Cut The Scraps Challenge

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Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict heads a quilt ministry that makes quilts for people who need a special hug.  When Sarah  announced a Scrappy Block Challenge using the methods described by Joan Ford in her book, Cut The Scraps!, I was ready and willing to try it out.  Joan's method recommends cutting your scraps into squares of 2, 3.5, and 5 inches.  Try as I might, I couldn't come up with anything original.  In spite of the fact that my idea is far from original, I had lots of fun playing with my scraps.  The block/blocks I came up with can actually be very versatile.  It is based on the old reliable 9 patch using 4 patch blocks made of 2 inch squares in the corners and varying the center.  In 2 of the blocks, I used a solid in the middle.   The 2 patch strips are made from 2 strips of fabric 2 by 3 1/2 inches cut from 5 inch squares. The solid square used in the middle of 2 of the blocks is 3 1/2 inches.  Each of the blocks is 9 1/2 inches square.

Sarah is hoping to use some of the blocks that were designed for the challenge to make quilts for her ministry.  The blocks above are obviously not sewn together so that I could demonstrate their versatility.  I'll be cutting more so that I can sew all of the samples and send them to Sarah.

It's Here

I'm so excited!  One of the Traveling Stash boxes has arrived at my house.  With Sharon V's  help, I have been tracking the boxes and hoping to get a chance to open one and touch everything inside.
This box originated with  Brandie at ABC then went to Sunny at Sunny-Quilting Dream and now to the very lucky me.
Inside are:  wonderful quilting books, applique patterns, fat quarters, some blocks, a magazine, and some yardage (the scissor is mine, I used it to open the box).  I promise I will update this post tomorrow with the items I am removing as well as the items I will replace them with.

 

If you want to be the next lucky recipient of the "Pass It On" Box there are a few rules you need to agree to

You must be a blogger so you can "pass it on" to another blogger and keep us posted about where it's going.

You must be willing to ship it on to the next person.

You may take anything you like, but for every item you remove, you must replace it with another item.

Items do not need to be new, but if they are not new, they must be gently used.

You may fill the box with:  orphan blocks, books, patterns, notions, rulers, and definitely fabric.

There is a note in the box that logs where the box has been.  Please add your info and place the note back in the box.

Sorry, but because of shipping costs the box cannot be shipped internationally.

You know you want to see everything inside.  Leave me a comment and I will announce on Wednesday who the next lucky recipient will be.

When I Should Have Been Quilting

I just wasted a perfectly good morning playing with word pictures on this site.  Taxedo allows you to make word pictures using template shapes.  You can choose your blog or come up with a word list that you would like to use.  These are a few I came up with.

The first image was from a list of words I typed.  The next 3 were made using the blog choice.  Unfortunately, if you use the blog app, you don't have control over which words it chooses.  As a tea addict, the teapot and cup were a perfect choice for me, but there are lots of others.  Maybe I'll play some more another day, but for now, I'll sew a bit.

2012 NewFO Challenge

It's the last day of January.  Time to take inventory of projects that I began this month and to make plans for February.  Barbara at Cat Patches has invited quilters to start one new thing every month as part of NewFO Challenge 2012.  Luckily, the challenge is to only to start new things, but you're not required to finish them.
This month, I started 3 new quilts and worked on  2 UFOs from 2011.

I enjoyed making the quilt for Marcia's Scrappy Quilt Challenge so much that I made a second quilt from the same tutorial.  Once again, no yardage was cut for this quilt top.  All of the fabric was from my scrap box.  The other 2 quilt tops I made are shown below.

I also worked on blocks that I originally made for the Charity Quilt Smackdown on Debra's blog back in August.  The star pattern used was scrappier than I am used to so I decided to make my blocks more uniform.  I put them away because I didn't really like some of the fabric combinations I used.  Debra said to sew them up into a top and send them down to Texas.  She will quilt it on her long arm and give it to a local veteran's group.  I'm sure her expert quilting will perk them up a bit.

I've also been putting together blocks I started back in August that were designed by Sharon of Vrooman's Quilts.  She used a jelly roll.  My version uses strips from my scrap bin with a polka dot print. I should be able to finish putting the top together tomorrow.

Luckily, this picture was taken before all of the blocks were sewn together because a few are facing the wrong way.
I am linking up to the 2012 NewFO Challenge at Cat Patches' blog.  Stop over and see what other bloggers have started this month.

Marcia's Crafty Sewing and Quilting Scrappy Quilt Challenge

You may remember that I wrote about Marcia's Scrappy Quilt Challenge on January 6th.  I showed you the scraps I planned to use.

Now it is time to see the finished top.

I love it.  My daughter said, "That's a great quilt!  Some little child is going to love that."  Two minutes later she burst my bubble saying, "Do you realize that none of those blocks are the same?"  I tried explaining about using the pattern from the Scrappy Challenge, but she wasn't buying it.  She decided that she prefers quilts that use the same blocks throughout.  Boring!
I didn't cut into any yardage for this quilt.  The strips for the borders were cut for another quilt and misplaced.  There they were waiting in the fabric closet.  At 33 x 41, this will be a good donation quilt for a small child.  Thanks Marcia.  Whether I win the long arm quilting or not, this was a fun quilt to make.  I've already cut some focus fabric to make another one.

Somebody's Got to Win This. Why Not Me or You?

I was visiting a blog this morning and noticed something interesting on the side bar.  The Quilter's Club of America Fabric for Life Sweepstakes is offering 50 prizes.  I think one of them should go to me.  If not me, than one of my web friends.  Let's face it.  It's a clever way to add thousands of quilters to their mailing list, but suppose one of us wonderful quilters wins.  I was sucked into the Greedy Zone and entered.  If I win, I promise I'll share.

On My Weigh with Annie

Annie of  Annie's Ruby Slipperz has started a program to encourage everyone to get healthy in the New Year.  Annie's posting some great tips on nutrition and ways to keep yourself motivated.  There will be an opportunity to check in and report how you are doing every Saturday.  I don't know about anyone else, but being part of a group helps to keep me honest and motivated about my goals.
Annie is so nice.  I wanted to post her button for the On My Weigh project here on my blog, but I didn't see any html code.  I left a comment asking for help and within a few minutes she got back to me and offered her help.  Of course, it was right there staring me in the face.  I think the fat cells are affecting my thinking.  I really need to join On My Weigh