Saturday, June 23, 2018

At the halfway point

Hi friends!  How was your week?  It has been an interesting one around here, and it won't surprise anyone to know that it's raining again.  It's been almost three years since we moved to the East coast from the Midwest, and by far the hardest thing to adjust to has been the frequent rain.  The grocery stores, too, but the precipitation has been the big thing. I never realized how much rain affected me, either.  I'm thinking of buying a full-spectrum light for the rainy days.  Anyone have a recommendation?

Good thing there are nice, happy colors in fabrics, right? Today I'm showing off my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects at the halfway mark.  There are ten colors for this year and halfway was really May, not June.  I meant to do this at the beginning of the month but was so exhausted that I forgot.  Oh, well!  They're just as pretty now.

Let's start with the patchwork scrap stars:


Well, those look festive, don't they? This quilt will be really cute and full of nice bright colors.  I've promised this one to a friend and I hope she's following along and likes what she sees.

If you look closely at the stars, you'll see that in addition to being colorful and fun, they're also a bit damp.  It's been raining, and I was fooled when the sun came out in patches for a bit.  Sadly, there was a sunshower when I was taking these photos, and then the clouds opened up, so the rest of the photos are indoors.  Here are my 10-inch Squared Away blocks up to this point:


This is going to be a great quilt!  I think they all fit together pretty well.  The purples stand out as kind of dark, but they'll blend a lot better after we add some more of the darker colors this fall.  If you recall, I'm also making 15-inch blocks this year, with dark blue backgrounds.  Here's where they stand right now:


One of the quilts I'm planning for these blocks is a layout just like this, so this makes a nice preview of the final quilt.

Last up is the hollow 9-patches:


I love these little blocks so much that I might just keep making them after the RSC is over for this year.  They're fast and use up a bunch of 2-inch squares, and we can always find a use for some 9-patches, can't we?  I have more than enough for one donation quilt right now, but I know I'll be able to make enough for two quilts with a lot of color variety by the end.

So there are my projects halfway through the challenge! I'm pretty happy with how they stand right now.  All that's missing here are the galaxy stars, but I'll show those next week.  Some of them may have fallen into a small puddle when I was rushing to get everything else inside and away from the rain.  Yeah, those are going to need washing...

Hope your projects are going well! How about showing us all a halfway picture?  If nothing else, they all look so pretty together, and I think it's motivating to see how far along the project is.  And it encourages other people too!

Have a lovely, dry weekend!

Sharing at soscrappy for RSC18.

22 comments:

Libby in TN said...

Looking good! I don't recall seeing the dark background sampler blocks; I really like them.

Kate said...

All 4 of your block sets are looking great. I'm itching to start some more scrappy projects (as in both the scrappy stars and the hollow 9 patches), but I really need to work down the pile of UFOs first.

Linda said...

So many delightful blocks, I love them all. The Star blocks are always a favourite for me and I'm sure your friend will be thrilled with her quilt. The Hollow Blocks are a clever idea.

Vicki in MN said...

So much fun seeing your 'half way' blocks all together. You are going to have some really pretty scrappy quilts at the end of the year. knitbug at charter dot net.

Kathy S. said...

Love the hollow 9-patches.

scraphappy said...

What a fun progress report on all of your projects. The Squared Away blocks really do make a nice collection. Looking forward to seeing the rest.

Louise said...

All these blocks look so great! I think the hollow nine patches are my favorite and I might make them next year for RSC :)

maggie fellow said...

hard to believe half way - great blocks:)

Quiltdivajulie said...

I love my daylight light bulbs -and lots if them - in my studios. Truly my happy place no matter the weather. Lots of great colors in your post today!!!

MissPat said...

The hollow nine patches look so good together with the bright colors.
Pat

Cathy said...

Your Squared Away projects are all looking wonderful. And yet each size and colorway is so unique. That, in my book, is a testament to good design! I have my studio outfitted in full spectrum lighting and totally love it. It’s worth the extra dollars, especially when skies are gray!

Katie said...

Such pretty colors in your blocks - they should help brighten your day! O hadn't realized the east coast got more rain than the midwest, but right about now I'm not sure it's all that different- I feel like we've had rain for weeks in my area of the midwest! I hope the light helps - I have no experience with them, so am no help there!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

I love those stars - they're really bright and fun! The 9 patches are wonderful, too - I'm wanting to make them now. Thanks for putting the Squared Away sampler together for all of us to follow along. I'm really enjoying that and love seeing your blocks!

Edith said...

Everything looks delightful, love those hollow nine-patches, what a great idea.

grammajudyb said...

I too love the hollow nine-patches. Great idea! The dark background squares are awesome too! Thanks for sharing all your blocks!

Cathy said...

Oh, I've added the Patchwork Stars and Hollow Nines to my RSC list. And I just love the large sampler blocks on the dark background.

Since I have too many RSC projects spanning many years, make big quilts and don't have a design wall I don't think I could show a mid year post but it's nice and inspiring to see a lot of colorful blocks all in one place.

I'm in the midwest (Iowa) and we had several days of extreme heat then several days of heavy rain, flash flooding and tornado warnings. It's difficult to get into the garden!

PaulaB quilts said...

Maybe the rain made your Star blocks so bright and shiny. The nine-patches are really sweet! My favorites continue to be the navy blocks. BTW, how are the grocery stores different from WI? The California ones are not as good.

Bernie Kringel said...

The rain would bother me as well. Plus I would think that means humid weather which I dislike too. Wishing you some sunny, dry days. Your projects are all wonderful. I am loving the Squared Away project tho I am behind. Sigh. Nice job on all of them!

Katie Z. said...

Your blocks are so inspiring!

Preeti said...

So much color, so much joy and so much loveliness - I am overwhelmed, but in a good way. Keep them coming :-) The hot pink star on a buttery background is my favorite. About the rain - it was horribly hot and humid all day yesterday and then it rained and it became cooler and pleasant. So I am not going to complain :-)

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

well any of those quilts would lift your spirits in the rain. We are used to rain here, but are having an unusual dry spell

Lisa J. said...

You are making great progress here. Such beautiful and colourful quilts.