Dashing through my Stash

And because there  is nothing quite like working under some real pressure, the quilt I had intended to give Hanna for Christmas was snapped up by my LQS for a store sample. And look where it has ended up...on the front cover of their newsletter and will be the inspiration for their in-store QA2016. (with kind permission of Angela of course). I'm a cover girl, well my RSC15 is.

So because the RSC15 is otherwise engaged I was busy piecing this Sew Kind of Wonderful Metro Rings to give to Hanna. It had to be flimsy-ready to take to my LAQ ...and just like that she had it finished and ready for gift giving. Bless her little 9 year old's heart she recognized it immediately as the quilt that was on 'the wall' that she had admired a few weeks earlier.

Love and hugs to you all - Merry Christmas and a very Creative New Year
Kathy

RSC15 Finish

There is no lingering lime this week, however there is much to be excited about. My quick little leader and ender, this blue barn raising quilt made with 4 patches and bricks, is almost done!!! I am also getting closer to the bottom of the 2" bin. Seemed so unlikely 4000 squares ago that it could actually happen. This is one of those quilts that will benefit from a couple of borders.

I have been prowling the bins and drawers in this quilt studio pulling the fabrics for Bonnie Hunter's Alletiare!. Let the celebrations begin...the big reveal of the first clue was Friday. Love the golden sun drenched cheddars,  big reds, stoic grey, reverent blacks and slide-on-by neutrals. Ready. Set. Cut. Sew.

But the BEST NEWS: I am doing a great reveal of my RSC15, quilted by the very talented Kim Caskey Custom Quilting.

I need to gather up the bits and pieces and make room for this new mystery. I have loved doing the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. It really opened up my eyes as to the potential in all of my bottom-of-the-bin scraps and how much more efficient it is to have them organized (by colour) and ready to sew. Either as string blocks or as these prescribed Sawtooth Star treasures.Thank you all for the prompts and suggestions for getting organized. Check out the other lime-lovelies over here at SoScrappy.

my love and hugs to you all
Kathy

Catching up...again

I feel like that short legged cousin who when you go for a walk, is always running to catch up. There is lots of fun going on, but how to keep up with it all. I am closing in on completing all of my Christmas presents  and it time to deliver these quilts to my LA and to fill those reserved spots.

I have finished to Tumalo Trails top (76" square), pattern by Bonnie Hunter from her Scraps & Shirting II: Continuing the Art of Quilting Green. It is ready to go to Kim Caskey Custom Quilting. That has used up 'some' of my 2" colour wash squares, unlike Bonnie who used 1.5" in her original pattern

and "Grand Illusions" is also off the LA.

The RSC15 is coming together beautifully! I will have a reserved spot for sometime in the new year. I think it deserves so custom detailing rather than a panto. I love these lime green blocks in here. To check up on other lime green loveliness head over to SoScrappy.

And getting right in the upcoming holiday mode, I got a few Christmas Baubles together with a glue gun on a Sunday afternoon. This is the happy result, a jewel toned wreath (click on the photo to enlarge).

Love and hugs to all
Kathy

Busy is as Busy does

I love this new "Kick" block, and how it emphasis that simple piecing can be so attractive.

On Thanksgiving Monday I was happy to get going on my RSC2015 and get the first two rows together. I have chosen to take my brown alternate blocks to the upper border. All this while I listened to an audiobook, Ysabel by Guy Cavriel Kay. This was my first fantasy novel...now I want to listen to more that he has written.

These mocha, caramel and chocolate string blocks are just gorgeous. Wont be long before they get featured in a quilt. Just haven't come up with that design yet.
 
Today I have been in a class at Earthly Goods Quilting taking the Necessary Clutch Wallet class. A fabulous wallet designed by Janelle MacKay of Emmalinebags. The exterior I chose is/was a tea towel I bought in Ireland (June 2015) made by Avoca Mills. The Bright as a Button fabric is so cheery. I moved the teatowel label to suit myseld. This wallet will hold it all. Phone, lipstick, my cable needle, coins, cards...what you don't carry a cable needle with you?

Betty Ann Gandall, my favourite bag lady did a fabulous job of taking us through our paces. She is amazing, knows all the short cuts and just how to make every project just perfect.

I am connecting up with SoScrappy to share all the mocha and chocolaty loveliness.

love and hugs...

Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!!! I love this amazing country.

I was a bit behind because of my fabulous trip to Ireland then a case of "must prioritize" came over me. I had house work to do, garden to finish planting and back to work...and well, it left me out of the studio. But now I am back on track and so looking forward to the next six months of RSC15....and the new colour is red. I have such a plan brewing and am so excited to have red next! And it revolves around this idea from April...stand by!

Onward with the RSC15: This Woven Four Patch with a lot of my favourite fabrics, but admittedly is a little weak, I should have used a different medium...ah well.

I love this Ohio Crossroads with the tiny gingham. I don't know about you, but I think of summer and little girls dresses with eyelet lace when ever I see gingham. And this is such a lovely tint.

Love and Hugs this Canada Day 2015.
Kathy

Final week of Green

Another week of Green and what have I done...barely anything. A few string blocks: greens and purples, because I have lots of purple scraps and need more purple string blocks. I have made green string blocks, because there are green scraps and want green string blocks.

I have also been given the most wonderful sets of pewter buttons from my friend Bonnie Taylor. Bonnie is an accomplished bag piper and proud collector of all things Celtic and Scottish. So when she gave me these particular buttons, I can barely describe how privileged I feel to have received these. The claddagh buttons are right on the green theme.

 as I plan to be in Ireland on Wednesday. This is my third trip to Ireland in as many years. My co-hosts and I will be hosting an International Gathering of the Guilds on Saturday June 6 in Killarney, Co Kerry, then off on a Celtic Shop Hop Tour of northwest Ireland. The Scottish thistle buttons will be used to celebrate our first quilt tour of Scotland, beginning September 22, 2015.

In the meantime I have got to get caught up on the green RSC15 blocks (still have the spinning pinwheel to do), pack, clean up at work, pick up some Euros...

Celebrating Green Churn Dash

To catch up on all those that have kept up with their green scrappiness at SoScrappy, click here.

Love and hugs
Kathy

All things yellow...and one green beer.

I had occasion to be at my LQS this afternoon. I know...shock and awe!! That I would be at a quilt store to help celebrate Worldwide Quilting Day. It is always great to see my friends there and of course there is always lots of fabric and projects to discuss. And I did get the backing for my Grand Illusions quilt. And some w/b FQ's for my RSC15 (these I use for the backgrounds).

This week I also celebrated St. Patrick's day by attending a fun(d) raiser for my granddaughter's dance troup who are raising funds to finance their trip to Disneyland in July. Bring on the green beer. Cheers!

In celebrating yellow this week I have added another 17 to my yellow string blocks =40. These should have come with a warning. They are very addictive!! These combined with the blues and pinks should make another fun scrap-happy quilt.

I have sewed and sewed and sewed some more and I am so close to the RRCB being a quilt-top-centre. The pieced border still awaits yet more cutting and sewing.
 
I also wanted to show you my completed Passionate Greys which had taken up residence in my daugther's home. I will borrow it back from her for our guild's Festival of Quilts coming up in June. This is her new beautiful rescue cat Renzo Purr-ini checking out the binding.

I wish you all full bobbins and straight seams (if that is your desire). To keep up with others and their yellow delights, head on over to SoScrappy and Oh Scrap!.

Love and hugs
Kathy

Yellow as Light as 'Air' Castle

March has to be the happiest month for me so far this year...because its all about YELLOW. I have started out with a 16 patch to go with another that I had sew-ahead on in January. Just so bright and lovely and I love it.

To that I have added my "Light as Air" Castle. I love this block!!

All the while I am working on my RRCB there are scrappy string blocks rolling through the machine. Honestly where do all these strings come from?

I took Saturday off to attend a Graphic's 45 (it is a scrapbooking line) class. The intention of the class is to develop stunning two page layouts that we (the students) would then take home and fill with our own photos. I did one of these in 2013 for my son and DIL of them and their family. It is one of the most awesome gifts I have ever given and it was a huge hit. This year I propose to do two albums simultaneously, for youngest son again, and also my youngest daughter and her family. I cannot show you the finished pages...remember...they're Christmas presents. But what I can show you is what I did with the left over bits. I created two "Project Life" pages for someone else. Those doing the RSC2015 will not even the scrapbookers are onto the colours of the month!!

But now today it is back to grocery shopping, preparing lunches for the coming week and some more studio time this evening.

On the design wall this month is a wall-hanging top made by my dear late friend Lou Punko.  Lou was a founding member of my quilt bee group - The Group of 7. Each of us was given one of her tops to complete, and then to display at our up coming Festival of Quilts in June 2015. I am in the thoughtful stage. How to quilt? How to embellish? Inspiration will have to turn into action soon.

I am linking up to SoScrappy's linky party for more of the most fabulous colour EVER.

love and hugs
Kathy

Training the Next Generation

I had a wonderful Valentine's / Family Day (in Alberta it's a provincial holiday) weekend. I went to the 'farm', to spend the long weekend watching 3 of my grandchildren while my son and DIL went skiing at Marmot Basin in Jasper National Park.

I had a few planned activities, as we would be together for 3 days. But for the most part it was to also let them just play,  like making quilt forts in the living room. When I asked them what they were doing in there...their reply was they were waiting in their hunting box and watching their bear camera.

And a great sledding hill that their Dad made out of a few large round bales. It was a beautiful sunny day on Saturday with fresh snow, which made it perfect for the building of snowmen, for supersliders...and small dogs.

I  did a round of mending; my son's calving jacket, a little barrel racers' favorite shirt, and a teddy bear who was loosing his stuffing.

I brought along my bag of blue strings and scraps and it was my youngest (6 years old) who loved making string blocks. "We" made 24 while I was there.  I had brought the blue bag as I wanted to make a few more string blocks with their complimentary colour orange. I have a few ideas percolating about how they will be used, but I would still have a lot more to make...heck I have all year to work through a rainbow of colours over at SoScrappy and the RSC15.

The pink this week belongs to those tender soft cheeks of my youngest granddaughter.

To see what other quilted pink happiness is going on this week, head over to SoScrappy here.
Love and Hugs
Kathy

and then I met Marley

Angela over at SoScrappy has posted the next in the series of rainbow blocks for this years RSC2015 (Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2015). Each month we work with a different colour and luckily this month's colour is Pink. This 'Morley' was designed by Julie Hirt at 'Six Two Seven' and tutorial by Angela. I am so happy with this pink block. The SawTooth Star Points are just laid out here (yet to be sewn), but the centre is done and it is perfect.

I have spent the rest of this week cleaning out the closet BEHIND my sewing chair. Out of sight out of mind I believe applies here. Oh my, the treasures and "what-was-I-thinking" that were found. There is a whole load of donations to take to the Reuse Centre on Saturday morning.

In other quilty news though, Kim Caskey Custom Quilting has my Passionate Greys quilt ready to LA. So exciting!!

To see what other progress others have made with their pinks check in over at SoScrappy. Make a cuppa...this could take a while.

Love and Hugs
Kathy

Bye Bye Blue - Hello Pinky-ness

This is the last week of concentrating on blue scraps from the blue bin!! True confessions, I have a whole year of blue still in that bin. Although, now that they have been sorted, it will be easier to dip in there is I do get a case of the blues throughout the year. But in the meantime I have made the two sampler-in-blue blocks for the RSC15 feature challenge quilt.

I have made a few 16 patch for a second RSC15 challenge quilt (and clearly sewed ahead - my bad). There is another idea brewing here.

I have made a Blue Slab Quilt that is ready for quilting. There should be a picture of that completed happy quilt in a few weeks.

Over this past week I needed to concentrate on the skinny strings and odd bits in the blue bin and create a few (!) string blocks. These are 6.5", but if I set them in a Sawtooth Star Block as well, and played along with the colour of the month then I would have another RSC15 Challenge Quilt. This time making the Sawtooth Star block in corresponding colours, ie: light blues for backgrounds for blue strings and light green backgrounds for green string etc etc...????? I should have a sample ready for next week...so many ideas so little time. Oh, and look it appears that pink is already playing along, and ummm another yellow block snuck in.

I mean it not like I am going to run out of fabric, and this is what we call working in a series.
However, now it is time to turn our thoughts to using up the pinks. Such a lovely colour to be bringing into the mix. I have long loved Bonnie Hunter's Roll Roll Cotton Boll, and jumped right in and made all of the neutral string blocks, er...a few years ago.

And made 250 of the required 600 2" hst's. So that is what got me going on it again. As I am making my hst's blue instead of her red. And now mercifully the colour pink is required in 120 hst's for the center medallion of each block. Out come the pinks in earnest.

The start of another rug. As I prepare my fabrics I trim off the selvedges and roll them into a ball awaiting the take along project time and crochet another rug.

I had made one complete block and set it in it's corner presentation. I am loving this quilt.

3 1/2" strips of pink ready to meet their brown other-half in the production line of 120 hst's.

To see what other lovely blue to pink scrap happiness is going on at SoScrappy, check this out. Warning, it is getting more exciting each week...just sayin'.

Happiest in my studio

Love and hugs
Kathy