Showing posts with label squared away. Show all posts
Showing posts with label squared away. Show all posts

Saturday, August 12, 2023

Transformations

Stars
6 inch finished

A couple of years ago I made over 300  three inch Square in Square (SIS) blocks as one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects.  I divided them up into piles for three different quilts - #1 Stars, #2 Happy Blocks and #3 SIS alternating with Squares. 

Yellow is the RSC color of the month so I transformed some yellow SIS into Stars. 

Happy Blocks
6 inch finished
and a couple of 
Stars

I also turned a few SIS into Happy Blocks. 

Squared Away
7.5 inch finished

And four little 3 inch finished Broken Dishes blocks were transformed into a Squared Away block. 


 

Saturday, July 29, 2023

Red Odds and Ends

Squared Away
7.5 inch blocks

Red is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. Time to move on to a new color. I had a few 2 inch width scraps left over from scraps I used to make Stars and Happy Blocks last week  so I used those up this week.   Now that I look at the picture I see two of the bottom blocks are put together incorrectly. I'll blame the heat. We've had a heat wave that last few days and this old farm house does not have air conditioning. Thank goodness after last nights thunderstorms we now have cooler temperatures. 


Bow Ties
3 inch blocks

Indian Hatchet
4 inch blocks

And sew on...




 

Saturday, June 24, 2023

A Few Brown Scraps. A Lot of Blocks.

Brown Stuff
is the theme in my sewing room this month to help me move forward some UFOs and to help me make a molehill out of my mountain of brown scraps. 

So this week instead of using the pastel blue or green Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month I'm using brown scraps to make some of my many RSC blocks. 

Above are four inch finished Indian Hatchet blocks. The brown corners are cut from 2 inch width brown scraps. The four 2.5 inch squares came out of my project box.   The blocks are inspired by a vintage quilt and will now go into my growing collection of blocks of many colors. 

Old Italian Blocks
They finish at 3 inches and start with a stack of six 5 inch squares. I had 3 stacks of squares - brown alternating with yellows, brown alternating with blues and brown alternating with a wild turquoise print.  These will mix in with my growing collection of blocks. 


Windmills - four inch finished.
Snowballs - three inch finished with light corners and someday they will alternate with some old 3 inch Nine Patches with light corners. 
Bow Ties - 3 inch finished.
Squared Away - 7.5 inch finished. I've been making these in all colors from 3.5 inch unfinished Broken Dishes blocks I made in previous years from waste triangles. 


Monkey Wrench
5 inch finished.

For the past year or so I've been making Monkey Wrench blocks in three different sizes (5, 7.5, 10) and in all colors. I'll be making them all into donation quilts closer to year end. 

And sew on...


 

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Blue Stuff

This month my personal theme is "brown stuff". I took a little break from "brown stuff" to work on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color blue. Well, actually the RSC color is blue and green pastel; however, I have dark and bright blue scraps I did not get around to using in January when that was the RSC color so I chose to use them now. 

You may or may not know that a couple years ago I made over 300 little 3 inch Economy or Square in Square (SIS) blocks. Last week I turned some of the blue/black SIS into Stars.  This week I added 2 inch borders to some blue/black SIS to make 6 inch Happy Blocks. 

Most of the SIS I used last week were florals and this week I tried to use mostly I Spy. 

Then I turned some 3 inch Broken Dishes blocks into 7.5 inch Squared Away blocks. 

And then I turned what was left of the 2 inch width scraps used in the making of the I Spy Happy Blocks and Squared Away blocks into 3 inch Bow Ties for my collection of over 600 Bow Ties. 

And sew on...


 

Saturday, May 20, 2023

A Few Orange Scraps

Old Italian Blocks
3 inch finished

Made with 5 inch squares of orange and purple using a stack, whack and shuffle method.

Squared Away Blocks
7.5 inch finished
Making some 3.5 inch Broken Dish blocks into a larger block.

Indian Hatchet Blocks
4 inch finished
inspired by a vintage quilt

Snowballs with light corners
3 inch finished
To be set with 3 inch Nine Patch blocks someday

Switch Plate
3 x 5 finished

Broken Dishes
6 inch finished
Set this way they form a star.

And sew on...

Orange is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month.


 

Saturday, April 29, 2023

Purple Potpourri


Purple is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color for April. Well I finally got around to using some purple scraps this month. 

From a few purple scraps 4.5 inches in width:
10 inch Monkey Wrench blocks. 


From a few purple scraps 3.5 inches in width:
7.5 inch Monkey Wrench blocks and...


...6 inch Broken Dish blocks,
3 x 5 inch Switch Plate blocks,
3 inch Snowballs.

In the "Turning Something Small Into Something Larger" category I have turned some little 3 inch Broken Dishes blocks into 7.5 inch Squared Away blocks and...

...turned some 3 inch Economy Blocks into 6.5 inch Stars and...

...turned some 3 inch Economy Blocks into 6 inch I Spy Happy Blocks

Stacks of 5 inch squares of purple and an alternate color were made into cute little 3 inch Old Italian blocks using a stack, whack and shuffle method.

2 inch purple squares were used as the corners for a few 4 inch Indian Hatchet blocks and then a few 2 inch scraps were made into 3 inch Bow Tie blocks. 

And now it is time to put the purple scraps away and see what the RSC color for May will be. 




 

Saturday, March 11, 2023

Using Green Scraps




Green is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. 

This week I turned a lot of 3 inch  Square in Square (or Little Chips) blocks  I made in the last couple of RSC years into larger blocks.  I think I made well over 300 blocks in all colors of the rainbow with black corners. I was going to use them all together in one quilt but they seemed to make a very dark quilt. So I decided I could make 3 quilts instead. 

#1 - I set aside 130 Chips and will turn half of them into six inch Stars and half into six inch Happy Blocks and alternate those blocks for an adult sized donation quilt. 

So this is the bag of Chips left that  I'll turn into Stars and Happy blocks for quilt #1. I'm using Chips and scraps in the RSC color of the month to upgrade those blocks. 

#2. I pulled out 70 of the more the kid-friendly-I - Spy sort of Chips for a smaller kiddo donation quit that will end up 42 x 60. I'm turning those into Happy Blocks that finish at 6 inches.  I wish my green scraps were a little brighter but...

...I have last month's pink ones to brighten things up and I think there will be some brighter blocks in the future too.  So, that's quilt #2 in the works. 

#3. I pulled out 95 blocks that were solid colors, strips, dots or other geometric shapes. I then looked through my 3.5 inch squares box for squares that were similar patterns to alternate with the Chips.  I thought this would make a nice smaller child or wheelchair quilt at 42 x 42.  

My squares aren't all that cheerful so I thought I would look through my scrap bags to see if there are any polka dot, stripe or plaid scraps I can cut for alternate squares to brighten things up a bit if this is going to be a child's quilt. 


Then I'm left with this little pile of Chips. I'm thinking I might use them as centers for Wonky Log Cabin blocks. Some bright strings around them might make them shine. 

Then some 3 inch Broken Dishes blocks got turned into a few 7.5 inch Squared Away blocks. 

Any odds and ends of 2 inch pieces left over after all that got turned into little 3 inch Bow Ties, a Chinese Coin strip...

...or squares - single, sets of 2 and sets of 4.   The sets of four go into the Monkey Wrench work box and the other two piles go into storage for use at some later date. 


 

Saturday, February 18, 2023

A Parade of Pink

Pink is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month so I've been using up lots of pink scraps and I think now this is the end of the pink scraps although I do have some larger scrap chunks that are more than a 6 inch strip and less than a fat quarter (FQ) that will go back in the drawer for now. 

Above are my parts for another Kid Row quilt. This one will contain 3 rows of Kids (9 x 12 inch blocks) and two rows of 9 inch Ohio Stars (fav block of friend who passed away in December) and two rows of 3 inch Snowballs. The background is gray and the colors of scraps used in this one will be pinks, reds, aquas and purples. I figured how many of blocks of each color I need and these are the pink blocks. 

Old Italian (aka X blocks) that finish at 3 inches.

These start with 5 inch squares and I use the tutorial at My Joyful Journey. These are made as a stack, cut, shuffle type of block. I start with a set of 6 squares and alternate the RSC color of the month with other colors so I had a stack of pink and blue, pink and red and light pink and dark pink. I want to make a big quilt so I'll probably be making these 3 inch blocks for a couple of years. I started them last October and have been using 5 inch squares I've cut from scraps over the years as well as a couple of charm packs I've won or been given. 


10 inch Monkey Wrench Blocks

I make these with 4.5 inch and 2.5 inch scraps and have been making them since about the middle of last year. It's also the block I make when sorting scraps or have leftovers if I come across scraps enough in those sizes of pieces to make them.   In about October of next year I'll make all the blocks into donation quilts. 

Monkey Wrench Blocks 
7.5 inches

I'm making Monkey Wrench blocks from scraps in three different sizes 10 inch, 7.5 inch and 5 inch. 

Turning smaller blocks into bigger ones. 

Then I worked on my big pile (300+ ) of 3 inch finished of Square in Square blocks made in past RSC years. I turned some of the pink ones into 6 inch Stars and some into 6 inch Happy Blocks.  I was thinking I would make two separate quilts but then I saw how they looked together so decided I could probably make at least 2 twin sized quilts and maybe a smaller one with the blocks alternating. 

I've also been cleaning out some boxes of HST pieces and parts and using them as leader/enders. With some of the 2 inch HSTs I've made little 3 inch Broken Dishes blocks. Now I'm turning those little Broken Dishes blocks into some scrappy 7.5 inch Squared Away blocks. 

Then I turned some 4 inch Four Patch blocks into 6 inch Economy Blocks.  Most of the Four Patches were in the Parts Department - some given to me and some I've made in the past. 

For the side pieces I cut two 4 inch squares on the diagonal.  I'm using red and blue Four Patches in a red, white and blue quilt so I guess most of the rest of the colors of Four Patches will go into this quilt - yellow, orange, aqua, purple like in the mixed color floral fabric.  I'll do something different someday with the green, black and brown ones. 

Then there's some Indian Hatchet blocks (4 inch), a couple of Broken Dishes (3 inch for maybe another Squared Away block in the future), Windmills (4 inch), Snowballs with white corners (3 inch) to be the alternate block to some light cornered 3 inch Nine Patches that have been around for ages.   And then any 2 inch and 3.5 inch pieces less than a square were made into Chinese Coin strips. 

3 inch Bow Ties and oops one needs to be fixed. (Can't believe I ironed it like that). 
 Some miscellaneous 2.5 inch HSTs for the Parts Dept. and a 4.5 inch Chinese Coin strip. 

And finally some squares for my bins of squares - sets of four 2.5 and 2 inch squares go into the Monkey Wrench workbox. The five inch squares will be used in the future to make more Old Italian blocks. The 1.5 x 2.5 rectangles go into the Lego workbox. 

And sew on...


 

Saturday, February 4, 2023

Pink Potpourri


Monkey Wrenches
7.5 inch finished

When PINK was declared as February's Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color I went right to my pink scrap box to see what I had in there. Mostly I have bigger scrap "chunks" - larger than 5 inch width piece and smaller than a FQ (fat quarter) - but there were a few smaller pieces I wanted to deal with so I pulled those out. 

The first pink pieces I worked with were 3.5 inches and 2 inches in width.  With those I made Monkey Wrench blocks - 3.5 inch HSTs combined with 2 inch squares. 

I have quite a collection of Monkey Wrench blocks in 3 sizes and will continue to add to those collections most of this year and at year end I'll see how many donation quilts I can make. 



Bow Ties 
3 inch finished
and
Squared Away
7.5 inch finished

While I had the 2 inch pink scraps handy I first checked my bag of already made 3 inch Broken Dishes blocks to see if I had four pink blocks I could turn into a Squared Away block. I had enough for one block and while I was in there I also pulled out four gray blocks.  I cut sashing from 2 inch scraps and made the Squared Away blocks.   Then with what 2 inch pieces were left and big enough for a Bow Tie block got made into Bow Ties.  I have a big collection of those, have been making them for several years and am going to make a big quilt with them someday.

Little Soul Searching
12 x 14 inches finished

Late last year I finally emptied out my 1.5 inch scrap bin and one of the last blocks I made were some small versions of a block called Soul Searching.  I need a few more blocks in order to have enough blocks for a child sized donation quilt. I didn't have a pink block so decided to cut 1.5 inch strips off of several of those pink chunk scraps I mentioned and then I made a Little Soul Searching. 

Then I used the 1.5 inch leftover pieces in some Little Baskets that finish at 4 inches. 

I was putting the book Scrappy Firework Quilts by Edyta Sitar away now that I'm finished with my Hexagon Roses Quilt from that book and noticed I had Lil' Baskets bookmarked. So, I didn't put the book away but put it with my new project.   I've had a fabric with little baskets on it for a number of years and thought it would be nice to use for the alternate squares in the quilt. I'm shocked I have enough! It was meant to be!   So I will make baskets in the RSC color of the month as well as use a cream background and make the "basket" part of the block in reds or browns. 

Monkey Wrenches
5 inch finished
and
Switch Plates
3 x 5 finished
and 
Windmills
4 inch finished
and 
Chinese Coin strip 3.5 inches wide


Back to the pink scraps...
I had a few pink 2.5 inch pieces and along with some 1.5 inch pieces I turned those into Monkey Wrench blocks. Then any 1.5 inch pieces long enough for a Switch Plate got cut and made into those blocks. (If there were any 3.5 inch scraps left that  I could cut to make Switch Plates I would also have made the Switch Plates from those scraps. In this case I didn't.)  Then any 2.5 inch or 1.5 inch scraps I could cut into 4 identical 1.5 x 2.5 inch pieces got cut and made into Windmill blocks.  The Chinese Coin strip was what was left of the 3.5 inch scraps after I made those Monkey Wrench blocks and cut squares. 


Any scraps left got cut into squares or 1.5 x 2.5 rectangles (for Lego blocks). 

And sew on...