Scrap Happy Summer Parade

I am sad to report that Em's Scrap Happy Summer Challenge has come to an end. Of course this doesn't mean that I will stop making things with my scraps! I will keep playing around with even the tiniest of fabric pieces to make something new.

So for the finale. Here is my Scrap Happy Summer Parade.

I have made several more of the strip blocks. They are not sewn together yet, but I hope to have them done soon. With Mimi's help I should be able to make a quilt out of these.

On previous posts I have already shown you some of the other scrap projects that I have been working on. Here are a few of them. The small flowers, the 2 1/2 inch crumb block quilt, the picnic quilt, the klosjes and the red and blue blocks and the 3 1/2 inch crumb blocks.

I haven't shown you a photo of my ongoing flower garden for awhile. These are the larger flowers. I think this one is almost done to the flimsy stage. I am not sure how big I will make it. I guess I will stop when the flowers become boring or if I run out of scraps. So far there is no sign of either of that.

And finally for today I want to share with you the row I made for the Row Robin Barb is hosting. I used some of my scraps and some of the fabric that came with this row. The theme for this quilt is springtime.

Go on over to Em's Scrapbag and see what others did this summer.

Finally - A Friday Finish!

I finished the crumb blocks quilt! They were so much fun to make! Really addictive. I put them together with a polka dot sashing. And today I finished quilting it and sewing the binding down. Hurray!

This is part of Em's Scrapbag's Scrap Happy Summer.

Ants on my Quilt and other Things

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Let me introduce my scrap quilt. It's still a work in progress, but I should be finished in a couple of days. It's going to be a picnic quilt.

My DD has been wanting one for years. It has taken me a long time to get going on it because all I could think of was putting a quilt on the ground and spilling food on it. And then there were the bugs that would be crawling all over. So I came to terms with the ground issue by using fabric that was destined for the garbage. (Well, not really. I just can't throw any fabric out - not even a tiny scrap.) It was a lot of fun sewing the blocks. They really went together quickly. But I still had to get over the bug issue. I solved that by hand embroidering tiny ants onto the blocks. Here is a close-up of my ants. They do look kind of real, don't they? What's a picnic without ants?

Then I sandwiched and quilted each block and sewed them together using the quilt-as-you-go method. I have finished all the blocks and only have to sandwich and quilt a few more of them and then sew them all together. I want to have it done by Friday evening. Wishful thinking? I hope not! DD is going to the beach on Saturday.

I only made one hexagon flower this week. Here it is outside in my garden with my summer phlox. When the picnic quilt is finished I will spend some more time on the hexies.

Some people were wanting to see a close-up of my little crumb blocks. Here is one that will finish at 3 inches. I have been making these as I sewed the picnic log cabin blocks. They are 'starters' and 'enders', so that my machine doesn't get a chance to knot up the top thread when I start to sew something.

We are in for a thunder storm this afternoon. I hope that will cool things down a bit.

A Scrap Happy Summer

I am officially joining Emily for a Scrap Happy Summer.

The idea is to make something using scraps. Since it seems that everything I am making at the moment uses scraps, I thought I'd join in. Here are a few of my projects, The first one is my klosjes. I have been working on these for quite a while and I am about halfway to my goal of 320 klosjes. So far I have used each spool fabric only once. Then there are my Grandmother's Flower Garden flowers. I am really enjoying these! I have no idea how big this quilt is going to get. These flowers are so much fun to make, I may have to buy a bigger bed!

An off-shoot of the flowers are these I Spy hexagons. I came across a box full of these hexies which I had started many years ago. I decided to do them in English Paper Piecing, since I really like that technique and this is what I have so far. I am hoping that I will have enough different I Spy fabrics.

Then there are the tiny squares which I showed you a few days ago. These things are very addictive. They are only 2 1/2 inches square (unfinished). I usually don't keep scraps this small, because there is a wonderful gal at our quilt guild who collects these tiny bits to use in her classroom. But it is summer now and I have no one to give them to, so I thought I would try making these little squares. And voila! I'm hooked. I have no idea what I will do with them.

And here are some strip blocks. I only have a few more to make. Hope to have a finished quilt to show you soon. These strips are also very addictive. You can't just make one!

As I am writing this I realize that I have a few other projects on the go that involve scraps which I forgot to take photos of. I'll leave them for next time.

Vicki from Felines and Fibre Arts came over for tea this morning. She brought me some delicious cinnamon scones. So yummy! And also this wonderful fabric yumminess - fabrics she brought back from her trip to Kauai a few weeks ago. Aren't they stunning? And as if that wasn't enough, she also brought me the cutest little chicken pin cushion! I don't know how I feel about sticking pins into this. He is just too cute! There is a neat story that goes with the chicken and you know me, I love trivia! Did you know that the island of Kauai is over-run with chickens? Apparently they're everywhere. It seems that there were a couple of hurricanes during the 1980s that freed the chickens from their coups. Since there are no natural predators on Kauai, the chickens have flourished. Hawaiians must have a great sense of humour because these pin cushion chickens are everywhere too. Don't you just love it!

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