Saturday, January 8, 2022

Razzle Dazzle Red

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  I hope your new year is starting out great.

Mickey Mouse says welcome to my new Rainbow Scrap Challenge project.  Red is the perfect color for January here in the frozen north.   Outside, the world is cold and snow-covered, but inside it's warm and bright.

As of last week, I still didn't have any firm plans for this year's RSC quilts.  While cleaning the sewing room (yes, I did it!), I came across this Razzle Dazzle pattern.  It's from the November 1997 issue of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine, and was made by Willa Dean Reynolds.  It's based on a traditional pattern called Thousand Pyramids, and all the pieces are equilateral triangles.

My quilt will be much simpler than Ms. Reynold's.  I cut the triangles from 3.5 in. strips, and sew 4 of them together to make a triangular block.  I put the ruler on it like this (with the tip of the ruler above the strip) so I have a blunt tip on one point.  This helps me know where the straight of grain is.

It actually worked!  I was so excited about making these that I forgot to take pictures of the red ones before they were sewn together...

 Like this!  I made 12 red blocks and 12 light blocks, set them together in two rows, and sliced the ends off evenly, leaving a seam allowance.  It's about 38 in. wide.  My plan is to make two baby quilts.  Each will have four of these double rows in different RSC colors.  At least, that's what I'm thinking right now.

Maybe this will make a dent in the 3.5 in. strips?  And I can use lots of novelty prints.

In other red news, I finished this string top.

The string blocks came from our guild's silent auction, and were originally made by the wonderful Laverne D.  I cut them into rectangles and added the red.  (Click HERE for my post about these blocks.)  I sewed them into groups of 4, and then into the top.  The border used the few remaining string segments plus new ones I made from my vast collection of older fabric scraps.

The fabrics in the blocks were mostly older prints from the 90s, with newer ones thrown in.  (The sock monkey print is one of my favorites.)  In keeping with the make-do spirit there are 3 different red solids.  I think I might have enough of one of them for the binding. 

My favorite block in the quilt is the one with Lady Liberty.  This is the only piece of this print in the whole quilt.  There she is, lifting her lamp, reminding us what American values are and should be.

I think some simple quilting is in order.  But there are several other quilts in line first.

More red!  A little embroidery to finish, and then I'll have another red top done.  That's a story for next week.

Our Baby Buddy loves toy trains!  This week, Grandpa set up a nice long track, for hours of fun.  That's Bella the dog in the background, curled up in her bed.  She's not a train fan at all.  She keeps walking on the track and messing everything up.

Have a good week, everyone, and stay safe.

Linking up with:

Angela at So Scrappy
Cynthia at Oh Scrap



 












27 comments:

  1. very cute project- I am intimidated with triangles

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    1. Thanks, Maggie! These particular triangles are not too hard, as long as I'm careful with the cutting.

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  2. You have some of the cutest prints! Razzle Dazzle makes for a pretty fancy and cute baby quilt.

    I like what you did with the string blocks. I'm always looking for new ways to use strings.

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    1. Thanks, Cathy! A friend in my quilt group is a real expert in string quilts. I'm using one of her ideas here.

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  3. Oh that razzle Dazzle is fantastic--I love red and white quilts--this is so jazzy looking!!
    And that scrappy piece is great, too...hugs, Julierose

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    1. Thanks, Julierose! I've got a real love for any kind of zigzag design.

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  4. LOVE your new RSC project and your freshly finished String top, too!!!

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  5. I love the Razzle Dazzle pattern - all those triangles! It looks like they go together really easily for you. The string quilt is wonderful, too. So great that you could use up your friend's string blocks! That train looks like lots of fun!

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    1. Thanks, Diann! So far, the triangles are behaving themselves. The trains have been hours of fun for our little guy, although we are having to buy lots of batteries to keep them going!

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  6. Oh that's going to be such a fun quilt ... or two. Love your prints. Great job on the string quilt too. Love what you did there. ;^)

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    1. Thanks, Chantal! I always feel thrifty when I make a string quilt.

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  7. Such fun happy prints. Who had the most fun...grandpa setting up the train track or Baby Buddy playing with it? My bet is on grandpa!!!!

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    1. You got that right! Grandpa always wants to add things to the scene, like trees and people and animals. Baby Buddy just wants to watch the trains go by.

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  8. I love your plan with the triangles! You have such a great collection of prints for kid's quilts. Great way to use those string blocks!

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    1. Thanks, Julie! Everywhere I go, I'm looking for cute prints. Sometimes I even find them!

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  9. Great start Sylvia!
    Razzle Dazzle pyramids look so cool.
    Love also your string quilt. The reds joint them all so weĺl.
    Have a great week.

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  10. Boys and trains! Doesn't he look occupied. Love the triangles.

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  11. Love your red projects! You have some fun fabrics.

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    1. Thanks, Sandy! I like these prints as much (or more?) than kids do. Maybe I'm just a big kid?

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  12. Your Razzle Dazzle project is going to dazzle a couple someones for sure! I also loved your string finish. . .all that red is a lovely compliment to the variety of your stings!

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    1. Thanks, Terry! Red is such a great color, and a nice start for a new year.

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  13. LOL, this was one of the potential projects I had put aside to consider for 2022 after picking a few too many others to try to make up in 2021. I am still working on the 2021 group (some to finish soon, some to carry on) so maybe I'll just follow your journey on this one for 2022!

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