Damp but full of joy

 Hi all! Has it cooled off where you are at all? We had several very hot days, including one where it reached 99 degrees, then we had a really big thunderstorm yesterday and it really cooled off. My husband and I call those "red storms" because of how they look on the radar, but this time red was our lucky color since it really is much nicer outside now. My brother, however, lives in Portland, Oregon, and he is baking, so I really do empathize with everyone in the heat. 

A good place to be in the heat is a nice cool sewing room, right? It was so hot that I went downstairs just to clean up that room. I sorted a whole bunch of scraps and felt very virtuous. And then I put a binding on another finished quilt. Yay me! Here is a new finished beauty:

 

 I love this quilt! I called it Joyful, because just look at it! Doesn't it scream "joy?" I'm sorry to say that I made this fun and happy quilt in 2017, and it has hung in the closet ever since. This is a shame, because it's just the kind of quilt you want to have around to look at and pick you up when you're a little down. I could have used this a few months ago.

 

I took the photos of this quilt this morning because I just finished the binding yesterday, and it rained and rained. This morning it was still really drippy in the trees where I usually take pictures, so I moved to the other side of our property, where there are fewer trees and we have the swingset. Why haven't I done this before? It was perfect for hanging the quilt and getting some really interesting pictures, plus I got to see some baby bunnies before they became hawk food. 

 

In my ongoing quest to clear out the unquilted tops in the closet, I finally sent this off to my friend Diane, who worked her magic using a stitching design called Cloud Nine. I love the design and think it really works on this square quilt. It gives it such great texture:

 

 

Every bit of this quilt is scraps, including, to my great surprise, the binding. I auditioned several bindings, including turquoise, pink, orange, and yellow, but none of them worked. 

 

 

What can I say? The quilt wants what the quilt wants, and this one wanted a scrappy binding. Thankfully, I have a jar where I keep all the binding ends from my quilts, and I used quite a few of those pieces in the binding here. I actually really like how it turned out, and now I have six yards of a really nice turquoise binding ready to go for some other lucky quilt. 

 

 

While we're looking, check out that backing! I bought this specifically for this quilt, which is something I seldom do, but who could resist? It's perfect for the quilt and makes the front of the quilt really shine. And it's also quite joyful!

 

When I made this quilt top, I started with the orphan block in the center and just kept adding rounds until I felt like it was done. The only goal was to use up scraps. Some of the rounds are things I hadn't done before, like the triangles and the arrangement of the geese. I learned something from each of the rounds, but I still like the geese the best. I think they turned out really cool-looking, and they were fun to make (not the case with most geese!)

So there is some reason for joy in my morning! I hope you all have lots of reasons to be joyful this weekend, and that everyone has a safe and happy Independence Day celebration. It feels so normal to say that! Happy Fourth of July, and I hope everyone overseas has a great weekend, too!

 

 

Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finished or Not Friday, Brag About Your Beauties, and Oh Scrap!

Positive progress

 Hi everyone! Yes, it's a very rare Sunday post! I'm usually busy doing family stuff-- or scrubbing something-- on the weekends, but I took some pictures of the progress I've made on my Positivity quilts to share today, so that's what I'm doing. Always good to have a plan, isn't it?

 You probably know by now that my friend Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts is running the Positivity Quilt Along to benefit Mercyful Quilts, which is overseen by my friend Bernie.  How could I not jump in and support some friends and contribute to a good cause? And I get to make a quilt, too, which is one of my favorite things to do.

You may recall that I had a problem with the first quilt I started, so I started a second one in case I couldn't figure out the first one. Doesn't everyone do that? Here is a small section of the second quilt:

 

 

It doesn't photograph really well because the colors are so soft (and I'm not a great photographer), but I think you get the idea. Here's a little bit better picture without so many shadows-- or flowers:

 

 

I've started to call this the Whisper quilt, because it's so quiet. I have all of the plus blocks made, and many of the alternate blocks. Sharp-eyed readers will notice that I changed the alternate blocks. I had planned to use this block in the first quilt, but am not using it now, so why not use it here? I like the trail it makes better than the first alternate block I showed. 

As for the second quilt, which is the first one I started, I think I've worked out what to do with that problem child. Here is a small section of that quilt:

 

For this one, I abandoned the idea of alternate blocks and used a sashing and cornerstone instead. This meant I had to make more plus blocks, and that meant that I really had to squeeze the fabric and get every little bit out of it. I just have a few more blocks to stitch together, and I think we're going to make it-- but only by a little bit!

 

 

I really like the "block" formed by the corners of the blocks and the cornerstones, and I think it makes a nice overall look for the quilt.

If you'd like to make this layout, you'll need to make 30 blocks and then sash them with 20 cornerstones, then also add a border to make it the proper size. In my diagram above, all of the grid squares equal 2 inches finished, so I think you can figure out the rest of the cutting and whatnot from there.

So, that's the progress I've made so far on my Positivity quilts. The blocks are really easy, and there is plenty of time to jump in, so consider making a quilt and joining in the quilt along. There is a lot of information--including something like a dozen possible layouts-- over on Preeti's blog, so you can get started right away. And did I mention that there are prizes? Yep, Preeti has lined up some great sponsors, so you may get something more than a warm feeling from making this quilt!

Hope you all are making progress on your quilts,  and thanks to Preeti and Bernie for the fun quiltalong. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Sharing with the Positivity linkup at Needle and Foot.

Block building

 Hello all! How is your life going this week? We went on a small trip last weekend, which was fantastic, and we came back just in time for some thunderstorms that brought a lot of cooler weather with them. It feels so great outside! Plus, the cicadas are almost all gone. They left quite some mess behind, but at least they aren't dive-bombing me any more.

With all of that, I did make some progress on projects so far this week. A little while ago I pulled out an old project that I called "old and new" and I've started working on it again. Here are some of the blocks I made over the last few days:

 

 

I'm not so sure about the colors for that block on the left, but it's staying. These blocks all finish at 6 inches, so yep, those hsts are only one inch square.  They took some time, but they really were fun to work on. I always think, "oh, that won't take long," and it takes forever to make. You would think a mini block would be quick, but no. Obviously these are all traditional blocks, just in a small size. I love the middle one, which is called Broken Windows.

 

Here are all the blocks for the project so far:

 

I really like it and think it's going to be lovely when finished. I have one problem, though-- I need more fabric. I don't know about you, but somehow I went through a *lot* of fabric over the last few months. My stash is looking really pathetic right now. I do like that it's small, but not this small. I guess I'll have to go shopping or something, don't you think?

I also made the next step for the Laundry Basket "mystery" quilt that I've been working on:

 

 

It happens that I overbought flowers, and now I need to find a place for those yellow ones. I wonder if deer eat them? The blue blocks are really pretty, though, aren't they? I didn't get a progress picture, but I only have three steps left to go on the mystery before I decide what to do about borders.

 

Also waiting for me when we got home was my gift from Sarah for the Hands to Help challenge:

 

 

This is great-- another block book! Thanks so much! More things to drool over and dream about.

 

Finally for today-- I've added a widget to the sidebar for you to sign up to get posts by email. >>>>> Just about everyone knows by now that the one we've been using for emailing posts is going away, and a lot of people have already stopped getting emails. I was shocked and humbled to find that there were almost 1500 people signed up through that service to get emails from this blog! Thanks! I didn't feel comfortable importing your email addresses into a new service, so please take a moment and do that yourselves.

The new widget is follow.it, and Sarah has a whole post about it HERE. I'll just second everything she said. The ads are not my fault. I did sign up for a couple of different services to test them out (because I got posts by email, too) and the one I liked best was Bloglovin'. I found follow.it somewhat difficult to figure out, long on flashy graphics and short on details. Feedly I didn't really like at all, mainly because I would like to filter my own content, thank you very much. I don't want artificial intelligence doing it for me. Bloglovin' was much "quieter," though it does have ads, and I signed up to get everything in just one email a day, so sometimes I will not see a post until the next day if it posts later. So, I've deleted everything else and kept Bloglovin' and it's actually turning out pretty well.

Probably more than you wanted to know! I actually could have written a whole post about this, but try them out yourselves and choose what works for you. And thanks for following along on my misadventures, too!

Sharing at Midweek Makers.

Purple morning

 Hello, all, and happy weekend! How was your week? I had a really productive week, and we got our furnace and ductwork cleaned on top of that. The furnace people said that the ductwork had never been cleaned, and the house is more than 60 years old, plus we've had a bunch of work done, so I expect it to be much less dusty now. If that means less cleaning for me, I am all for it.

Last year I started making fabric baskets to hold my scraps as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project, but I got sidetracked when everything got so stressful (for some odd reason), so this year I'm trying to catch up with the colors I missed. I skipped purple, and those poor scraps have had to hang out in a plastic bin with the lid coming off ever since. It's purple's turn in the RSC again, so I made up that scrap basket this week:

 

The fact that this year's petunias are purple is a complete coincidence! I think the basket is cute, with all those strange angles and whatnot. This basket started with a leftover triangle, so much of it turned out to be diagonal after everything was folded and stitched and everything. I put it together quilt as you go, and I think it turned out just fine. And it's half full of scraps already! I've never measured the finished basket, but the scrap slab that becomes the basket measures about 18 by 24.

 

I also made some of the little 16-patches for a different RSC project:

 

Why do mini blocks also look so cute? These look a little washed out, but they really are lavender. I may not make any darker purples. I haven't decided yet. I haven't kept up with this one very well, which is too bad because they are so easy and turn out well. These are made from 1-1/2 inch squares, which I have a large bin full of, so I really should get on that.

And that's the purple report from here! There are still plenty of purple scraps, so stay tuned for more purple goodness. Hope you all are having a good weekend with something fun planned. We're having more rain, but I do have some fun planned, right after I do all those fun errands we all have. Always more exciting in the rain! 

Sharing at soscrappy for RSC21.