face it: i spend more time in the kitchen than in the sewing room most days, so i can still get my fabric fix! i cut into some of my all time favorite fabrics for the backings- and I'm so glad i did!

 

another RSC project i worked on this week was my 9 patch blocks.  after sewing and sewing all year long, i was very surprised to count that i had 189+ of the 9 patches! i knew i wanted to do something interesting, and non-traditional in the setting, so after playing around for awhile, i settled on the layout below.

 



 

 

i really like this layout- and there are so many blocks left over! i'll let the little girls lay out another quilt, and we'll give that to my friend for quilting and send it off to one of the MCC auctions.

 

thanks for stopping by- click on over to angela's to see what everyone else is working on. and if you have a minute, scroll down one more post, and tell me what you think of my red stars Christmas quilt- I'm looking for some input and advice!

summer is slipping away...

but more sewing time is just around the corner!