A Few More Sawtooth Stars in Aqua...and Napkins

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge is still focused on aqua, teal or turquoise - colors that remind me of past trips to islands in the Caribbean!  I stitched up a few more Sawtooth Stars this week, thanks to the parts and pieces I prepped a few weeks ago.

 

I think I've just about used up all the bits of that brush-stroke aqua fabric in the upper left.

 

And here are all of this month's stars together.  My current plan is to set all these 4" RSC stars medallion-style, maybe with some bright folk-art applique in the center.

My sewing plan for today was to make some new cloth napkins.  I've been making and using cloth napkins since my boys went off to college.  I try to keep a good stash on hand, but lately my oldest son's dog has been stealing them from the table and chewing them to bits.

 

The stripe and paisley fabrics had been in the stash for a long time, and I decided I'd probably never use them in a quilt.  The moose novelty fabric was at my husband's request.  My weekday dishes are a brown transferware, so these colors all work just fine.   If you're interested in making your own napkins, a good tutorial can be found here.  Starch is very useful in making crisp mitered corners on these!

Time to go help DH with dinner preparations - we're making pizza on the grill tonight with basil and tomatoes from our garden.  In between preparations, I'll be checking out all the other aqua RSC inspiration at Angela's blog.

Scrappy Red, White & Blue

Since I had an unexpected all-day sew-a-thon on Saturday due to rainy weather, one project that got some attention was a scrappy red, white & blue Scrap Jar Star quilt.  I started cutting up scraps and piecing the 16-patch centers last July, but the project got stalled after I pieced a huge batch of HSTs to form the Sawtooth Star portion of the block.

For past SJS blocks, I made totally scrappy stars, pairing fabrics for the star points, but using different fabrics for each set of points.  To my dismay, that really didn't work with all the RWB prints.  The resulting stars were just way too busy and jarring to look at.

Since I already had a huge pile of HSTs made, I decided to make the star points match on each block in an effort to tone down the craziness.  I also decided to use consistent fabrics for the corner squares in each block.

 

I'm happier with the result, but it's still on the busy side.  The 16-patch centers don't look like they belong.  I'm not crazy about the center fabric for the secondary 9-patch where the block corners meet, either.  That will probably be easy to fix.  I'm not sure about the SJS blocks themselves.  I'm going to leave them pinned to the design wall for now and see if they grow on me.  Since I only have 4 blocks pieced so far, I figure it would be easy to swap out the 16-patch centers with a simpler block (pinwheel?) and go from there.

Any thoughts or ideas cheerfully accepted!

Rainbow Scraps and Selveges

I've been utilizing spare moments over the past few weeks to work on border blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge Maverick Star quilt top.  I was determined to finish all the piecing before this weekend ended and when I woke up to thunder and pouring rain today, I knew I had the perfect opportunity for guilt-free stitching!

 

 So now my quilt top is a little too large for a wall hanging, but a little too small for a twin-size quilt.  I'm thinking of adding a 4" white border and finishing it off with a scrappy, pieced binding.  

 

Since the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for June is aqua, I did add a few selvege blocks in that colorway. 

 

And while I was working on the borders for the Maverick Star quilt, I stitched up a few aqua Sawtooth Star blocks as leader-enders.  These will go in the collection of Sawtooth Star blocks and eventually become another starry quilt!

I thought the thunderstorms were about to end, but now the sky has clouded up again and I'm hearing thunder not too far away.  I have to decide if I'm going to stay home and sew some more or pack up and go to the camp.  I think the storms are percolating up there, too, so it will be a rainy afternoon wherever.  That will be a good excuse to spend lots of time looking at other RSC projects over at Angela's blog.

 

Prepping Aqua Sawtooth Stars

Not many aqua scraps were transformed into quilt blocks this week.  The Maverick Star quilt and Quilty 365 blocks have been taking up my daily sewing time.  All fabric therapy is a good thing, right?

 

I did sort through the box of 2 1/2" strips to cut some pieces for Sawtooth Star blocks.  I didn't have any aqua stars from last year, so I tried to come up with a good number of blocks for this round.  It takes a lot of 4" stars to make a quilt!   These parts will get stitched up as leader-enders through the rest of the month.

The Rainbow Scrappers will have more aqua inspiration over at Angela's Soscrappy blog.  Hop over there if you're wondering what to do with your scraps!

Aqua to the Nines

It's June and Crescent City weather is heating up.  Already we've had days where stepping out the front door feels like entering a sauna.  For that reason I'm glad the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for the month is aqua.  Aqua is evokes a sense of coolness and relaxation, so I'm going to focus on those qualities when I'm sewing my RSC blocks this month!

 

 I actually had to attend a job-related activity today, so my sewing time was limited.  Fortunately, I had lots of parts and pieces already cut for some 9 patch blocks, and was able to finish these up quickly.   There are only 3 more colors left to complete for this project, so maybe I'll be able to assemble a 9 patch quilt top before the end of the year.

 

I know many quilters enjoy listening to audio books or podcasts while sewing - I'm definitely in that number.  My son told me about the podcast Presidential from The Washington Post last weekend and I started listening to it immediately.  I'm only up to the 7th president, but it's been a refreshing alternative to the surreality show surrounding the upcoming U.S. election.

On that note, I'm heading back to my sewing room to see what other stitching I can accomplish before my eyelids get too heavy.  And of course, I'll be checking in on all the aqua accomplishments the other Rainbow scrappers have achieved this week.

Quilty 365 Loves Flowers that Bloom in the Spring

 

Another month has passed, so it's time to report on Quilty 365 progress.  I always seem to be several days behind in stitching my circles, although I do choose each day's fabric in a timely fashion.  I've been making circles since early November which gives me a stack of 209 circles so far. 

 

May has inspired the most romantic group of circles yet!  I was inspired by all the wonderful flowers in bloom this time of year.  One of my favorite flowers - agapanthus, also known as Nile Lily - is having a banner year in the Crescent City, with massive blooms everywhere you look!

 

Agapanthus in bloom on the grounds of Newcomb Art Museum. 

 

This year's month of May contained a Friday the 13th.  I decided games of chance and skill were a good theme for the day! 

 

My Baby Sister also celebrated a natal anniversary in May.  She has recently re-discovered the joy of sewing.  She bought an embroidery machine and has been turning out all kinds of monogrammed and otherwise decorated tote bags and purses.  She's having a blast with it, so I thought this fabric snippet was appropriate!

I'll probably be the last Quilty 365 stitcher to add my monthly report to Audrey's linky party - but better late than never!