Black & White Blocks

The colors for RSC13 in October are black and grey. Since the popularity of grey occurred after my UFO creating time I really don't have any grey scraps so I went with black & white. Here are my 8 Crossroads blocks.

Black & white creates such drama. Isn't that shoe print great?

I also made 8 Birds in the Air blocks using many of the same fabrics.

It's going to be so fun to start putting all of the colors together soon - can't wait!

Last night my daughter and I went down to Minneapolis/St. Paul to visit my sister and we spent a wonderful evening seeing this...

Every time I see Wicked it gets better and better. Last night's Elphaba had the most amazing voice and we all agreed she was the best we'd seen. There is so much to love about this musical... if you have never seen it you MUST!! It's hard to write about much quilting tonight because I've got Wicked songs/scenes running on a loop through my head.

I'm linking up to ScrapHappy Saturday@soscrappy.

Friday Finish

It's always fun to have a finish to share on Friday! Patriotic 9 Patch (formerly QOV 9 Patch) is in the DONE! column for my October goals. I had planned to donate this one to Quilts of Valor but it ended up just shy of the minimum size so I will either donate it to Project Linus or keep it on hand for when a need arises. I really like this one so it might just end up living with me.

This quilt was started in 2008 with the leftover 2.5" strips from Patriotic Squares which was donated to Quilts of Valor. I'm such a fan of 9 patches so that was an easy choice and paired them up with the metallic star fabric.  When I ran out of patriotic fabrics I mixed in a few reds and lights to make enough blocks.

I found some gorgeous red,white & blue King Tut thread that I used for quilting. The color changed often and I tried to capture how pretty it turned out by adjusting the contrast a bit on the close-up. Originally I was going to quilt it crosswise too but I really liked the channel look so I laid it out on my cutting table to ponder while I worked on another quilt. I didn't change my mind so moved on to the binding stage.

I'd had a blue binding picked out but one of the things I liked about the top was how the reds were scattered throughout the 9 patches so I replaced it with a red instead. I think it was the right choice. The backing is a wide small dot print which shows off the variegated thread nicely.

I pulled my old cutting table out of the storage closet and set it at medium height to the left of my sewing table for additional support. This was suggested by a few of you after I quilted 9 Patch Swap last month and it made a huge difference in my quilting comfort.

My trio of Quilt Inspectors also approved! Usually they wander in and out one at a time so this cracked me up. Jax is in motion reacting to my attempt to get their attention... he is the people pleaser of the group.

One last thing... I will never tire of LOVING the thread cutter on Mr. Juki. Those teeny little tails just make wonder "How can it do that?".

What I Learned:

• Trust my instincts... sometimes less quilting is more. It's OK to change plans midway.
• Use more red!
• It's worth it to set up the extra table when quilting a larger top.

I'm linking up to Feline Friday@sarah did it!, TGIFF@Quilter in the Closet, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop@Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link A Finish Friday@Richard and Tanya Quilts, Needle & Thread Thursday@My Quilt Infatuation and Finish it Friday@Crazy Mom Quilts.

WIP Wednesday

Kitchen Sink Feed Sacks became a flimsy yesterday afternoon and it seems that pushing forward has not only given me some quilty mo-jo back but also helped me get a handle on why I'm not particularly fond of it. The sample quilt in Kim Brackett's book "Scrap-Basket Surprises" was done in 30's pastel prints which are very similar in value.

I think my version has too much going on... brights, lights, darks of all types of fabrics and the block itself isn't interesting enough to carry it off. My eye keeps trying to find a pattern of some kind! A good lesson learned and now I'm actually kind of excited about trying this pattern again as a low volume quilt. I also think it would work well with medium/light blues and greens (kind of a sea glass effect).

Once I figured this out it was kind of liberating to turn my mind off, do some speed piecing and get the top assembled. One of the reasons I love making quilts for Project Linus is to play with color, new patterns and new techniques. They don't have to be masterpieces to comfort a child!

Just about the time I was heading outside to take some pictures we had snow flurries so the flash pic inside will have to do. I'm going to put this top right into the quilting queue and hopefully it will be my WIP Finish for October. How radical is that... to actually start a quilt and finish it in the same month? Perhaps I can take that as a sign of my quilting life post UFO Countdown!

What's Hot:

• Thimbleberries Jacob's Ladder - quilting stage
• RSC13 blocks - black & white Birds in the Air and Crossroads blocks for Saturday's post
• And Sew On blocks - aiming for 2 blocks this week
• QOV 9 Patch - quilting stage
• Bright Hopes - sandwiched and ready to quilt

It's a bit early for snow around here so I'll end my post with another picture of Kitchen Sink Strings. It looks like another gloomy day in the making... good thing I've got pretty fabrics to play with in my quilting room!

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday@Freshly Pieced.

Design Wall Monday

Yesterday was J-Meow's day for Quilt Inspector duty. I keep my door closed when the J-cats are visiting as I don't want them finding any dangerous "toys" when I'm not watching. J-Meow is NOT a fan of closed doors so he is quick to join me and takes his job very seriously!

As you can see... my cutting table is still a mess. On a more productive note - I'm at the halfway point on my Feed Sacks blocks. I'm not crazy about these blocks in "Kitchen Sink Scrappy" but maybe they will grow on me. I do love how quickly they go together and how great they are for busting 2.5" strips.

My eyes tend to gravitate towards Blue & Yellow Strings instead on my other wall so I'm including a picture of that even though it hasn't changed since I showed it last. 

Looking at my October goals I have plenty of things to choose from today but my quilty mo-jo is flagging a bit. I'm hopeful that getting my room tidied up and making a to-do list for the week will give me a boost!

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday@Patchwork Times and Building Blocks Tuesday@Quilter in the Closet.

Reading and Sewing

I have been on a reading kick this week finishing 3 of Jo Nesbo's "Harry Hole" books. Nesbo is a Norwegian author (the books are set in Oslo) and his books are tightly plotted with memorable characters. Harry Hole is an extremely flawed detective who becomes pretty fascinating as you learn more about him.

"The Snowman" was my first Nesbo read which is the 5th book of the series and since then I've been working my way through the ones that are translated in order (book #2 is due this winter). His latest book "Police" has just been released. I highly recommend them if you enjoy reading crime fiction.

Today I'm setting aside my iPad and getting back into my quilting room. Here are a few of my blocks for Feed Sacks from the book "Scrap-Basket Surprises" by Kim Brackett. These blocks go together really quickly and I think I'll have a full wall in no time... just 20 blocks are needed for a Project Linus size quilt.

I'll also be doing some much needed housekeeping so I can baste some tops and cut some binding fabrics later today.

The grand cats will be here another week until our daughter comes home. J-Meow has been thrilled because school was out on Thursday & Friday so our son (who he adores) has been home. He will not sit on my lap ever... let alone like this!

I'm linking up to Feline Friday@sarah did it! and Scrap Basket Sunday@Kim's Big Quilting Adventure.

Is it Wednesday Already?

That was a fast week and this will be a short post. My mom continues to make great strides after her knee replacement surgery last Thursday... in fact today I have a "day off" already! Any guesses what I'll be doing shortly (besides laundry)?

What's New:

I've got 160 strips cut for Feed Sacks (from Kim Brackett's "Scrap-Basket Surprises" book) and now I'm working on the 80 shorter length strips.

A selection of toys for the grand cats... the natives are getting restless! Tucker has one favorite toy and little interest in anything else but these two are always ready for something new.

What's (Still) Hot:

• Thimbleberries Jacob's Ladder - quilting stage
• RSC13 blocks - black & white Birds In the Air blocks
• And Sew On blocks - I have GOT to get one done TODAY!

Sunday Things

Just a quick post today... not a lot of sewing going on but lots of healing! My mom's knee replacement surgery went great - she is already home and my uncle will be released from the hospital tomorrow. Thanks much for your kind get well wishes on my post last week!

I shared my 60th UFO Finish on Friday and that means I get to start something new (10 UFO Finishes = New Project). I spent some time browsing my books last night and decided on Feed Sacks from Kim Brackett's book "Scrap-Basket Surprises". I wanted something simple & scrappy using my odd length 2.5" strips and this will be perfect for that.

And, it will be a great take along project to do the cutting while I'm helping my mom out this week. Just 2 sizes of strips to cut so not much concentration needed... I'm also excited to try out the red Martelli cutter!

I've got my B&W charms pulled to get started on my Birds in the Air blocks for RSC13.

The grand cats are settled in like they own the place... here is J-Meow napping in our family room.

Jax likes to be in the same room as a person so he is keeping an eye on me in the living room. He is the most watchful cat I've ever seen... most cats don't like a lot of eye contact but he is the exception. Note that both go for the fleece!

I also wanted to include a link to Darlene's blog Quilting Daze. Darlene and I have emailed back and forth several times over the last year and she has been a big supporter of my push to work down my UFO Collection. A while back she asked about doing a post on her blog and followed up with some questions for me to answer. So if you are interested you can read her Friday post at the link above and also give Darlene's blog a peek at the same time. Thanks again Darlene for your cheerleading!

I'm linking up to ScrapHappy Saturday@soscrappy and Scrap Basket Sunday@Kim's Big Quilting Adventure.