Rainbow Scrap Challenge Parade!

I thought it would be fun to create a page with all of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts through the years.   All of the ones I have done have been Quiltville patterns designed by Bonnie Hunter.   I think the first one I did was Jack in the Box back in 2012.  Bonnie asked me if she could put this one in her book that year but in the end it did not go in.  What an honor that was though to be asked!

In 2013 I did Spooling Around as the leader ender challenge and for RSC.  

In 2014 I did the same thing for the lozenges.  This may have been the year that I cleaned out all my scraps and organized them each month as the color changed.  I organized them into strips and all that according to Bonnie's scrap saver system.

I think in 2014 I also did the RSC14 Sampler from Angela's website.  I finished mine differently, but love how it came out.

Around that same time Amy and I did Betty's Choice and a block she designed, swapped and each made a quilt like this!

In 2015 I made the RSC15 sampler also from Angela's blog.  This was a fun one too!

I made two Pineapple Blossom quilts somewhere in there.

In 2015 I did Talkin Turkey and hung it at the quilt show.  This one was a labor of love!  Lots of work but looks great in the end.

2017 was Straits of Mackinac which is not yet quilted.  

2021 I did Pine Tree Point as a Christmas rainbow quilt.  Gave my daughter a matching pillow this year.

2022 I made two Butterfly Bush doll quilts.

Also in 2022 I did Log Cabin Love which is not yet quilted.  

 

This year I am thinking that I will do the Dakota Farmer block and use up a bunch of the HST's I have accumulated through the years.  

I tried to put this post on as a page but for some reason it is not working.  I have several pages not showing and only three that actually show up.  Grr.  I am doing it right according to google.  Any tips?

 

Let's Do a Mystery--or Three in 2023!

I have discovered four quilt mysteries going on over New Year's and am in for at least three of them (besides Chilhowie in progress).  I figured I should post about them in case any of you wanted to join in on them and were unaware they were going on!  

The first one is sponsored by Craftsy and Stitchin Heaven and is called Sparkling New Year.  It starts at 10 AM my time (CST) and has easy cutting and presewing of HST's.  You do not need to be a member of Craftsy to sign up for emails to get the clues.  There is also a facebook group for this and they will be doing videos all day demonstrating this quilt in progress.

I do still need to mark some lines and pin the squares together--they just updated the presewing last night.  Barb, Becky and I and BJ are sewing along on this one.

Cuts and Bolts is a new to me facebook group (and store) doing a NYE mystery that starts at 8 AM my time with clues every hour.  I have not cut this fabric and will only be doing this one if I love it since I am already in for three! BJ says she is doing this one, so now I am thinking I might have to cut it!

Every year I tend to do the Merry Mayhem  New Year's Day mystery every year.  This is case #146 and it is suitable for an eye spy type quilt!  I decided to use the fall fabrics that Barb just sent me and the ones I had on my own shelf.  I could have done a kids' eye spy, but I figure if I love this pattern I can repeat it with those.  These fabrics were fresh in my mind when it came time to pick and they won out.  The presewing for this one involved sewing strips together and cutting them into two patches.  Super easy and fairly quick to cut.  These clues all get uploaded on the day of the mystery and starts at 9 AM my time.  The clues disappear quickly (you can buy them after that) so if you are interested you need to grab them that day.  Barb, BJ and I are doing this one.

                                        

I normally do Mystery Quilt Anonymous' quilt which NORMALLY starts at 2 PM my time on New Year's Eve.  This year because of the day it falls on Debi is doing it on New Year's Day starting at 2 PM (it is morning for her in New Zealand).  The clues come out every few hours on her website and there is a facebook group of the same name where we all share pictures and tips.  If you love mysteries, her website (and her books sold on Amazon) have a plethora.  She is prolific and shares her talents freely.  She makes videos with tips that are always fun too.  I am going to try to catch some of that live but it may depend on how Merry Mayhem is going since that one will be in progress already that day.  

The presewing for this one is HST's and I have them all done and ready to go.  Barb and I are doing this one.  BJ was interested, but the cutting on this one is more involved so she may have talked herself out of this one! (She didn't!).

I completely expect to be working on these the first weeks of January.  My stamina is not usually so good that I can get through them all in the day allotted.  Plus I am trying to do more than one in a day!  Are you planning on doing any of these?  Or have you found others that I have somehow missed?  I am so excited for these mysteries--this is my favorite sewing time of the year!

I should also mention that I am planning on buying the pattern and possibly the kit for the Modern Quilt Studio mystery which starts in January and goes for several weeks.  I love their work and want to support them--so since I LOVE mysteries, this is one way to do it!

 

Chilhowie and More!

 I hope you have all had Happy Holidays!  Despite coming down with Covid for the first time (pretty sure my granddaughter brought it to her dad, then me, then her mom) we went to my folks--barely making they cut off for quarantine.  The kids have had it before.  Kathy somehow did not get it--despite being exposed to her and to me all week.  I took Paxlovid since I am immuno-compromised.  I actually felt better than normal from the time I was exposed until the time the Paxlovid ended.  This seems to happen to me...my fatigue lifts decently when my body is fighting something else.  I had lots of headaches, body aches, and metal taste in my mouth, but overall I had it easy.

The night before Christmas Eve we went to Hannah and Jeremy's and did our Christmas.  We got some amazing presents--a long weekend in Door Country with them in June and a wrapped up pregnancy test!  The next day, my mom and Dad were super thrilled we worked it all out and went to Marshfield Christmas Eve day.  Hazel had lots of gifts and wore a shirt that said "Big Sister." We waited for my parents to notice and they were as overjoyed as we are!  She is due in August after my birthday and before my Mom's so the countdown begins!  

Hazel also picked me out some fabric with these charm packs!  I happen to have the green pin print in yardage so that is fun too.

Hazel is enamored with The Nightmare Before Christmas.  She was Sally for Halloween and can listen to the music and tell you what she "sees" happening in the movie.  She is 27 months old.  I am astounded at her memory as I cannot tell you what is happening in a movie based on the music as accurately as she can!  I used up my scraps to make her a big bag and two small bag to hold the doorables that I (and her mom at home) got her.

I had to throw a scrap of purple in there as I seriously was out of fabric.  This is front and back of the same bag.

I also made her another apron to keep at my house.  She loves to bake with me and we are trying to bake something every Friday together.  I sent a lot of it home with her (brought some to Christmas at my parents too).  I made a larger one for Lily in Ohio (my oldest's daughter) too.

I made Jay a pillow with mushroom fabric too since he loves them.  I saw he had several mushroom pillows on his Amazon wish list and realized I had everything to make him one!  He is stopping by after work to do Christmas since he could not make early Christmas and went to Eau Claire (with no stop in Marshfield) and we have not seen him yet.

                                                    I

 treated myself to 12 Days of Book-Club-Mas again this year.  There were so many fun gifts in it but my favorite might be this TBR jar.  I cut up a list of all my books on the shelf as of November and put them in the jar in the hopes that I might pull from it and read off my shelf.  Goal for the first half of this year is to buy less books because we hope to move this Spring.  I have plenty of books here to read and access the library so I should not bring more in to move!

I finally learned how to make microwave cozy bowls.  Barb and I worked on these together.  I gave my mom the sock monkey ones and she loved them.  Jay will get the mushroom one, Hannah (for bday) will get the cows.  I think I may make more of these for gifts next year.  

I made one last yellow block (and deleted the picture) and put my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt (Log Cabin Love) together.  Super happy with how it came out.  Linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

I have been working on Chilhowie--the current Quiltville mystery.  Here are clues two, three, four and five!

                                        

Behind on the Blogging!

I am behind on the blogging!  I have been sewing so let's catch you up!  I made seven of these paper pieced books from Etsy for my Up to No Good Book Club group members.  This fabric reminds me of "The Luminaries" which was one of the first books I read with the group.  

                                        

I also sewed up the second to last Log Cabin Love block awhile back.  One to go.

Here are all the blocks so far.  Linking up with Angela!

I finished an Eye Spy quilt and got it tied and bound and off to Norway.  This is for my honorary daughter's baby boy #3.

I also made a stack of simple bags which is a favorite pattern of mine.  Some of these may be gifts for next year since I went a bit crazy making them with no one in mind!

I quilted and bound both of the Butterfly Bush quilts.  One is for Lily and one is for Hazel at my house since I gave one of the H quilts to Harper (my best friend's granddaughter).

                                        

For Thanksgiving we went to my daughter's house.  It happened to be my youngest son Jay's birthday as well.  The year he was born was a few days before Thanksgiving and I cooked soon after getting home from the hospital.  I about fell over at the table and barely ate.  My hubby offered to clean up and put everything away--he did and put the leftover wine gravy down the garbage disposal.  I was hormonal and cried and cried.  Anyway, he was at the Thanksgiving (been an ex for 22 years now) and we reminisced about this--I think he forgot about it!

Hard to believe my baby is thirty!  

On black Friday I was lucky enough to sew with Barb, Becky, Dr. Kathy, and BJ!  I love this group of ladies and our tradition of Bonnie mystery quilting!

Here is Clue One of Chilhowie.  I never even showed a fabric pull as I literally decided to do Packer colors and brown the day the clue came out.  I am still working on clue two.

Barb sent me a good sized box of fabrics too!  Many of them will be going into a New Year's mystery quilt which I have already cut too.

In that box were some blocks and rows so I whipped them into this pretty little quilt.

I also tried my hand at making some book sleeves. One of these is for me and one is for Becky.  I will be making more soon.

 

Ruby Jubilee Becomes a Flimsy!

The reveal of Ruby Jubilee came out in Quiltmaker and I did not care for all the whitespace or for the block placement with clusters of the same block together.  I decided I would add in other blocks and parts and switch it up.  Then I saw Bonnie Hunter had the same idea!  I love every quilt Bonnie has ever designed so I knew I would be happy with it and I plunged in copying her.  My friend Becky did the same.  I made four, yes four, churn dash blocks before I got the right size thanks to help from Becky.  It really is not that hard, but my brain fog leads me to do things incorrectly more often than not!

I grew it section by section.  I made some incorrect blocks along the way.  

                                        

Added some strings.

This was a block I could not find a pattern for so I did manage to get it right the first time!  This time I shared it with Becky.

Bug jumps on it for pictures every time I lay it out!  I did use one of my extra ladder blocks in place of the half star Bonnie used (you can see it at the top of the pic below between the baskets and the flying geese).  

It is too large for an indoor picture and it is too wet (and dreary) out to get one outside yet.  

I have now prepped all of the HST's for the border and have about five sheets made with more to go!

 Here is the most recent picture I have of Becky's.  I LOVE it in purple too!

Everyone is all excited for the new Chilhowie Mystery at Quiltville.  The facebook page is abuzz with everyone picking out their fabrics.  I am still trying to decide my colors.  There are only three this year with the neutral being the fourth.  Hoping to have Ruby Jubilee together before the first clue comes out on Black Friday (end of November for non Americans).