Purple dress and sofa

Voila my purple sofa and dress blocks of the month.   Love the red legs on the sofa!!!

I didn't have time to do the TV yet... stay tuned (pun intended)

All three colors so far,










check out other people's purple blocks at   http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/
And the three sofas...have a seat!

Scrap-i-locks and the icky blocks

The Whole Fam-damnly o'colors done

Remember these? The blocks from the book Stratavarious?
Well,  I did them in purple but don't like them much better.

Apparently this pattern just doesn't really work with my scraps.

On the other hand,
I like the center blue ones, and it may be because I like those scrap strips better...

I just wanted to use up some of the older ones who've been passed over for promotion so many times, know what I mean???




Anyway, this morning it was like Goldilocks, but I call her Scrap-i-locks. I tried them one way, ewwwww.
I rearranged them another way, ewwwww even worse.
Then settled on this way... and I might like it enough to do one more color and put them into a top...

can't exactly say they are "Just right" but to paraphrase,  "they might do, pig".
Check out the other purple scraps being used at superscrappy

Purple Prism

The color has happily changed from brown to purple over at the RSC2016.
Yea!
These are the big 4-patch blocks I like a lot (unlike the stratavarious ones)
These are made with 15 inch light strata, and 15 inch dark strata.
Place RST with one strata horizontal and one vertical.
Sew 1/4" around the whole sandwich, cut across diagonal in both directions and press open.

Voila! Sew the four small blocks together into the 20" 4 patch seen below.

purple, blue and brown. I figure 12 20" blocks will make a nice lap quilt.

I like the process, using up stringy strips with no concern of their width, I like the surprise when you cut them apart at the end, I like the light and dark contrasts, and the strong line created.

other scrappy projects are over here at scrappy Sundays

a failed project

well, that's done.
The blocks made from the book Stratavarious  do not show well with my brown scraps. I'm sure I could go to the scrap drawer and find better mixes of texture but that's not the challenge right?

I do not like them, and doubt they'll find their way in a finished quilt. They don't even look good mixed with the blue ones or I'd show you. Want to see the blue ones? look here  (post )

Pictures of the two other block sets I'm making this year, and I like them both:

They seem to work a bit better.

They are all made from strings/strips.
The stratavarious pattern is a half-square triangle block.

The next one down with no name, is a four-patch of diagonally set triangles.
The diamonds are randomly pieced, then cut.

Being analytical by nature, I thought about why the first blocks do not look good.






1. I am cheap. I keep almost every scrap people give me even if I don't like them because I know there will come a time when that will be the perfect color or print for a project.
2. I used those brown strips I don't like much for this project
3. The tones just do not resonate with me and there is no other way to view them in this block, meaning they are not part of a tree trunk, or a bird's wing, or someone's hair.

When ugly colors/prints are used as a component for bark for instance, you don't notice the fabric, you notice the blend of fabrics.

I don't often make something I feel is a total failure, as I figure out how to use stuff. It's one of the creativity exercises I do. These blocks are a loss, no way around it. For now they are stored with the others. 

So what do you do with blocks that don't turn out the way you expected? 

 See other brown blocks at the RSC2016 party today. Looking forward to a color change next month.

reindeer Party

Reindeer blocks in January?
The free BOM at quiltdoodledesigns is too cute to ignore. Plus it gives me a reason to dig through the brown scraps.

They will be set in a row eventually.

Right now they are just blocks. The other rows have winter fun stuff like mittens, and snowmen. Each month Cindy gives us the free pattern, then they go on her craftsy site for sale.
The background fabric was given me by someone who felt it was not worth keeping. I just love it! There is about a half yard in pieces left for later blocks.





Look at the next guy... looks nervous to me...

Faces take on expressions with a tiny change in button placement.
Speaking of buttons, when I went in search of eyes and noses I found a mess. I mean, what do these things do when I turn off the light, Party?

This is the mess after I removed half of it...

I went to the junk drawer (I'm not just a hoarder of quilting supplies, I also keep weird stuff in a drawer in the kitchen)  (ya never know....)
I found a pile of paper covered wire twist ties.
I  strung them on the twist ties in groupings. Now I can reach in, and pull out an orderly group.

 The loose ones go in a zip loc bag.

One of the best inventions.

one little cow teapot

I have not decided on blocks to make this year with the RSC2016. The color this month is blues. I think I know what I want to make this year but I have an eye condition that has stepped up to interrupt my creative life.
Grrrr.
Suddenly over the holidays I floater covered my vision in my left eye, looked like a tree limb. Then flashes of light. Emergency visit to a retina specialist with this news. It was due to age. There is nothing to do about it. I have to wait for possibly months for it to clear on it's own. No one knows what causes it.

well!
Anyway, it makes reading, writing and sewing difficult.
I managed to make this one little lonely cow teapot to go with the black and white set.
The great news is I have a plan for setting the flamingos! It will be a good amount of work but look cool, I hope. I still have no idea how to set the dishes. All of it is on hold.

 So this little scrap had a perfect little flower lovin' cow perfect for a 4" teapot block!
Check out the other blocks being made at superscrappy

Look what I found in the cupboard!

Black and white dishes to go with my colors from the rainbow scrap challenge for 2015. I know, I know...that's so, well, yesterday.

right out of the black and white scrap bin
this is how they looked before...
the block finishes at 6 inches square!


 As usual the pattern source is Sew Precise software from Shirley Liby.

finishing at 4" X 6 "

Pour yourself a cup from the musical coffee pot, into your cow mug...

and grab a snack of something tasty...

pattern source is quiltinginamsterdam by Maartje

and consider reading my long but personal journey post following this one. I'd love to hear what you think after reading it... Happy New Year my friends! LeeAnna
Check out what other blocks are being done at http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Black and White Movie-star Flamingos

Roll out the red carpet, the black and white movie star Flamingos are here.
Flo Ziegfeld and Greta Garbo-Mingo ( I do NOT want to be alone) have joined the flock.
(BTW my design wall is white not pink as it appears here)

This is how it starts. Digging through the black and white scraps for teeny little flamingo like pieces.
As always the pattern is from Shirley Liby's sew precise.

How do I choose fabrics?
Thanks for asking, heh heh

It's scientific.

I likes what I likes.

And they should have movement and interest and contrast and be available in a scrap bin.

And I like to place the scrap just so.

Here they are joining the recent flock members. I have no Earthly idea how I will set these.

 I have a flamingo fabric collection, that's right, I know you're shocked. I'll wait while you recover.

Since there is water and sky in each little block, and since each little block was done at my whim so they are all different sizes, this will not be simple.

Of course.

Maybe I'll go around each one with the same fabric to unify them. Maybe there will be a big flamingo in the center. I don't know, I just make the blocks with little thought to the future.

It's like, when a fabric store clerk asks what I am going to do with a fabric while she cuts it.
Well, I hunted and gathered it, I'm going to take it home and clean (wash dry and fold) it, and it's going to join the others.
I'm adopting it.

Black and White dishes to follow, and that teapot, gonna be so cute!
go see other RSC quilts here

The Twelfth Cow in Black and White

Well, here she is...
the twelfth cow... in black and white.
A black and white cow??? How RIDICULOUS!  Who could imagine a black and white c...oh...wait...

She's a non nonsense kind of gal. She is a linear thinking, she likes order in her life. She wants to know when it's time to eat, and when it's time to give milk. She likes simplicity. She knows life is not all black and white, that there is lots of gray but she doesn't like it. She knows which cows in the herd are full of it. She knows which farmers have warm hands. She knows she gives the best milk. She. Knows.

Here's the thing... she was never named. She may be straight laced but she longs for a name.

decision made, the layout works for me

I made 11 cows with the rainbow scrap challenge  (superscrappy ) this year, from scraps in all colors. Then this month there was no color given. I needed a twelfth cow.
Okay, I do love black and white fabric so that's MY chosen color this month. I will eventually do black and white flamingos and dishes all from the scrap pile <==

I have made each cow with floral print fabrics and this one was no different. I just love this herd. It will take a minute to set them right, and make the decisions needed to honor them the best way possible. This is a hard part for me.

Paring down the possibilities and choosing one.
Forgive me for not showing you all of them until they are done.
Please  help me name this girl.

a couple more flamingos to go

another multi colored flamingo, love this fabric! The green with multi colored dots too.
Note the little octopus hiding near the legs,

on blocks this small you can use small scraps. And I save almost all scraps for this purpose. Never know when it will work!  See other lime blocks being made at superscrappy

All the multi-colored ones together.
Colorful types like to flock together...

raspberry parfait

Ahhhh Raspberry Parfait is this month's cow. The color is Lime green over at So Scrappy but my "green" cow was already lime plus grass green. I made an executive decision to use red violet...

and just for some sparkle... red violet sparkly glittery fabric for her face. Who doesn't want to sparkle???

Raspberry Parfait is a girl who loves to sparkle. She wants to stand out and vibrates at a lovely rate.
When she was a little calf she thought of becoming a dancer (hoofer) on Broadway...

but alas she had two left feet.
Then she thought about becoming a hoof reader,or a hypnotist, look deep into my eyes, she says....

Her ears were full of stars and moons, and she thought great thoughts. She sang beautifully or so the local bulls said, and she often took the bulls by the horns!
 She loved long walks in the paddock and yearned for imported alfalfa.
She considered getting a tatoo.
She was that kind of girl, one who wanted to experience all life had to offer.

She never left the farm, but she still sparkles.

flamingo parade

The color of the month at superscrappy RSC may be lime green but I already did lime green flamingos when I did GREEN ones... I will show them to you in a minute...

 Here are the new three joining the flock.
Multi-colored!! Wheeeeee! What total fun! I might even do more!

I started with the "black sheep" of the flock, with the lime dots. The green dot was in perfect position for his eye right? ( used a marker for the center)

I had a vest made with this fabric, heh heh

I just love the little scrap of water fabric I used... it's probably meant to be sky but I just love the color change. Don't know who made it, but I only have a little and I wish I had lots. Can't have all of each fabric I like, where would it live?

 Is now a good time to show you the size scrap I need for these little guys??

 Here is a printed pattern from SewPrecise, and this time I cut it out, to enlarge it on my printer.
This is a big one, lol.


Look at the beak piece...
which is a pain to do so small...

this is the little tack holding up my batting to make a design wall, isn't it cute?

 The top two are from the Green month. See? When someone says green I think lime...

I want to make two more this month, a red violet and one with this silly dotty green.