A Pieceable Week

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

It has been a pieceable week here.  I've been using my red scraps to make blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts.  Wanna see what I've been up to?

For these house blocks, I'm combining feed sacks, vintage fabrics, and 1930s reproductions.  The pattern is called Home Made, and can be found in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine issue #162, Feb. 2020.  It was originally designed to be made from flannels.

This one is made of feed sacks, except for the windows and the door, which are repros.
 

Next up, shoofly blocks made from 1800s reproduction scraps.

The center square of this block is cut from a toile fabric, and has been in my 3.5 in. squares box for a very long time.  It's oriented oddly, but I like it anyway.

Lastly, I made seven Text Me A Quilt blocks.  The pattern is from Scrap Basket Bounty, by Kim Brackett. 

It's funny how many novelty prints are one-way designs.  Most of the darker red prints weren't, but five out of seven of the light backgrounds were one way.

The original quilt used text prints for the backgrounds.  I actually had one this time.  It says "You're My Type".

This block has a secret!  I'm running out of lots of these light print scraps (it's a miracle!), so I had to substitute a different dog print to finish this block.  It's in the three squares in the middle row--can you see it?  Just a fun little surprise for someone with sharp eyes.

It's hard to believe, but we are getting to the end of the year for the RSC.  Next month is our last month, and then we start putting the blocks together to finish what we started.  I have 4 quilts going this year.  Why on earth do I always make so many Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts?  Must be because it's fun.

It could also be because it uses up scraps!  In other years, I would have been to several quilt shows and rummage sales, and would be incorporating new scraps I bought into the stash.  (Yes, I actually buy other people's scraps!)  This year, I've been using yardage more of the time, which tends to MAKE scraps, like the ones crammed into the basket above.

It was long past time to straighten this out.  These are what I call my big bright scraps--smaller than fat quarters but larger than the largest strips I save.  I organized them by color and rubber banded them together.  Now I can see what I've got, and easily grab any particular color.  I've done a similar thing for my 1800s reproduction scraps.

Nearly every year, my friend Deb C. and I go to a quilt show in Madison.  Here's us there last year, back when we all did everything in real life.

You might be surprised to know we went again this year.  But this year, it was Virtual.

It was definitely different, but still great.  We each viewed the quilts on our computer/tablet in our own homes, and talked on the phone as we did.  Serious social distancing.

If anyone had overheard us, I'm sure it would have been hilarious.  We were two old ladies trying to navigate some very sophisticated software.  I veered off a time or two and got lost.  We were clicking on these circles on the floor (we called them donuts) that moved us from quilt to quilt, and trying to find our way through a rotating map that made us just a little queasy.

There are some pluses to virtual quilt shows.  No one is standing in front of the quilt you want to look at.  You can zoom in on the pictures if your device allows.  There were even videos from some of the quilt makers explaining their techniques or inspirations.  No need to look around for a vacant chair when you need a rest, you're already sitting in it.  Cups of tea are handy and won't spill on the quilts.  And if you feel like making some slightly bitchy comments (like, why did that quilt get a ribbon when the other amazing one didn't?) no one can hear you except your friend.  

I did miss the real vendor booths.  The online vendor mall was just not the same.

The show went live Sept. 10-12, the usual dates when it's in person.  Amazingly, the show is still online.  I logged in this morning, and all the features seemed to still be there.  It also looks as though you can still register (which just means getting a log in).  If you'd like to check it out, go to quiltshow.com.  (If you try this, please let me know if it works for you.)

There are links at the show to talks/lessons given by some of the teachers.  I enjoyed the one by Weeks Ringle on Palette Building and also Sensational Quilts for Scrap Lovers by Judy Gauthier.  To get to these videos, click the schedule link at the top of the screen and scroll down. 

If you go, please consider donating to support the show.  Just click the Support Us link at the top of the screen and donate online.  The quilt show is PBS Wisconsin's largest fund raiser.

BTW, the quilt above was the winner in the Kids Quilt Challenge, made by quilters under the age of 15!

I can't close today without mentioning the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  My mom and I have loved her for years.  Mom sent me the bobble head above for my birthday some years ago, and it lives in my kitchen window.  We chuckled together about the Notorious RBG.

Justice Ginsburg is someone all Americans can be proud of.  Her courage, tenacity, humor, and above all her kindness to everyone, including those with whom she disagreed, make her loss very hard to bear.  She will continue to be a role model, and will have an important place in our history.

Have a good week, everyone, and stay safe.

(Does this look weird?   The hand in the middle holding Baby Buddy is Grandpa's.)

Sincerely,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Angela at Superscrappy (home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge)

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Cynthia at Oh Scrap