Rainbow Rail Fence, and Lots of Blocks

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Thanks for stopping by!  

Surprise!  This week I didn't make a baby-sized quilt.  This top, that I'm calling Rainbow Rails, is nearly twin-sized, and used up 88 blocks from last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge bin.

I got the idea for rail fence blocks shaded light to dark from Julie of Julie's Quilts and Costumes.  (Click HERE for another of her ideas for these blocks.)  She graciously gave me permission to copy, so I did!

Making these blocks last year was fun!  I enjoyed looking for novelty prints in all the colors, and using up scraps.

Lots of Dr. Seuss prints ended up here.  So did a variety of light prints.

I may have mentioned I plan to make some larger tops this year for a charity that helps kids who have been abused.  The organizer came to our quilt guild recently, and told us the optimal sizes of quilts and/or tops for them is either 40 in. x 60 in., or 50 in. x 70 in.  At 52 in. x 70 in., Rainbow Rails is only 2 in. wider, so I don't think she'll mind.

With all those seams ending at the edge of the top, it seemed like a good idea to add a border.  I chose this one because of all the words of love printed on it.  Plus it's blue, my favorite "neutral" lol.

 This top will go to the organizer, who quilts them on her long arm.  

There were enough blocks left over to make one of my usual baby quilts, so I'll be quilting that up soon. 

Wow, can you believe it's the last Saturday in February?  How are your RSC blocks coming along?

I added a new set (of course).  It's this block, called Thrifty in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.  It's a 9 in. block, and uses up 3.5 in. squares and 2 in. squares.

Here are the light blue ones, and ...

the dark blue ones, and ...

pink ones, to catch up from last month.

These Bright Hopes blocks in blue were made mostly from scrap rectangles given to our quilt group by a gentleman who once managed a fabric store.

There were a LOT of the Chicago Cubs rectangles.  I need to find another project to use them up.

Disclaimer:  The following blocks were NOT made by me...

except for the bright blue/red plaid in the center of the top row.  This was our guild's block of the month for February.  Our leader on this project, Nancy Queen of Scraps, gives us a pattern each month.  Everybody who wants to participate makes as many blocks as they want to, all the blocks go in a pile, and a name is drawn from the makers.  This month, I won!  There were 28 blocks!  All of them are made from plaids.  

I'm looking forward to making this quilt, it's such a dramatic design.  Plus I have a whole bin of plaid fabrics.  Many thanks to Queen Nancy and our lovely guild members.

My youngest grandsons had Monday off school for Presidents Day, so we got to have them here with us.  It was too cold to go outside but they had fun indoors.  Buddy is wearing his costume, pretending to be his favorite video game character (Link from the Legend of Zelda games).  Little Guy brought his Luigi and Donkey Kong toys.

Snicky the cat and our new kitten Queen Elizabeth III (nicknamed Lizzy) are getting along well now.  They gallop through the house and play together, but they also need quiet time to rest up.  Lizzy found a comfy spot in a pile of quilts.

I'm looking forward to covering up with a quilt and checking out all the great quilt blogs.  There might be a cup of tea and cookie as well.

Have a wonderful week!  Stay warm and stay well.

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge