Rainbow Scrap Challenge Progress

I have been working (very slowly) at making the tiny 4 1/2 inch Dear Jane blocks

 for this Bright Jane Quilt as my RSC. 

I started it in 2014 after completing my Civil War Reproduction Dear Jane Quilt.

 That one took only 5 years and a masters degree.  

This time I am working on a doctorate.

 

In 2017 I joined in the monthly RSC and progressed a few blocks monthly. 

In 2018 I only made 14 blocks but that is 14 more than before.

Then I put them in a see-through box and totally misplaced them. 

I am sure they will show up eventually. 

Blessings,

Chris

Final OMG Completion for 2017

My One Monthly Goal for December was to complete the 13 blocks with corner leaves to use for the borders of my 1857 Album Quilt. I out did myself this month. Not only did I complete these 13 blocks and cut them for the borders,

but I also made no less than 12 more blocks

bringing the total to 36. Several of these were started more than a year and a half ago but they are all complete now. I still need to do a bit of embroidery to finish up a couple then comes the fun part of assembling the top as a whole. I will rearrange some of the blocks to balance out the circles and I want each of the corner leaves to be different. I can get the little girls to help.

 

Now its time to change gears and start looking forward to the Rainbow scrap challenge block colour for January and Gay at sentimental stitches has something new up her sleeve for 2018. Can hardly wait. I wonder what colour I will choose? And what number for the 12 ufos for 2018 challenge. I will try to be patient.

New Year's blessings,
Chris

Linking with    one-monthly-goal  lovelaughquilt  mid week makers  BOMs Away  let's bee social  needle-and-thread-thursday  can I get a whoop-whoop  slow sunday stitching  needleandthreadnetwork  esther's WOW  busyhandsquilts  patchworktimes 2018-ufo-challenge  pomegranateandchintz 2018-challenge/  

Dear Jane 2: 17 ufos for 2017

(there is a rainbow I promise  show-me-something-rainbow)
Although I have posted about my Dear Jane 2 quilt throughout the year, I have not done an official post for the 17 ufos for 2017.
I started this second Dear Jane quilt in the brightest colours I could find. Actually, I ordered several fat eighths bundles from  twiddletails the online store at thatquilt.blogspot. Everything you need to know about how to sew up and assemble your own Dear Jane Quilt is there. I have the D J software and preferred the foundation piecing with Carol Doak's foundation paper rather than using freezer paper. But that is my personal preference. I am using a crisp white background fabric. 

 I started the first squares in the fall of 2014 shortly after completing my first Dear Jane Quilt. 

I had 7 quilters sign up to do classes at the FARM but one by one they all dropped out before we even got started.

 But I started anyway and made blocks in fits and starts over the next 3 years. The first blocks were the very easy ones. Nine patch variations. Easey peasey. 

I started a blog called Quilting Jane at the Farm. The plan was to post tutorials for my students.

 And I did post tutorials for a while but not so much for the foundation pieced blocks since you need the software to do them that way. 

  About that time, I discovered needle turn hand applique and started several large quilts.
DJ 2 took a back seat. Sigh.
I made a few more blocks. 

Then started some machine applique using a wash away fusible.  

After a while I started on the foundation blocks with the easiest square-in-a-square.

Then in January 2017 
I discovered the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) 
and decided to join in the fun and hope that I would be motivated to make more blocks. 

And I did make a few.

And a few more.

And still more.

Each month, when the colour was announced, I pulled fabrics and got them organized with the foundation papers. It was going to be so easy. 

And finally I cut all the outer border triangles so I would have enough of each colour and have the odd sized left overs for piecing later. 

Some months I only got one block made. 

And another.

I have packed all the blocks and fabrics and books into their respective project boxes and have sent them off on a winter vacation to a sturdy shelf. For now anyway. I have a doctorate to complete. This can wait. 

Everyone needs a ten year old to visit once in a while so we can learn new things.

Blessings, 
Chris

And then her four year old sister came over and changed the design wall much to her annoyance. 

Linking with: 17-ufos-for-2017

http://superscrappy.blogspot.ca  midweek-makers  BOMs Away  sewfreshquilts   needle-and-thread-thursday   can I get a whoop-whoop   Slow Sunday Stitching   esther's WOW    needleandthreadnetwork   quilter's monday 

Summer Progress and September Goals

I can't believe that it is September already and the furnace came on early this morning. I am still processing my trip to Rwanda and am working on a couple of more detailed posts. In the meantime, here is some of what I have been working on this summer. 

BTCT Block # 23  This is all the stitching I got done in 2 weeks in Rwanda

Bright Jane  F-8

Bright Jane  Outside Border Triangles

Stitching the last 10 grapes in the Paris Airport

Embroidering stems  BTCT Block # 16

Morrell Block # 15

Morrell Blocks 13, 19, 51 and 36 all have the same saw tooth frame. I drafted up the pattern on EQ7 and foundation pieced them. Well, I still have to do the frame for # 36.
 That can be my OMG for Sept. 

September  RSC Colour is Orange. I stitch on the Bright Jane blocks on Saturdays.

Linking with Quilter's Monday  one-monthly-goal-september  RSC Rainbow Scrap Challenge  mid week makers   let's be social.  needle and thread thurs  can I get a whoop-whoop
slow sunday stitching.   estheraliu's WOW  needle and thread network.

That's about all for now. 
Blessings,
Chris

Green Bright Jane Blocks for May

In spite of all my great intentions,

I got only 4 green Bright Jane blocks made this month.

 But it is only Sunday

so I still have three days to make more.

Maybe

 

But I also had hoped to get at least this one completed for Serendipity.

 Oh well

there is always next month.

 

But wait!

I am going to Africa in 66 days

so lots of training and babysitting grand children

and family vacationing here.

 

Blessings,

Chris 

April Goals

How do we choose which project to start next? I have been busy this past month completing several quilts and thoughts of starting at least five new quilts  have been dancing through my head. I could not give in to them because I was on a mission to complete quilts.  I had to use the Bernina since the Brother machine messed up  and then I broke the acrylic darning foot from the Bernina. Fortunately, I had a metal one that I used to finish the free motion quilting for my 17-ufosin-2017 challenge. This month I will be working on beyond-the-cherry-trees-album-quilt. I am packing my bags to go to Poland to visit my family for Easter. She is not well. At 91 that is no surprise. I am taking 9 year old Ava with me. I plan to take some hand applique with me and at least one text book.

I have the entire pattern packet for the Caswell quilt from sentimental stitches in a box with fabrics and shirting  backgrounds waiting.

I also have all ten months of Susan Smith's stonefields-quilt-block-of-the-month that I bought when I was in Australia two years ago.  I have an old collection of fabrics and various backgrounds ready in a project box waiting until I get back from Poland. These have been pre-washed because they were so wrinkly from sitting in a few boxes for years.

After I get home I am going to babysit the little boy grand children for four days and doubt I will get much stitching done. But who knows, I won't get any done if I do not prep some blocks and take them along,  

I see so many interesting patterns and projects  in blogland and am tempted by many of them. I have at least 80 blogs on my blog list. Most post weekly, some monthly. And some days when I am avoiding doing any real work I will wander off on rabbit trails and see what else is out there to see. I follow lots of blogs that are doing some of the same projects I am doing so I can get encouraged. But right now it seems that they are over whelming me with so many options.

I started talking about how we choose which quilt to make next. I am drooling over  the  150+Canadian+Women weekly quilt-a-long.

And I have  been collecting the patterns while they are free to make this tribute to Canadian women as we celebrate our 150 birthday as a nation. I have fabric. I bought some of the Northcott collection at Lens Mill Store when everything with red in it was 25% off. I like sales. I spend more than $200 on fabric that day. And I already had some in my cupboard with the Canadian national anthem and some with maple leaves. It is going to be a spectacular quilt. I am only 57 blocks behind. But I have a plan. I will pull out the GO cutter and some dies with one inch and one and a half inch options and blitz them.  They are all pieced with none appliqued. I like applique, but have enough of that in project boxes.

How do I choose which quilt to make next? I usually jump in impulsively and blitz it for a while. Starting quilts is so much fun, but I have tasted what it is like to complete not one but 4 quilts this past month. I could put off starting anything new for a whole month and complete another one or two. Maybe. But I have a plane to catch  Friday and  . . .  the power just went off . . .

It was off for a couple of hours so we went to bed really early since it was dark and very quiet. Eventually we heard the furnace come on so knew the power was back on. I have a family wedding to go to today and it is overcast and gloomy this morning, but the sun is supposed to come out this afternoon.

I do not have to worry about what I will start next since I do not have time this week which will be filled with appointments like dentist, massage, chiropractor and the little boy grandchildren are coming for a sleepover just before we leave. But I do have to decide what my omg-one-monthly-goal  will be for April. I will try to complete one, just one BTCT block. 

The RSC colour this month is multicolour. Since I am doing this challenge with my Bright Jane  and there are no multi colour fabrics I plan to make more aqua blocks since I prepped a whole bunch that did not get made in Feb. 

Come back at the end of the month to see how I did.

(I just received news that my 91 year old aunt passed away last  night so we go in sadness)

Blessings, 

Chris

 linking up with needle and thread network  
 http://estheraliu.blogspot.ca/  

17-ufosin-2017 

omg-one-monthly-goal 

needle and thread thursday

confessions of a fabric addict

let's bee social 

sew fresh quilts  

rainbow scrap challenge

sunday slow stitching

 midweek-makers

moving it forward mondays 

End of February

I did not get my Simple Simon top quilted for 
omg-one-monthly-goal.

I did get some major house cleaning done 

for the open house book signing party. That was fun. 

I have been waiting for some helps to sandwich three tops to quilt. They are coming on Monday night.

I did cut and prepare the binding. Hope there will be enough since I have no more of this fabric. 

If not,  could add some other colour. 

Maybe.We shall see. If there is enough. 

I got one Bright Jane block done for the RSC challenge. 

It's the top left one. foundation pieced.

But then, that's all I had promised to do. 

These are all the aqua/turquoise blocks made so far.

 I sewed up the twelfth block for the Civil War blue $10 quilt. 

Today I am connecting all the blocks together with a border print. 

For the 17-ufos-in-2017/.

 I sewed the binding on to the Brown Crazy Patch.

Now what are the chances of finding the exact correct left over fabric 20 years after making the thing? 

I hadn't seen it for years then when I went to the fabric cupboard 

the other day to get something else, it was just laying there. 

On top of something. 

Right there.

 I switched to some hand embroidery for the BTCT blocks.

 I had forgotten how simple and relaxing embroidery can be.

  Must do more of it. Mostly outline and back stitch.

 Devan decided that this block needed some extra grapes

and glued them on last night when I turned my back while babysitting.

That's about it for now. 

We had a record setting 18C yesterday 
so I took Ava out for ice cream.

Just because we could. 

Blessings,

Chris