Sunday, May 31, 2020

Oh Scrap! : Something New

As I am sitting at home with little distractions, I find myself doing a lot of thinking.
One subject I have been doing a lot of thinking on is voting.

The right to vote is the foundation to any democracy.


The 19th Amendment guarantees American women the right to vote.  Early in America's history, women were denied some of the basic rights enjoyed by male citizens.  Married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money they might earn.  No female had the right to vote.
After decades of struggle and agitation, on June 4th 1919 the amendment was passed through Congress and it took over a year for states to ratify.  Thanks to a 23 year old representative in Tennessee (who listened to his mother), the amendment was adopted on August 18, 1920.  





I thought I would spend now until November appreciating my freedoms and the right I have to vote by making a quilt.  With each block I hope to educate myself and think about how my vote should be molding the future I want to see. 

Things need to change - America is not getting greater.
I hope that women celebrate 100 years of having the right to vote and start demanding a change.

If you want to make your own vote block, I used the Little Letters tutorial at Temecula Quilt Company. I just added a skinny frame around them.

And please, start planning now by ensuring your voters registration or by completing the process to vote absentee now so nothing will prevent you from your right.

Good luck telling this suffragette to ditch the vote and "<a href="http://mediamatters.org/research/2014/10/21/right-wing-med

Now I will step off my soapbox and dive into my pink scraps.




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It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

  • This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
  • You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
  • If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
  • If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
  • This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
  • Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 
Quilting is more fun than Housework
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

Friday, May 29, 2020

A Colorful Finish

A couple weeks ago, I shared some scraps I traded for a cone of thread.  The scraps were so colorful, I was instantly inspired.


Here are the scraps I started with.  I added in the solids.  
They consist of various Kona and grunge fabrics.




I kept the blocks simple.  I started with a 2.5" square and framed it in a bright color (usually a solid).  They I framed that in a skinny black.  I then just added frames until my block was big enough to trim to 12.5".  With each frame, I tried to ensure all the fabrics had nice contrast with the other fabrics of the block.



I didn't worry about the width of the strips too much.  In fact, I used whatever widths gave me the best yield on my scraps.  And when my block wasn't quite big enough, I framed those blocks with a small black solid.  

In truth, each of those black framed blocks are where my quilt math was off - no ripping for me, I just turn those errors into a design element!



To keep the quilting continuous, even though I echo quilted on the seams, I actually just spiraled down to the center square.  I used a black thread which I really like on those bright fabrics.



I kinda struggled to find a backing for this one.  My backing stash is low low low right now!  But I did have these purple and black hexagons.  I don't usually like a light backing on such a color saturated quilt, but I am glad I took the chance - I love how it looks.



 As I was sewing these scraps, I thought I would only get 12 blocks.  But I kept piecing strips together and attempting to use my fabric judicially, I was able to make quite a nice size quilt.  
This one is 48 x 60.

It is always amazing to me how just a handful of fabric can make lap quilt.
And a colorful one at that!

Hope you are able to have a fun weekend!
Stay well!




Linking Up:


Wednesday, May 27, 2020

It Always Happens When I Clean

If you have been following my blog for any amount of time, you know I love to work on multiple projects at a time.  When I sit down to sew, it is not uncommon for me to be sewing blocks for two or three quilts in one sitting.  So as you can imagine, my sewing space can get a bit messy.

Every once in a while, I like to take some time and put away all the supplies for projects that are finished so I have some space to work.



But whenever I clean, touching all that fabric usually results in my starting a project.  As I was putting some purple scraps away, I decided I needed to turn some of the strips into some log cabin blocks.  These blocks are made with 2.5 and 1.5" wide strips.  So the finished block will measure 11".  These four blocks will make a giant 22" circle!



It is a little hard to see my plan but I drafted up this design of colored circles months ago.  I decided to get started on it today!

Purple is my favorite color so I decided to use it to make the biggest circle.  I will probably make some of the smaller filler blocks in purple too but I will leave that for a later day.

I started one more quilt that I will share on Sunday.

Does cleaning inspire your creativity?  Or are you able to show constraint :)




Sunday, May 24, 2020

Oh Scrap! : RSC Blocks

This week I focused on tidying up my sewing room.  I had reached the point where there was very little working space on both my ironing board and cutting table.
Fabric and scraps were piled everywhere!




As I was cleaning, I did get all the pieces cut for the three blocks for one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts.  Once I get the pieces cut and laid out on a design board, the sewing goes really quickly.



The rest of my blocks were buried on my ironing board so once I pulled them out, I put them all up on one of my design walls.  It appears I already made some green blocks....boy do I need more warm colors!

Now that my sewing space is all tidy, I might just have to celebrate with a new start (or more).  With all my scraps and fabric in their homes, I know I have more than enough for MANY more quilts.

I hope you share what you are sewing!


*********************************************

It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up: 

  • This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
  • You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
  • If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
  • If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
  • This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
  • Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! 
Quilting is more fun than Housework
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

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