Purple Month Nine of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge--post 10

Purple Strings

Goal number three on my September list was to piece the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks. This month the color is purple. At the beginning of the month I was organizing a bin. In the the bin were not one but two small bags of purple scraps. Adding the contents of my dedicated string bag made for a plethora of purple!

One purple block

I'm coming to the end of the constant fabric and likely I will not have enough to finish the project; but, I have another piece of fabric with dots that will work. I would have had enough of the fabric had I not changed the block orientation back in March! I'm fine with not having enough. I'm working with scraps and using it up works for me!

Two purple blocks

I had planned to make three purple blocks. I pieced enough purple for three blocks. However, I discovered that even after raiding my chunk drawers, I don't have enough variety of black strings to piece the third block. I still have enough gray strings. I did make an online order for a whole bunch of fat quarters that are a small print on a black background that appear to read as a neutral. If I use all of those, I will be asking my small group to send me some black strings. . .LOL!

Remaining purple scraps

After making these blocks, I had to see what all the blocks together look like so far. This is going to be a big quilt. . . .about 104 inches square as I'm planning to have a four by six block design. I am planning to piece grey and black string blocks to border this piece. It is likely that I will continue making blocks into next year. For sure, I want an orange, a red and a pink block. As for the other two blocks, I'm sure Gertie, my inner squirrel, will have an opinion or two to offer!! She's been telling me yellow and aqua.

All of the blocks so far

My knee surgery was last Monday. My surgeon left her initials on the knee to be revised. I said. . .what? Where is the love? She kind of looked at me and I said I think that knee needs a little pre love. How about leaving a heart? She thought that was a good idea. She said she would have to add a heart in the future.

The surgery was long (4.5 instead of three hours) and successful. I could straighten and bend my leg the day after more than I could before surgery! The top part of the prothesis was loose so I have a whole new one. I hope that is the last knee surgery I will have! I was in the recovery room for two hours--I remember nothing but the last 30 minutes or so. Because of the length of the surgery, I got to spend the night.

Marked and ready for surgery

I experienced hours of nausea. I was able to come in the afternoon the day after surgery. I was sent home with a wound vac. It is a small item that hooks to a tube in my spongy bandage. At intervals, the machine slowly compresses the bandage against the wound to remove any weeping (in two days there wasn't any). The compression blows air on the wound and helps it heal faster.

Homr

I also was introduced to a drug that blocks the nerves so there is less pain. The honeymoon from the drugs injected during the surgery have worn off. I have a lot of muscle soreness and stiffness. In the next week, this will lessen. I have less actual knee pain than I had before surgery. Recovering from knee surgery was goal number 11 on my September list.

Linking to Finished or Not Friday, So Scrappy and Sew & Tell.

Summer Virtual Retreat

At the end of September, our guild held a virtual retreat. It started on Thursday and ended on Sunday. Because my family was in town until late Friday afternoon, I didn't really check in until after my daughter and granddaughter departed for London.

Toilet paper roll challenge

In our retreat bag, we were gifted an empty toilet paper roll. We were challenged to make something useful from it. There were some awesome entries. I had help. My little four year old carefully covered it and we made a cord holder out of it. She had fun. I had fun watching her carefully select just the "right" piece of fabric and glue it in place. 

Cord holder

The cup contains the Elmer's glue school glue container. The plastic zip lock bag contains a wet paper towel to wide fingers when there is glue build up. The newspaper grocery ads protect the surface from errant drop action.

There was a mini-precision workshop. We were gifted a small wool pressing bar and a bottle of a pressing spray that our retreat leader had made out of vodka and water. It really gets out the wrinkles from the fabric. We were gifted some fabric that was in the color of our team. My team was the red team. The pieces were cut on an Accu-Quilt machine. 

After hearing that the blocks were coming out small, I compared the Accu-Quilt piece to the piece I had cut. My piece was slightly larger which would make a difference. When I sewed my blocks, I was careful to sew a generous scant 1/4 inch. 

Comparing my cut with the Accu-Quilt cut

When I pressed, that red fabric wanted to shrink. It wasn't a hundred percent cotton so that could also have been a reason why people had trouble getting their blocks to size.

The blocks were called Jarts after the lawn game from the 70s. That is my era; but, I wasn't that familiar with the game. The block looked like Bonnie Hunter's current leader/ender, Tulip Swirl. 

We were to make four blocks. There are many ways to put these blocks together. The quilts made with the Jarts will be fun and will provide comfort to someone. By the way, my blocks were right on at four and half inches! Whew! As for the size issue of the red fabric, I learned 

Label and four Jart blocks

that it is important to place the fabrics carefully on the die to avoid shifting. Shifting could have happened with the cuts that I received.

We sewed. There were guest lectures. One was about Accu-Quilt dies. The lecturer rents space and the dies so people can cut out their projects much quicker than at home. One lecturer talked about how to prepare your projects to take to the longarmer and a little about the longarmer process. Another lecturer talked about the importance of keeping your machine clean and oiled.

Rail Fence variation charity blocks

We played BINGO. I won a game and a twenty-five dollar gift certificate to a great quilt shop that is in my friend Nancy's garage. I'll be going to visit after I recover from knee revision surgery. My surgery is tomorrow!

We were given a white square of fabric to make a label. Since our quilt show is around the corner, it was an opportunity for people to make a label. Some people were creative. I missed some of the directions so mine is plain. These will be trimmed to three and a half inches and used to label the quilts made with the dart blocks. 

Yellow string Rainbow Scrap Challenge block

We also made a second charity block using two colors. One color had to be a neutral and the other fabric could be of your choosing. The directions were from a four minute Sewing Parts On Line FaceBook video. 

These blocks will be used to make quilts for a kid's camp. If I were to make these, I'd heavily starch the fabrics as all the edges on are on the bias. 

Green string Rainbow Scrap Challenge block

While I like participating in the retreat activities, I really like making progress on my own project. This retreat had so many activities and so many people that needed a lot of help that I wasn't able to work on my own projects as much as I had anticipated. I did piece the yellow and green string blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

In November, one of my small groups will be the hosts of a virtual retreat. I like attending a virtual retreat because I can eat my own food, sleep in my bed and not have to pack, cart, unpack, cart and repeat my supplies. I also won't forget an item. I like to listen to people chat. I get inspired and pick up a gem of a tip too! 

Sharing what I did on this retreat was goal number four on my September goal list.

I haven't been commenting on your posts because Blogger hasn't updated my blog roll in at least six days. Chantal, At the Corner of Scrap and Quilts, had a similar issue which resolved itself after several weeks. I'm hoping for the the same. Linking to Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell and To Do Tuesday,

Garden Flowers Is A Flimsy--post two

Progress mid July

Warning: this is one long post with many photos! Grab a cuppa! 

Goal number five on my September list was to share my progress on the Garden Flowers project. The last time that I posted about this project was July 22. I had moved from the plan of orienting the flower blocks like photos on a wall to arranging them around a center medallion.

Adding the sawtooth border and beginning to fill in the background 

I had raided the parts department for the leftovers that became the center star, points in the outer string border, half square triangles that I had incorrectly cut for the last Bonnie Hunter Mystery and an arm/hand I had made for a previous book club project.

Changing the position of the hand/arm

I had about a yard of yellow fabric to use for the background. This was a scrap from a previous project. I knew I couldn't make cutting errors because of the limited quantity! When I was creating the center medallion, I planned ahead so that the sides measure a full finished inch so that I could piece the sawtooth border. 

Adding a tiny spacer

When it came to inserting the flower blocks into the sawtooth border, I decided that I didn't want to cut into a HST to piece in the flower blocks. There would be too many seams and the design would get lost. I pieced a larger white triangle in this area. My goal was to piece as few Y seams as possible. Sometimes I had to add a spacer to make the pieces fit. it was like working on a jigsaw puzzle! If my flower blocks had finished to six inches, I would have caused myself less figuring!

Adding more background

For the most part, once a piece was in place, I left it and worked to piece one section at a time. I did consider eliminating the top flower; but, decided that it added to the overall design.

More background in place

It was scary to watch the remaining background fabric diminish. It was exciting to see the piece take shape with every addition so I was encouraged to keep going.

Flowers in place, hand/arm in place

While I would have liked to have had the top flower closer to the group, I was over Y seams! I pinned the hand/arm in place and began constructing the borders.

Beginning to add the background borders

Truly, the background chunk was down to a few pieces. I decided that I should take another look at perhaps adding a different shade of yellow as the borders because I didn't think I had enough.

Auditioning alternate background border fabrics

One look at the existing yellows with this project and I knew the current background was the only option. I did more math and measured the existing scrap. It was possible that I had enough if I didn't have math errors!

Determining the best use of the remaining background fabric

The reality is I have math errors. I measured twice. I measured twice again and cut once. With each slice of the background fabric, I said a silent prayer that I my math was correct!

Background borders added

In the end, there was enough background fabric. I breathed a sigh of relief! 

Leftover background

There had been enough background fabric after all. Although, the scraps remaining were little!

Auditioning more sawtooth HSTs

I liked what I had created! I began auditioning the string borders. I allowed my brain to think about quilting motifs in the open background spaces. It was then that I felt the design was lacking some spark. It was too plain.

Cutting more HSTs

There were a few remaining HSTs so I placed them around the flower blocks. I considered stopping with adding a few here and there; but, the center didn't feel finished. I made more HSTs. I auditioned them  almost encircling the center.

Piecing HSTs strips into the background

I liked the effect as it felt more finished. Then, I had to psych myself up to piece those HSTs into the top. I had sweaty palms and heart palpitations removing the borders and cutting into the finished top!

Half of the HSTs added

Because of how the flower blocks are inserted into the center medallion, there is no way that the HST strips would line up. I decided I was okay with a little jog!

An HST border added

Inserting the second half of the HSTs was challenging. I spent about two days adding this border. I did use a few of the remaining background scraps to fill the spaces. The repetition of the HST border was a good addition. Now the center felt finished! 

Adding the upper string border

I added the upper string border and smiled! 

Finished flimsy

I added the lower string border and smiled some more! I'm glad I challenged myself to add those HSTs! I did find a pink print for the backing and have layered and glue basted it. It is ready for quilting which will happen after I recover from my knee surgery.

Linking to: Finished or Not Friday and Patchwork and Quilts.

Lala's Irish Chain Sew Along With Melva--post 2

Week 5 sewing patchwork pairs using the background

Goal number eight on my September list was to make progress on Lala's Irish Chain Sew Along with Melva. About three weeks after Melva released the clue, I did sew the clue for week five which was to sew patchwork squares using the background as one square of the squares.

Midway through week six clue

Week six clue was to make more patchwork squares. I was glad that I was behind because it gave me a chance to see how the constant fabric was used in the design. I chose to randomly put nine units into a group. 

Week six clue finished

The piles were colorful when I had finished! Week seven clue was putting the clues from week five and six together into the chain blocks. I followed Melva's previous pressing directions. The seams nested together so stitching the blocks together went without a lot of angst as long as Gertie, my inner squirrel didn't distract me! 

Five patch block

While I did try to distribute the patchwork colors throughout the blocks, it didn't always work. I also tried to not have the same fabric next to each other. I also tried to go for a random placement. These plans didn't always work. I knew the teal and the green were close in value so those blocks sometimes get lost. Some of my lime greens were also too close in value to my colorful squares to create a crisp chain.

Adding the five patch blocks to the nine patch blocks

In the end, the colors are bright and happy. I'm reminded of jelly beans when I look at the colorful squares. The background fabric is fun. I do like the ideas I tried. I am happy to have used scraps.The five patch blocks have the look of being out of focus which is unique and might work in the end. For sure, it will be a quilt that will warm someone!

In progress photo

I continued piecing blocks. The more I pieced, the more defined the design became. Still not "crisp" but, fun all the same. Once I had all the blocks pieced, I looked through my stash for a border fabric. I came across a fabric that would be a great main fabric so I may try this pattern again! I auditioned a few fabrics and in the end, I decided I wouldn't add the border.

Completed blocks ready to be sewn into rows

Friday, I managed to stitch the rows together. Because I mostly paid attention to Melva's pressing instructions, my seams nested nicely. It currently measurers about 70 by 80.

Finished top

I plan to find a backing from my stash. . .I have a stripe in mind to be supplemented with leftovers from the front. I auditioned a green fabric from my stash that will be the binding.

Green binding

Piecing the back is a project for another day! It would be great if I could get the back pieced and the project to the longarmer before my knee surgery next week. Linking to: Oh Scrap and Sew & Tell.

August Recap and September Goals

Scraps used in the Magnificent Mystery

My August goals were:

✔1. Select fabric for Magnificent Mystery. Begin piecing the clues.--I pieced the blocks for the first clue. I'll document my progress next month!

✔2. Select fabric for Redwork Baubles Sew Along that Days Filled With Joy is holding. Work on the redwork embroidery, It began in June; but, Gertie was insistent! I did begin the embroidery.

✔3. Document progress for Melva's Sew Along. You can see my fabrics here.

✔4. Piece the string blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This month the color is yellow. I've stitched the yellow blocks so I will stitch one more yellow and one more green block instead!

Blocks pieced together for Garden Flowers

✔5. Sew strings with my youngest granddaughter.

✔6. Make a couple swimsuits with and for the youngest granddaughter.

✔7. Make progress on the book club quilt (AKA Garden Flowers).--I pieced the top together. It felt too plain. I pieced more green strings for a top and bottom border. It still felt too plain so I came up with a plan to add half square triangles. I will make progress on that project next month!

Butterfly collage quilting progress

✔8. Make progress on my rug weaving. It is now 24 1/2 inches in diameter. It grew four and a half inches this month. Last month it grew five inches. As it grows, it takes longer to get around the circle! My goal was to work on it at least three hours each week. I have about a third of the bottom flannel sheet and all of the top sheet left to strip. 

✔9. If the longarmer has quilted it, finish Triple Treat.

✔10. Document a mug rug from Rita's braid scraps.

✔11. Document my marbling experience. We had a second marbling session. I believe the new paints gave us brighter colors and stayed better on the fabric. Unfortunately, our fabric picked up the humidity in the air and we dried the fabric in the dryer. The heat caused the alum in the fabric to breakdown the fabric fibers. We had holes! Alum is used to help the paint adhere to the surface. We had to throw away our pieces. We are learning and next year, we will play more! I liked the effect we had with over printing!

Design ready for printing

✔12. Make progress quilting the butterfly.--I've quilted most of the black areas. I've started quilting the green areas. It is a slow process; but any progress is fantastic!

With all the visiting and family activities that occurred, I had a successful month! (My daughter and granddaughter spent most of three weeks with us!) I am most tickled with finishing Triple Treat! It is my twelfth finish for the year!

Fabric Accounting:

Current Month:

Fabric in: 6 yards

Fabric out: 12.25 yards

Net loss for the month: 6.25 yards 

Year to Date:

Fabric in: 49.25 yards

Fabric out: 124.75yards 

Design printed

Net loss: 75.50 yards 

Best Book of the month: Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Girls by Kate Moore. I had no idea that so many young girls who painted watch dials the factory were unknowingly poisoned with radium. A hard read for all the lives lost; but, the courage and tenacity the women summoned to fight the company ultimately improved workers safety for us all. Radium was known to be dangerous by 1908, the women painted in the 1920s and 30s. Yet, issues still occurred as late as 1978!

My September goals are:

1. Document making a special pillow case for the youngest granddaughter.

2. Document the activities the youngest granddaughter did during her visit.

Rug Weaving progress

3. Piece the string blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This month the color is purple.

4. Share what I did at the summer virtual retreat.

5. Share my progress on the book club quilt Garden Flowers.

6. Make progress quilting the butterfly.

7. Make progress on my rug weaving.

8. Make progress on Lala's Irish Chain.

9. Determine what to do for the next book club quilt. We are reading Radium Girls by Kate Moore.

10. Do what I can to make progress on the Magnificent Mystery and Floral Baubles sew alongs.

Parts to the Lala Sew Along

11. Recover from knee revision surgery--Because 23 months after knee joint replacement surgery, I still have pain and loss of mobility. The surgeon determined the prothesis is loose. To fix it, the part will be chipped away from the bone and a new part inserted. It is a longer surgery (about three hours) and longer recovery because the prothesis is larger. I have to stay overnight in the hospital.

Linking to: I Quilted This, Patchwork and Quilts, To Do Tuesday.

Triple Treat Is A Finish!--post 5

A great way to end the month is with a FINISH! I began this project July 2022. It was the leader/ender project that Bonnie Hunter shared that year. As I pieced blocks for my projects, I would stitch leader/ender Triple Treat blocks along the way. Four years later, I finished the project.  The Gresham Senior Center quilt group longarmed the quilt using Bamboo Swirls as the pattern.

Bamboo swirl quilting pattern

I wanted a pantograph pattern that had a curve and would provide texture.  I like the texture that Bamboo Swirls provides to the quilt. 

View of the quilting on the pieced back

Last Sunday, I made a label and sewed the binding to the quilt. 

Sewing the binding

The hand stitching that remained was to stitch the corners closed on the binding, to sew two edges of the label to the quilt back and to sew the sleeve. The label came from the free table. The open lines are where I will write the recipient's name. I took handwork on Monday to an in person sew day with my "Sew Happy" group and FINISHED!

Label

I sure like the pieced back and I LOVE how so many scraps of all sorts became best buddies in this project. Who knew so many friends could and would be made!

Pieced back

The finished size of the quilt is 60 x 72 inches. I have a recipient in mind; but, the gifting will have to wait until much later in the year. I used 10.75 yards of fabric. I had a net loss of 6 yards of fabric this month from my stash. For the year, I have a net loss of 75.50 yards. 

Finished front

Previous posts are below:

Getting started, Making progress, Becoming a top, It's a top.

Linking to: Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell, To Do Tuesday, My Favorite Finish and Finished or Not Friday.