Teal Update (Alright......Purple, Too)

I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Well, that's only because (as with all things quilty) I have to do it my own way.  The challenge is to make one or more blocks of the color chosen for each month then put all of them together into one big rainbow quilt.  The goal I have set for myself is to make an entire charity quilt each month using that month's color.  That's a big challenge, but I'm excited about it.

Last month's teal blocks are now in a top and it's basted! 

I tortured myself with this quilt, trying to make it more interesting.  I had the whole first row put together with half-inch sashing strips .....

..... then decided it would be too much work, plus it really didn't make that much difference, and I ripped them all out.

It's times like this that I'm happy I have my trusty tool made by my friend Jack the Seam Ripper.  I want to buy a bunch of them just because they're so pretty!

I used a print from my stash for the backing.  I had bought three yards of it from The Fat Quarter Shop a while back, and forgot I had it.  It's from the Dim Dots collection by Michael Miller.  

(That stash really does come in handy sometimes!  Please tell Hubby that!)

As you know the January color was purple and I made string blocks.  I have made some progress there as well.  Hmmm, I didn't realize until I started typing that I also tortured myself trying to make this one more interesting.   I wanted to make a piano key border (really just want to use up every bit of purple I can!) ..... 

..... but it was just not working.   Someone suggested it was the orange border that wasn't working.  Not so.  I love the way it looks.  Plus it brings out the orange in the white print.

I decided on a final border using one of the purple fabrics and called it done.

This one is basted, too!

The March color will be announced tomorrow, so I need to get busy quilting or I will end up with a ton of UFO's at the end of the year.   You know what?  That is so not gonna happen!

I am linking up with So Scrappy's Linky Party.  Check it out.  There will be a bunch of teal projects there.

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Teal - Now That's More Like It

February's color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge hosted by So Scrappy is Teal.   It just so happens that teal is one of my favorite colors so that makes me happy.  (It beats purple, anyway.)  I decided to make pinwheel blocks for a baby or toddler quilt depending on how many blocks I can get from my scraps and stash.  

Half-square-triangles turned into components......

.....which turned into blocks. 

I thought I had 60 blocks made using 12 different fabrics. 

Then I counted them again to decide on a layout, but there were only 58.   I guess I'm even worse at the dreaded math than I thought.  Now I can't even count!   Anyway, I made a few more blocks, using 15 fabrics in addition to the background.

The next decision will be sashing or no sashing.  I can't think about that right now.  I'll think about that tomorrow. 

I'm linking up with the rest of the bloggers involved in this challenge over at So Scrappy Saturday.  Then I'll take a look at their blogs.  You should too!

I'm also linking up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

One more thing.  Remember I said that teal is one of my favorite colors?  I really meant it! 

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Scrappy Finishes

It's amazing how much you can accomplish when you actually spend time in your sewing room every day.  Two of the three projects I determined to complete before the end of this month are already finished.  

"Strings Around the Block" .....

and "Craving Color" .....

 ..... are made completely from my stash, leftovers, and scraps.

Another quilt I made from what I had on hand is this one made from Valentine's Day fabrics.  Some were left over from pillowcases and some from a fabric swap.

These quilts will go to Choose Life of North Alabama, a charity whose purpose is to provide training in life skills for young women facing pregnancy related decisions.   

I'm hoping to make several more for this cause before the end of the year.  If I keep sewing every day I should be able to do that!

I am linking up with "Can I Get a Whoop Whoop!" at Confessions of a Fabric Addict  and "Sew Some Love" at Kat & Cat Quilts.  Check out these blogs for some other quilty projects.


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All Kinds of Progress

I've made a lot of progress on three of the projects I shared with you in this post.   The baby quilt I've decided to call "Strings Around the Block" is actually quilted .....

..... and the binding is ready to be stitched down.

"Craving Color" is also quilted .....

(even though there was a little collateral damage when I took my eyes off the bobbin while I was binding it!  There was no way to salvedge that thread.)

..... and the binding is partially stitched down.   I may get both of the bindings finished during the Super Bowl game this evening.  (Fingers crossed!)

As for the Old Wedding Quilt, I finished putting it back together .....  

..... and it is ready to be basted.

I set goals to finish these three quilts by the end of February.  What has helped me get so much done is another one of my goals - getting out to my sewing room for at least 20 minutes a day.  I must admit that "20 minutes" often turns into more, but one of the reasons for the goal is to bring me joy.  It's working!