Monday, September 27, 2021

Orange Bounty

I'm so happy fall is here! Having lived in New England as a kid, come October, fall colors were everywhere. I just had to look out my window to rolling hills of red, orange and yellow fall leaves - all that color is just so gorgeous!

Though the picture above, near Rutland, VT where I lived, is not mine, you can see how the hills are full of color. Just looking at this puts me in a warm mood and makes me want to dive head first into my fall stash, especially orange - and dive I have!

Given that I have a few fall projects to get a jump on, I first pulled out my orange scraps to make the September RSC2021 orange blocks.

orange quilt blocks with a off center black square

Don't those look yummy? I think these are by far my favorite RSC blocks this year!

Then I started tackling the smaller orange scraps to make my project for Kelly Young's Scrappy Improv Quilting book hop. Here's some small scraps sewn into pairs, still rough and untrimmed.

Now they're trimmed and looking more respectable.

With more pieces added, they're now suitable for my Fall Foliage project. If you want to learn how to do this, check out my Making Blocks from Crumbs tutorial and video to use up your scraps.

These scrap blocks are around 4-6 inches in size and will be trimmed further to fit the project. The big reveal for Fall Foliage, which is finished, is October 6 and I can tell you it looks great!

Now, I could have kept playing with these scraps for at least another day, but alas, I had to put the scraps and leftover blocks away for awhile. At least now I have a few starts for bigger blocks when I come back to orange the next time.

My last orange project is for the Ghastly Ghouls blog hop, hosted by Just Let Me Quilt, October 18-22. After dreaming of an idea, I drew it up in EQ, then started cutting and stitching.

Looks pretty simple, huh? Right now it's at the decision stage of how big to make it. I have a couple appliques to add that will help determine that, because what get designed on the computer does not always translate well to reality - it's good to check in fabric. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait to see the finish on this one until my day, October 22.

And that's all for my orange projects right now. I'll definitely be sad when I have to put them away for another year, cause quite frankly, I don't love orange enough to work with it in the winter, spring, or summer. Can't help it if I'm a seasonal girl!

Happy Quilting!

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Friday, September 24, 2021

Rain Chains

Hello quilt friends - so glad you're here today! Let's jump right into it with some new table decorations I've designed called Rain Chains.

fall colored tumbler blocks on a leaf background fabric

This colorful and modern table runner and placemat set was created for the Falling for You blog hop, this month's event hosted by Joan of Moosestash Quilting.

This is the last day of the hop, with the full schedule available at Moosestash Quilting for playing catchup, though I encourage you to visit these fellow quilters sharing their Falling for You creations today.

Friday September 24

As with most hops I participate in, I don't really start thinking about them until about 6 weeks before the actual dates, unless some idea really jumps out at me in regards to the theme.

For this hop, I knew it should be a fall theme, and with the colors and the small leaf print, I've got that covered. Design though, was a different story.

Not feeling a leaves or pumpkins idea, I turned to the Crafters Edge Tumbler dies for inspiration, ultimately selecting one die from among the 5 offered. I just love that there a 5 sizes to choose from in this set!

Then I thought about what I could design with that shape, and that's when the rain chain idea hit. If you don't know what a rain chain is, it's an chain of decorative cups to use in place of a downspout on your house.

Rain chains have been used in Japan for years, and are becoming increasingly popular here. There are several houses in my neighborhood that have them. For me, I just wish they'd bring the chance of rain to parched CA.

So, with the fabric choices, and the rain chain idea, I'm keeping with the Falling for You blog hop theme with tumbler blocks, and falling water. See how this was meant to be?

Okay! Back to the quilt! So I've got the colors and fabrics chosen, and the rain chain idea, now it was time to do some designing. Playing with different variations of the chain idea, I finally settled on opposing directions, as design-wise, it's very pleasing.

fall colored tumbler blocks on a leaf fabric

After I pieced the Rain Chains runner, I thought how great it would be to also have some placemats, cause really, with a runner this nice, it deserves a whole set. And who doesn't like something new to see and use in their house?

Another run to JoAnn for a bit more leafy background fabric was all that was needed to make 4 Rain Chains placemats - yeah! And while I was there, I picked up a yard of this pretty leaf print, just because. Who knew it would be the perfect binding!

In that picture, the quilting is also visible, which is an approximate 1/4" to 3/8" stipple in Glide Military Gold. The quilting in the tumblers was kept simple, just enough to hold them down and not detract from the strong, modern piecing design. I think those lines add to the movement though the chains - a win-win!

Now that you know the story behind the Rain Chains table runner and placemat set creation, there is a pattern available in my QuiltFabrication Etsy shop. Enter the code 'RAINCHAINS25' at checkout to receive 25 percent off. Coupon is valid through midnight, Sunday, September 26.

Happy Quilting!

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Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Midweek Makers 298

Welcome to Midweek Makers! There's lots to see and share today, starting with one last client quilt, this hot pink number by Robin.

When she picked up her black and red quilt, she dropped this one off for quilting. She loved the Fizz pantograph so much on the first quilt, she said put it on this one - and what a great choice!

I also have a sneak peek share of my project for the Falling for You blog hop, going on now with hosting from Moosestash Quilting.