Showing posts with label stars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stars. Show all posts

Monday, January 8, 2024

A Few Peace Patch Stars

Since "Browns and Blues" is the theme in my sewing space this month I decided to continue working on the quilt I call Peace Patch since it contains brown. The pattern is called Blueberry Farm and is from the book Scrappy Firework Quilts by Edyta Sitar. 




Six more stars to go. That should not take long since I have all of the star points with diamonds finished. I decided to make all 12 of the stars before I add the pink background pieces.  Then I will have to decide on sashing fabrics. 

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE (word of the year)

Jan. 7 - I finally found the perfect onion ring recipe! 

Backstory - We grow a lot of onions (from plants) every year, store them, and eat about an onion a day. Since hubby will no longer be eating food because he cannot swallow and has a G-tube I am the only one in the household now eating onions. I have a lot of onions stored but didn't get them all cured properly due to hubby's hospital visits. Now some are starting to sprout and rot.  I have given some away; however, most folks I know don't really eat many onions.  So, anyway, I have been eating a lot of onions lately. I do love onion rings and have been trying out a lot of different recipes looking for what I consider the perfect onion ring. I finally found the perfect and very simple recipe in one of my old cook books - The Settlement Cookbook first published in 1901. Now I think I could eat onion rings for breakfast, lunch and dinner! 
 

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Peace

One star down. Eleven more to go. 
I've been wanting to use that brown and pink peace sign fabric for a long long time. 

A few weeks ago I mentioned I was making a few quilts I have had bookmarked for several years. This is Blueberry Farm from the book Scrappy Firework Quilts by Edyta Sitar.  Good thing I looked for errata before assembly or I would have had a few problems with adding in the background pieces. 

And speaking of errata...I made my own mistake when cutting strips for this one. I cut at 2 inches instead of 1.5 inches. I must have had my head somewhere in the clouds when I first read the directions. I only noticed after I had all 24 strip sets finished.  In the back of my mind I knew something was wrong when I was sewing the strips together but it wasn't until I started cutting pieces from the strip set that I realized my big mistake.  At first I thought I would just cut more pieces at the correct width and make more strip sets but 1) I don't have a lot of pink or brown fabrics to cut more pieces and 2) that seemed like an overwhelming task to me at this time.    Then I thought I would rip all strip sets apart and cut all of the strips to the proper 1.5 inch width. Again, that seemed like such a daunting task. I almost threw all the strip sets into a box to later cut up for Sixteen Patch blocks or something.  Then it dawned on me that I could leave the strip sets together, cut 1/4 off of the top and bottom of the strip set and then sew 1/4 inch inside all three seams within the strip sets and then trim those seams off.   That's what I did.  I was determined to get one star made before year end. And so I have. 

Now I need to change the name of my quilt from Blueberry Farm to maybe something like Peace Patch. 

And sew on...

 

Friday, November 17, 2023

It's A Top! SIS (Square in Square) #3 of 4

Square in Square (SIS) in Stars
It's a top!
60 x 78

For a couple of years one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects was Square in Square (SIS) blocks (aka Little Chips and Economy Blocks). I used 2.5 inch scraps for the centers and a black and white 2.5 inch squares cut on the diagonals for the sides and ended up with a 3 inch finished block. Well, after a couple of years of making those I ended up with a little over 300 SIS blocks.   So I divided the blocks up into a few piles and decided I could make 4 different quilts with them - four for kiddos and one for an adult. 



For the first SIS quilt I used mostly geometrics, plaids, stripes, polka dots. For the second SIS I used mostly the SIS blocks with novelties. For this one I used mostly floral and solid SIS blocks. 


I turned the SIS blocks into six inch Stars with black/white points and backgrounds a similar color to the center. 

There's twenty-one pieces (and lots and lots of scraps) in those little six inch Stars and that made for a lot of little points to match up in this top. Whew...glad that job is finished!

And sew on...



 

Saturday, September 16, 2023

Transformations

Aqua/Turquoise/Blue-Green is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. 

Several years ago I made over 300 3 inch finished Square in Square (SIS) blocks as one of my RSC projects to use scraps.   I've been slowly turning those SIS blocks into 3 different quilts.   

With a few aqua scraps this week I turned some SIS blocks into six inch Stars...

...and six inch I Spy Happy Blocks. 

And sew on...


 

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 22, 2023

Square in Square Transformations

 One of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects to make from scraps and black and white fabrics started in January 2021 was 3 inch Square in Square (SIS) blocks.  After more than a year of making them I ended up with over 300 SIS blocks. This year I divided them up into piles for 3 different comfort quilts.   I finished top #1 that alternated SIS blocks with squares in May. 

Quilt #2 will consist of 6 inch stars with SIS centers.  Since this month's RSC color is red I transformed some SIS blocks into stars with red backgrounds. 

After all of this pile of SIS blocks gets transformed into 6 inch Stars I think there will be enough for a twin sized quilt. 

These are kind of fiddly with 21 pieces in a little six inch Star but they are nice and scrappy - just the way I love a quilt.

For quilt #3 I pulled out most of the I Spy type SIS blocks and have been using them as the centers for six inch Happy Blocks that will make a fun comfort quilt for a little one. 


 

Saturday, June 10, 2023

Turning Economy Blocks Into Stars



A few years ago I made over 300 three inch Economy Blocks from scraps as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project. Now I'm making several different quilts using those Economy Blocks. 

For this quilt I used mostly the floral Economy Blocks and I'm using more scraps to turn them into Stars.  


 

Friday, May 12, 2023

Economizing


Economy Block Top #1
Economy Blocks and Squares
42 x 54

In January 2021 I started making 3 inch finished Economy Blocks (aka Little Chips) from 2.5 inch scraps in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month with b/w corners.  I think this was the last project that came out of a now emptied 2.5 inch scrap bin. 

Earlier this year I finally counted up the blocks and had well over 300 of them but they looked rather dreary all together in one quilt so I divided them up to be made into three different comfort quilts. 

This top alternates Economy Blocks with squares I pulled out of the 3.5 inch scrap squares bin. I tried to keep both the Econo Blocks and Squares to geometric shapes, plaids, dots, stripes and solids. 

I just randomly sewed Econos and Squares together. 

Economy Blocks for the other two quilt tops are being made into larger blocks as a RSC project. This month the RSC color is orange so I made a  few Stars with orange backgrounds that finish at 6 inches. 

So far I have Stars with pink, purple, orange and green backgrounds.  I forget how many Econo Blocks I counted out for this quilt.

The third quilt will use Econo Blocks as the centers of 6 inch Happy Blocks (3.5 inch economy block centers and 2 inch borders). Here are this month's with orange borders. 

For this one I tried to use mostly Econo Blocks that would be fun for an I Spy game. 

And sew on...



RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

 

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...