Last week I was getting nothing done, but now I’m on a roll. Days of sunshine on more snow have definitely cheered me up. For my Rainbow Scrap Challenge batik blocks I finished the red and the yellow blocks, seven of each.

I also made the yellow 8-inch improv block.

Now for something new and exciting. I have accumulated a bag of little scraps, not nearly as many as some of you industrious folks have in your stash. When I looked through them, I realized that I had basically two color types. There are the bright colors and the muted colors. After working with color for many years, I know that they work best separately. So I took the time to sort them into two boxes.

As you can see in the box of muted scraps, quite a few have already been stitched into pairs. This was from an abandoned project way back. So my next step will be to begin stitching those pairs into larger pieces. I’ve decided to go for 12-inch finished blocks.

This is really a fun project for me. I love working on something to see where it ends up without any planning ahead. Check with me next week to see what’s happened. I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you friends have got going.

I’m linking up with Angela at http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/and Cynthia at http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/

I’m beginning to understand why bears hibernate. They know how to keep warm and snuggly. It’s been bitterly cold here lately for a few weeks and no end in sight. Now we have more snow in the mix as well. My mind tells me that it’s perfect weather for quilting, but my body doesn’t seem to agree. I’ve just been plodding along.

In January I was working on my deadline for the Endeavourers challenge. I got this published last week. So now it’s time for catching up on January red blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and making yellow ones.

For quite a while I’ve had the idea of doing batik squares surrounded by black. This would be another RSC piece for this year. I went through my batik charm squares to see if I had enough for each month of the challenge. This was a lot of fun and I finally broke it down to seven or eight squares of each color. It’s going to be a rainbow quilt, but I’m not sure what layout to use.

. At first I planned to do a straight rainbow strip design, seven squares wide by eight rows long. But today I thought I might want to do it more scattered. So for now i’m just taking each group and adding a black one and a half inch strip to one side of each block.

As for the yellow, my first job is to make an improv block, 8 1/2 inches. Yellow is tough to work with because there is such a limited range of contrast.

These are a few examples where other colors add interest. Batiks seem to offer a better range of yellow choices. Now I have to get busy and get some things done before next weekend rolls around.

I’ll be enjoying seeing and getting ideas from all of you. I really could not be a quilter without having your input.

I’m linking up with Angela at http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/and Cynthia at http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/

This is my second Endeavourers challenge. I really look forward each time to pushing myself out of my comfort zone with improv quilting. The wallhanging size works very well for me.I decided to emphasize texture by avoiding color contrast and prints which would compete for attention.

Then for inspiration I went first to Pinterest. There were many examples of shadowboxes, book covers, prayer flags and wallhangings embellished with a vast variety of fabric collages. Many contain other elements such as paper, postage stamps, photos, medals and embroidery.

I have many pieces of old lace, crochet, and other fabric with texture. After searching through all the nooks and crannies, I collected quite a few samples that would be useful. Most of them are off white so that’s the color that I worked with.

The fabric I chose for the front and the back was a reproduction of old handwriting. I fused both front and back to the batting then did straight line quilting in a grid. Then I pressed a very very long strip of machine crocheted open work. This was stitched down to make a nice frame for the piece.

At that point I decided to add pink accents to give a little color and liveliness. This was my first rough placement of the pieces.

Once I had the edge pieces stitched down, I picked out a fragile hankie with some holes in it. I gathered it at the center, tied it with a piece of pink lace and stitched it down to the top border. The rest of the pieces were laid out in a gentle curve.

I decided to fill in the remainder of the circle with buttons chosen from my old Mason jar. Most of them are mother of pearl and a few pink ones. I like the way the pearly ones add a little glimmer.

Here is my texture challenge.

There is just a tiny bit of red for RSC19, and made good use of odds and ends.

I’m linking up with Angela at http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/and Cynthia at http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/

However, I’m happy to say that I did complete my One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts. I started the month with two charm packs of black and white prints, some including bright colors. After deciding to make a row quilt, I added some lovely solids to go with them. This was the first row that I finished early in the month.

Here is my finish for OMG.

The finish has been done in time to show my goal was met.

I have really enjoyed the challenge this month. Don’t know if I’ll be working on one every month, but I think I’ll be doing it more this coming year.

https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2019/01/one-monthly-goal-january-finish-link-up.html

Somehow this month does not seem fair. I feel like I’m losing out on a Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

However, I’m happy to say that I did complete my One Monthly Goal already. I started the month with two charm packs of black and white prints, some including bright colors. After deciding to make a row quilt, I added some lovely solids to go with them. This was the first row that I finished early in the month.

I linked this up with the One Monthly Goal start at Elm Street Quilts.

The finish has been done in time to show my goal was met.

Meanwhile I’ve been working very very slowly on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks. For my second block this month I’ve only been able to pull some batik red charms together.

I can almost start drooling over these luscious prints. Not only are the cherries there, but I can almost taste strawberries and raspberries. With all the terrible freezing cold we’ve had, anything to remind me of summer really helps.

These charms will be part of a rainbow batik quilt I’ll be making for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year. You will get to see these red blocks next week.

I hope you have all had a fun and productive month with your scraps.

I’m linking up with Angela at http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/and Cynthia at http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/

My iPad battery was not recharging today, so I published a very brief post. However, my tech savvy granddaughter came to the rescue this evening with a replacement hookup for the charger and I breathed a long sigh of relief.

So now it’s almost midnight and I’m getting the unabridged, but still brief, version ready to publish.

I have all eight strips of my black and white quilt finished and many of them with black strips in between. However I have not decided on the final sequence for the strips.

This is due by the end of the month for my entry in One Monthly Goal.

I’ve had fun working out each strip with a variety of prints and colors. The prints are from two different charm packs purchased online several years ago from Missouri Star Quilts.

I didn’t have time this week to complete another block for the RSC 19 challenge. I’m sure all of you will have a lot more to show than I do, so I’m looking forward to seeing them all this weekend.

I’m linking up with Angela at http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/and Cynthia at http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/

For my first post of 2019 I’ve so far begun two projects. The first one I’ve joined in the One Monthly Goal for completing the top, as it appeared there last week.

This is another row quilt for Project Linus, using black and white charm packs along with solid colors. However, I got off to a bad start by piecing it without an overall plan in mind. This row had twelve blocks, at 54 inches too long for the 50×60 inch fleece backing. By chopping off two blocks it is now about 44 inches wide, requiring only 80 charms instead of 96. Whew, time saved.

However, I made the mistake of adding the black sashing on three rows without taking into account the dark/light positions. Two steps back right there, ripping and splicing to clear up my mistakes. Here are my markings for reworking the strips.

So, with the mistakes fixed, I played it safe by piecing dark/light pairs before doing any further damage.

One step at a time seems to be my speed these days.

The second project is my first Rainbow Scrap Challenge block, an 8-inch scrappy improv block in red. I plan on at least one or two more types of blocks each month.

I’m excited to see what everybody’s going to be doing this year with RSC19 and all the other plans and challenges ahead.

I’m linking up with Angela at http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/and Cynthia at http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/