2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Strip Quilt Top

I plan to make 3 quilts with rainbow color themes during this 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
Knowing how busy December can be, I thought I'd go ahead and piece a strip quilt top using most of the 2 1/2" strips I saved each month. I love those yummy orange strips.

I guessed two of the remaining three month's colors might be black and brown, so I added a few strips of those colors. Please know that Angela hasn't said what October, November and December's colors might or will be. I just made a guess. Could be wrong. The other two rainbow quilts will have the correct colors.

Because I'm trying to use scraps and stash fabrics for this challenge, I used a stack of colorful 10" squares I had cut a year or two ago and a few yards of blue daisy fabric from my stash to piece a backing. I used six of  those 10" blocks in the quilt top. Next week I'll sandwich this top and back with some Warm and White batting.

Mini Quilt Along: Quilt One, Mosaic, Finished

This "Mosaic" mini quilt pattern was made with batiks and quilted in the ditch with Invisible Polyester Thread using a number 80 Top Stitch needle. The binding was brought from the back to the front and finished using a variegated cotton thread and a number 80 sewing machine needle. I think the binding looks like a mini border.
Fun to make. Clean lines. Modern. A nice mini quilt pattern. To see other quilts in this Mini Quilt Along go here http://www.flickr.com/groups/2124940@N22/

Mini Quilt Along Quilt One: Mosaic

The first quilt pattern used in the Moose Quilt Mini Quilt Along is called Mosaic. Simply Charming Minis has patterns for 16 mini quilts 13" - 21" that can be made with scraps or charm squares. I'll be using mainly charm packs for this Quilt Along, but I though I'd use some of my batik stash to make this modern little quilt..

My mini quilt making experience is limited.  After I cut the quilt pieces I used the diagram in the book to  lay them out the way I planned to sew them together. I left the border pieces longer than I needed them to be. I'm lazy like that.

I used a single hole plate over my feed dogs and a size 70 sewing machine needle to piece these small pieces together. My mini quilt top is finished and I like it a lot!

Bee In My Bonnet Row Along: Row 3

Lots of bright colors going on here.

Rainbow Challenge September Orange 4 Patch Blocks

The thirty-six 16 patch rainbow blocks I will make during this year will not be enough to make a quilt. So I'm going to make a dozen 4 patch rainbow blocks to go with them. Didn't take long to catch up. See the orange 4-patch in the center..

I wasn't wild about my neutral 16 patch neutral blocks, so I made 3 new 16 patch neutral blocks. I'll use the 3 with the gray blocks in pot holders.

I signed up to do a FNSI and was not able to sew after 5 pm. The grand kids and I went to the grocery store, made Rice Krispie Treats, cookies and worked on a puzzle. We had a good time. To see what others made during the FNSI, go here, Handmade by Heidi.

Fabric From The Intrepid Threads and a Handheld Tetris Nano

I used part of my Intrepid Threads Gift Certificate to buy Amy Butler's Cameo fat quarter collection and an extra yard of blue fabric. Such soft, beautiful fabrics! Julie with Intrepid Threads had carefully wrapped the fabric in white wrapping tissue tied up with purple ribbon. The package came yesterday.
Today a handheld Tetris Nano game form the Tetris Game Company arrived! I won the Gift Certificate and the Tetris Nano when my quilt was drawn in the Tetris Quilt Challenge at Happy Quilting.
Can't believe I won such a wonderful grand prize!

I'm still making a few patriotic star blocks every week. So far, I have forty-two stars. Some star blocks will be pieced in the backing. The finished quilt may or may not have a border.

Bee In My Bonnet Row Along: Row 2

Eleven colorful butterflies. Ha. This sew along is hosted here.

Rainbow Challenge September Orange House and Pot Holder

I'm still having fun playing with orange fabric scraps this month. To see what others are doing with their orange scraps, go here Saturday morning : )
The pattern used for this little house is on Bonnie Hunter's blog here. She calls it a "Happy Scrappy House." They are fun to make.  Bonnie has a very nice blog and authors quilting books.

I Won One of the Grand Prizes in the Tetris Quilt Along Challenge!

My Tetris Challenge quilt has been quilted, the binding has been sewed on, it's had a go in the washing machine and the dryer and I love it! The front is a big Tetris game board, the backing is pieced. It finished at 95"x64" before it went into the washer and dryer.

Close ups of the quilting and the borders. I quilted fun wavy diagonal and horizontal lines on this extra long quilt. The free spaces were filled with little dancing skeletons on a black background.
This long quilt is for my tall oldest grandson, Justin. He likes computer games.
I am doing a Happy Dance, too. Today I found out this quilt won one of the grand prizes in the Tetris Quilt Along Challenge Drawings at Melissa's blogspot, Happy Quilting. To see pictures of other Tetris quilts, go here.
I'm still dancing   : )

Tori and Hannah Make a Baby Blanket

Hannah and Tori bought a yard of blue flannel and a yard of Pooh themed cotton at Walmart. They washed and dried the fabrics before trimming the edges. Tori pinned the right sides together and Hannah sewed around the edges leaving an opening. Then she pulled the fabrics right side out through the opening. After a good press, Hannah sewed a decorative zig zag around the edges with a colorful variegated thread. It's ready for Tori to wrap and take to the baby shower.

Tori and Hannah Making Pot Holders

Tori and Hannah had fun this weekend making pot holders! And chocolate brownies and Rice Krispies' treats ...

Rainbow Scrap Challenge September Orange, 3 Blocks and Strips

I never thought playing with orange fabrics would be so much fun!
Now I have 27 blocks like these in rainbow colors. Thirty blocks and a border will make a nice a quilt.
I may have enough colorful strips set aside to make two rainbow jelly roll quilts.
To see what others have made with their orange fabric stash and scraps this week, go here Saturday morning.

Quilts for Tori and Jared

I just finished binding Tori and Jared's quilts. Tori pieced her quilt earlier this summer. By herself! She picked out the fabric, a pink camouflage with peace signs with a leopard print. Both came from Wal Mart. Tori did a beautiful job. Her first big quilt! I quilted it with wavy lines. After a go in the washing machine and dryer, it is 41 1/2" x 54 1/2". So soft. I'm so proud of little Tori.
Jared wanted digital camouflage. He chose this fabric from Fat Quarters online shop. He wanted no piecing, just camouflage front and back. I quilted it with diagonal lines. After a go in the washing machine and dryer, it is 42" x 58 1/2".

Bee In My Bonnet Sew Along Row 1

My first row in this challenge turned out shorter than 48 1/2", so I sewed an extra block onto the end. Now it's a little longer. I'll trim this row to fit the other rows when I sew the top together. Aside from being a little wonky in places, I like this colorful row of little blocks from my stash and scraps.
To read more about row one in this sew along go here.

Grandmother's Choice Week 1

I'm just back from a Labor Day weekend at the beach. It was hot and humid! I sat under an umbrella and read Miss Julia Meets Her Match, a book in the Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross. The author lives in NC. I hope to finish it up this week.
Our hotel had wifi and I was able to blog surf. I was unable to resist the Grandmother's Choice weekly sew along. I notice my quilting buddy, Sharon Vrooman, has the GM Choice Button on her blog, so I thought I might as well play, too. Maybe Terri of quiltncards will sew along with us.
I'm going to do this quilt along in scrappy floral prints from my scraps and stash. That's this grandmother's choice.

Rainbow Challenge September Orange 16 Patch Blocks

September's rainbow scrap challenge color is orange. These 16 patch blocks make me think of orange sherbet. Yum. To see what others are making with their orange scraps, go here.