RSC 2015 January Challenge

This is week #4 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I am loving this block! I have seen patterns for it but when I thought about using it I didn't look up a pattern. I just used 2.5 inch squares and strips. The block measures 6.5 inches. I think I may have enough scraps of the super cute whales to make enough squares for a baby quilt. We'll see. I plan on making these for each color month and collecting them for one bigger quilt. So I made 6 today and plan on making more next week for the final week of the January blue challenge :)

Today I also opened my 60 degree triangle ruler that I have probably had for a least a year, maybe two! 

I found a fun pattern in the recent issue of Quilters World. When searching through my scraps of blue I found a WOF 2.5 inch strip of blue and knew it would be perfect to try out this pattern. What fun! I love it! I got two hexagons and 2 extra triangles from 2 2.5 inch strips. Cool! I will probably make these two hexagons into a potholder. The 2 extra triangles will go into a scrappy hexagon quilt. Now that I have tried the block and see that it works, I have a jellyroll that I want to turn into a quilt for a senior. My guild is making quilts for seniors in need this year. I think this is going to be a fun quilt to make!

Hooray for blue!! On Saturday morning you can go here to check out more yummy blue goodness!

RSC January week 3

For the Rainbow Scrap Challenge I have made one more house. I think my goal will be 3 houses/month. These are fun to make and a bit of a challenge for me trying to include as much blue as possible. I'm calling this my all-American home. Baseball is all-American and so is Elvis who lives here ;) I wonder what Elvis would think of this house? It's no Graceland but he looks happy rocking out in there. Someday I hope to go to Graceland. It's on my bucket list!

I was inspired by my friend Sheila this month. Actually she is always inspiring but I MADE something with my inspiration from her this time :) For the RSC I thought it would be fun to make 9 patches. I thought I would just make a bunch each month and at the end of the year put them all together in one big quilt or a couple of throw/lap sized quilts or something. So I started by cutting one 2.5 inch strip from 9 different blue fabrics. Most of them were full WOF but a couple had a little off the ends. I sewed them into 3 strip sets, cut them in 2.5 inch segments and then sewed those segments to make 9 patches. I ended up with 2 segments of one strip set and one segment of another strip set and fifteen 9 patch blocks. Here's where the inspiration came in: Shelia made a baby quilt wih some blue scraps this month! And I thought I could use my 15 blocks and make a baby quilt too. So I found a little piece of bright red and started planning. I was having trouble making 15 blocks work, when it dawned on me that I had 3 segments and could make one more block, so I did! The name of this quilt top is "One of these is not like the other" Lol! I like it and I am happy I did not add those segments to an already overflowing scrap bag. My daughter does not like the odd block and says it drives her crazy that one block is not like the others. I say it gives this little top character.  Most likely this little quilt will be donated whenever I get it finished and I am sure a baby will not mind an odd block in their quilt. Yea for using up more blue, and I used up almost all of that little piece of red, not even enough left for the binding! The top measures 38 inches X 38 inches right now. Thanks for the inspiration Sheila!! You can see Sheila's baby quilt here

Check out what other people are making with their blue scraps on Saturday morning here .  I need to come up with a plan to use more blue next week. Any suggestions?

Rainbow Scrap Challenge January week 2

I managed one more house block in blue! 

Check out http://superscrappy.blogspot.com to see how everyone else is doing with the challenge!

There is nothing like a new book

I love books! I love quilting books! They make me happy. I own way more than I should and I could never even make one quilt from each one in my lifetime if I tried. I read my quilt books though. I get them out from time to time. I use them for inspiration and for the handy tips in them. I always have a stack beside my bed and a couple with me most of the time!

 I had two coupons for JoAnn's and since I am on a fabric diet I decided to buy books! I had one book I knew I wanted:

I am participating in a 5 inch square swap this year and as I cut out squares to send I have some extras I am keeping for myself so I think this book will be helpful in using up my squares. What I love about this book is there are 40 quilt patterns! Lots to choose from! And even better there are instructions for EVERY single one of them in lap/throw size, twin size, and queen size! I think that is awesome!!

This is the next book I picked:

I have been looking at this book for some time now. The main reason I did not buy it before is because all of these quilt patterns are big, either queen or king size. I typically don't like to make large quilts, but I have been considering making one for my bed queen sized, and I might make a queen sized quilt for someone for Christmas. I am not sure if I will or not yet. Anyway I like the quilts in this book. They look antique and rustic. I am sure mine would not turn out that way, but it is pleasing to my eye to see it in the book. There are 2 patterns I really like:

I think I am drawn to the low volume. I love the look but I am used to very bright colors so it would be a challenge for me. I love the pop of orange and red in there! The other pattern I like is also low volume:

Triangles!! And guess who has a 60 degree triangle ruler she has never used? Me of course! I am thinking of making this one for the Christmas gift. I am just worried if I can keep it low volume. Anyway, if I decide to make that Christmas gift I am seriously thinking of this pattern. There are 10 other pretty patterns in this book as well. 

Time to fold the laundry and quit being lazy! 

Baby it's cold outside!

Brrrr.... It is 9pm and a whooping 13 degrees. I struggle in January. There is something about the new year, the winter, the lack of money, the craziness at work, and usually someone in my family gets a cold that makes January a struggle to maintain happiness. I am reminded that even though my power bill will likely be triple what it has been and we only keep our home at a chilly 64 degrees, I am thankful I have a home and food and plenty of blankets. Today I did get some sewing done. This is a commissioned baby quilt. I have to hand stitch the binding and it is done! Yea! 

I also got the fabric cut to make another blue house. I will try to get it sewn together tomorrow so I will at least have one block this week for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

School is in a two hour delay for cold temperatures and the girls and I are more than happy that we will be sleeping in! Stay warm!!

Celtic Solstice progress

Everyone is finishing Bonnie's latest mystery the Grand Illusion. I have to admit I cut one strip of fabric in clue #1 and that is as far as I got. However I have printed all of the instructions and I do plan to work on it at some point because I like what I am seeing!! In all of this mystery excitement I got out my Celtic Solstice. I love this quilt and I am not even close to being finished. I am happy that I am making progress. I think I need to make about 15 more blocks and then I can piece the center. Yea! 

These blocks are just laid out so I can start to see the design. I LOVE IT!! I hope to finish it this year. 

New Year's Resolutions update: 

I am 6 days soda free. Today was the worst day so far. I am not sure why. I have been substituting a lot of juice/punch, which probably isn't much better than soda. My goal is to switch to majority water eventually. 

I have also gone 6 days without buying any fabric AND I even went to JoAnn's. I did buy some thread and two quilt pattern books :) My daughter told me I would probably spend less money if I would just buy fabric. Haha! She may be right but I did want these books. I'll blog about them another day. 

Hooray for keeping up with New Year's Resolutions!!

Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2015

Happy New Year!! Resolutions have been made and the year is off to a start.  What are my resolutions? I don't usually share because I typically fail miserably, but I'll tell you. I made two. #1 No more soda. And #2 Severly limit fabric buying. This is day 3 and so far so good. Lol! In keeping with the limiting of buying fabric I decided to join in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge at  superscrappy.blogspot.com January is blue. I started out with a tiny house and flower block. It's very cute, but oh what a challenge. I will likely turn this one into a potholder. 

On facebook I am in a group doing a block of the month, so I am combining it and the RSC. I love how this block turned out! Here is January's block:

And finally I decided I really want to make a rainbow house quilt. So I found a different house pattern to try. This one is from the pattern Dwell which is in the book Simply Retro. I like this one! I made it with a Mr. Magorium vibe. If you have never seen the movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium you should put it on your list to watch. It is a great movie :) 

I am going to try to make one or two more blue houses this month for RSC using the house patterns from Dwell. 

I have a baby quilt I need to sandwich and quilt and finish up. That will probably be what I work on in the coming days. 

May your 2015 be happy and healthy!