Scrap Happy Aqua

Finally getting around to posting some of my accomplishments for March and linking up with everyone at RSC March even if I am rather late.

Like a lot of folks it has been hard to focus on any particular project and I really wanted to work on something mindless.  One would think these butterflies were mindless but for some reason I had issues with them.

I then decided to make a few Shoo-Fly blocks that is the  Quiltville Leader/Ender project that started in 2019.  I am not really a leader/ender kinda quilter as it takes too much planning ahead.  I like to cut a little and then sew a little.  I sometimes wonder if my method for sewing comes from the fact that I learned to piece and quilt by hand and I would make blocks one at a time.  I used the scraps from my butterflies to make the corners.

I then thought about making a French Roses quilt in aquas.  The bonus of a hand sewing project is I can binge watch shows on Netflix/Amazon Prime, lol, and pay attention to what is actually going on.

Finally, I found something that was fun to work on although I don't know where this project will go.  When Judy from Busy Hands Happy Hands shared her OMG accomplishment I knew I had to try the bunny pattern.

I am off to give myself a haircut which should be quite entertaining and it is good that I am not going out right now, lol!  I have clippers and scissors and thankfully love super short hair.  Wish me luck because it is going to be a comedy of errors.

Cheers,

Debi

OMG March Goal Finish!

Thank goodness I didn't forget to link up this month with everyone at Elm Street Quilts.  My goal was to resew and assemble some bunny blocks and get them made into some sort of quilt top that will get donated to charity.  I did get it all done and I think it turned out better than I anticipated. I don't plan on quilting this quilt as the charity has volunteer quilters and/or folks that tie quilts.

Here is what I finished up in February and didn't get to share as I was a day late last month in linking up.  My never ending En Provence Quiltville mystery top finally got finished and will get moved on to a quilter someday.

My backing fabric is perfect for the back of this quilt--Macarons from Paris no less.

I also finished a UFO that I bought at our guild quilt show second-time around shop last summer.  Not bad for $3.00.  I had to assemble about half of the hearts and add the borders.

My heart quilt will go into the queue to be quilted as desired--those three dreaded words that lead me to have a lot of projects waiting to be quilted.

I hope to figure out what I want to work on next month and have a goal.  One would think that it is easy to pick something but I have been less focused these days thanks to all that is going on in the world.  Our state has had a stay-at-home order for almost 2 weeks and I am staying put except for grocery day which does cause me some stress when I go and find the shelves somewhat empty.  Who in the world is using all of the bread flour, yeast, and butter?  Don't they know I have French bread recipes I want to play around with?

Until next month.

Cheers,

Debi

Scrap Happy Saturday

Today was a baking day as I finished my last cake for my Lori Holt Cake Walk quilt!  I was so happy when Angela announced Teal as the color for March because I thought that was exactly the color I needed to finish my cakes.

Last year I did finish one more cake and never got around to showing it so I will today as I am going to interpret the stand as turquoise-like, lol!

For some reason my camera/computer was acting a bit like a "smart phone" as I took this photo last year and took another one today that has a lace embellishment on it which apparently my technology recognized as an old photo--go figure.  I bought the lace in 1998 when I was in Ireland/Northern Ireland.

Most of my cakes still need an applique topper and I may end up linking up with everyone at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday once I figure out what I want to do. 

I also decided to do some real baking today as well.  I have been wanting to try Pink Praline Brioche which I had tried when I was in Paris--it was delicious!  I was pleasantly surprised to find pink pralines on Amazon and they are shipped from France.  I also had some French butter in the freezer that I carried in my luggage from Paris in an insulated bag.  No problem with butter and customs so all was good.  Yesterday I mixed the dough and this morning I made the bread. 

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My efforts weren't too bad and the bread is quite tasty.  I was a little concerned about it being completely baked and I think it is pretty close, plus it is a little more brown than I wanted.  I used Paul Hollywood's recipe for Brioche and found a Pink Praline recipe from Eva Bakes.  I will definitely give this bread another try with a few tweeks.

Finally, I want to thank Sandy, Vierya and Susie H. for letting me know the pattern I was looking for in a previous post was Meadow and I was able to purchase it on Amazon/Alice in Stitches.  Stay tuned as I have to do quite a bit of pondering on how I want to do Meadow.

I am linking up with everyone at SOS Scrappy on the first Teal/Turquoise Saturday of the month.  

Cheers,

Debi

OMG March Goal

Well it looks like I leaped right past the link up for February as I started to write my post earlier this week and realized that Sunday was March 1st and not the end of February.  If I can keep my dates in check this month I should have quite a lot to share because I actually did get some things accomplished.

My goal this month is to work on some Elizabeth Hartman bunnies that I started last year.  I was going to make them as a baby gift but I was in a hurry when I started making them and ended up making all kinds of mistakes.  For example, here is the first test bunny I made and didn't see the issue with the ears until nine bunnies were made.

Obviously I don't do well when I am in a hurry and don't pay close attention to the pattern.  If I were to just go ahead and add borders it would have worked, but I am not the most accurate sewer so I doubt I would have had perfect points.

Once corrected it look much better but I see that the ear point will be an issue once the border is added.  Oh well, I feel better.

Then I decided making the mouth was too much on future bunnies because after all I was in a hurry.  In the end the bunnies never got finished and I had to redo a bunch of ears.

My goal this month is to correct all of the bun's and get them assembled into some sort of quilt top.  There are still some ear issues but I am letting it go and moving this project along--goodness that feels so good!  I will be donating the top to a charity once it is done.

Since I did get the date of the beginning of the month right, I will be linking up with everyone at Elm Street Quilts.  

Cheers,

Debi

Scrap Happy Saturday

It is the last Saturday of the month and that means it is time to share some scrappy orange with everyone at RSC.  It was a busy month for me and I was able to get a few things completed.

An orange butterfly.

A corrected green/orange butterfly from last month.

Two orange houses.

I am not wild about the second one though.

I attended a quilt retreat earlier this month and someone shared this quilt with everyone.  I loved it!  I asked her the name of the pattern and she couldn't remember but told me it was apparently a block of the month class at a quilt shop.  I couldn't find anything on it.

Does anyone recognize the pattern?  Let me know if you do. 

I decided to attempt to make the quilt and add my own interpretation of the flowers.  Here is what I have so far.

I thought I would applique some flowers for the border and played with a French Flower.  The pattern is raw edge applique and I am doing traditional applique with it and perhaps a little embellishment.

I know I got some orange microspools done at the retreat as well but they don't look any different from the orange spools I shared last year.  My microspools are from my scrap basket so there will be lots that are the same.

Teal we meet again--which I am looking forward to!

Cheers!

Debi

OMG February

It is time to get back to working on at least one monthly goal.  I am linking up with everyone at Elm Street Quilts and I hope I can continue to participate and get some projects done.

Last year at our quilt show we had a second time around shop and naturally I couldn't resist someone else's unfinished project--like I don't have more than enough of my own.  The project was pink hearts and half of the blocks were finished and the rest were ready to be finished.  Sadly, there wasn't enough background fabric to finish the blocks so I dug in my stash and found something that is very close and would work.  I am sure in the right light it will be very noticeable but to my scrappy eye it is just fine.  I did get the top assembled but never quiet got around to getting a border on and that is my goal for this month.  Hearts and February, what could be better for a February goal.

Cheers,

Debi

Last Green Saturday on Sunday

Whew, just made it in time for the first month of RSC on the last Sunday.  I am almost finished with my cake quilt and then I am going to have to do some applique before I can put it all together and get ready for the border.

I have also decided to work on some existing projects.  I think I started these projects about 10 years ago based on the date on my printed instructions.  The RSC might be perfect to move these along.  Up first is Happy Scrappy Houses by Bonnie Hunter.

Spools that I started about the same time as Happy Scrappy Houses and it looks like they were a Debbie Mum pattern.

Finally, butterflies!  Not an unfinished project but one that I am starting, lol!  I am attending a retreat next month and needed something somewhat mindless to work on and I think this might be it.  Butterfly Town is the pattern for this big butterfly.

I also tried a Pattern Basket Butterfly and I had a few issues with it but may try again.  As you can see I should have oriented the bottom wing differently.  Naturally I didn't see it until I took my photo so it looks like I need to get out the seem ripper.

Finally, I hope to be back blogging every now and then as my health issues worked out for the better.  I had a surgical procedure the same week this little guy came into my life and has pretty much consumed a huge amount of time and I wondered if I would every be able to sew again.  Meet Barley, a Golden/Great Pyr mix.

I haven't had a puppy in about 12 years and now I think what was I thinking!!!  We have taken training classes at Petsmart which were fabulous but you have to practice and I am not the best at doing it consistently.  My beloved cats think I am nuts and wonder what I did as well.  I am hopeful he will settle down eventually and be a big, lazy, mellow dog. One can only hope.

Cheers,

Debi