A Scraptastic Week

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

First finish of 2023, my Rainbow Streak of Lightning!  The blocks were made last year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Many thanks to Hubby for holding it up for the photo.  I apologize for the photos, it's gray and dismal outside so we'll make do with inside shots.

Snicklefritz the kitten is posing on the quilt.  He was NO HELP when I was quilting the borders and sewing on the binding yesterday.

The back is this fun dotty print, and I made a rainbow binding with strips from the parts department (drawers in the closet).

It's a twin sized quilt, bigger than my usual.  I'm hoping to give it to a group that works with kids in foster care.

In my morning sewing time (before my Little Guy gets dropped off for babysitting) this little top was sewn.  It was quick to do because I had already it cut out as a kit, and sorted the squares.

In my head I'm calling it Dinosaurs Around the World.  I keep thinking I've seen the last of this dino fabric, but more strips keep popping up.

This project was also brought to you by the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month, dark/bright blue.  Another one for the quilting pile.

Speaking of challenges, my quilt group had a scrap bag challenge that was due this week.  Here's what we started with:

We had a sheet with the rules, deadline, etc., and a bag of random scraps, mostly smaller pieces.

Here's my pile spread out.  I liked a lot of these fabrics individually, but to my mind they just didn't go together.  I have a tough time with random.  I love sorting scraps into happy groups.  I knew a string quilt would be a good option, but it took me a long time to figure out what to do.

This was plan A.  I traced a template out of a book for the blue pieces, and sewed the scraps onto triangles cut from phone book pages.

Can you see the problem above?  When I sewed the triangles together, all the points on the blue pieces were blunted.  Either the template was printed wrong in the book, or I messed it up tracing and cutting (probably me).  Not the end of the world, of course, but not what I wanted.  Back to the drawing board.

So here's Plan B.  I had used up a lot of the strips already in Plan A, so I used my own fabrics to fill in the colors.  I had always wanted to make a rainbow string quilt, so that will be off my bucket list when I get it quilted.  It will be a donation, maybe a wheel chair throw or something.  I still have pieces left over (of course!).

More scraps!  Our local quilt shop had a big sale, and of course I participated.  They also keep a huge basket full of scraps.  Customers can fill a bag with their choice of scraps for less than the cost of a yard of fabric.  I chose colors I always run out of, like orange and purple, plus some fun prints.

We have lots of fun around here!  My youngest grandsons, whom I call Buddy and Little Guy, are "working" independently here.  Buddy was drawing a picture, and Little Guy was covering a toy dinosaur with play dough (not sure why).  Did you notice Buddy's hair?  He's in wrestling this year, and his team has haircuts like this for tournaments.  I guess they look fierce?  (He just looks cute to me.)

My Little Guy and I gave the dinosaur a bath after the play dough dried.  He did a good job scrubbing.  We might have to make more play dough.

I hope you're feeling well and having fun this week.

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Sunshine and Shadow

 Welcome to Treadlestitches! Happy Last Day of 2022!

To me, every year is like the old quilt pattern called Sunshine and Shadow.  Both light and dark, good and bad things happen.  Remembering the sunshine when a shadow descends helps me keep going.  (The photo above is a half log cabin quilt I made years ago.)

 The Rainbow Scrap Challenge is one of the bright spots of sunshine in the year, and I always enjoy it.  This year I had 4 RSC projects  which resulted in 5 quilts.  Three of them were done earlier, but I'm down to the wire on the last two.  I really wanted  to get all my RSC quilts done before starting new ones in January.

Yesterday, I finished the 16 patch.  It's 61 in. x 69 in., sort of a lap robe or small twin.

The back is this blue plaid I had in the stash.  I bought it at a booth in an antique mall several years ago.

I quilted a 2 in. grid with the serpentine stitch on my Pfaff, and bound it with a dark blue solid.

The Split Nine Patch (that I'm calling Rainbow Streak of Lightning) did get its borders, but I don't think it will be quilted by midnight tonight.  Maybe by the end of the weekend?  It's a true twin size, at 72 in. x 81 in.

The border fabric is this green star print.  I bought a nice big piece of it at a flea market last summer.  I'm not sure why, but I usually use blue fabric for borders.  Other colors can work, too!  I need to give them a chance.

These are the other 3 RSC quilts, and I've blogged about them earlier.  The zigzag ones are called Razzle Dazzle (click HERE to read about them), and the Crayon quilt can be found HERE.  All of this year's RSC quilts will be donated to children's charities.

The end of the year is a good time to look back and take stock.  I use this little notebook to keep track all year.  When I finish making a top, I record it here.  Then when it gets quilted, I record that date as well, and check it off.

Here are the stats for this year.

Quilts finished: 27 total:  21 Baby-sized quilts, 6 medium to large

Tops made, not yet quilted: 5 total:  4 small, 1 twin (the Split Nine Patch above).

Now, that doesn't count tops finished in PREVIOUS years.  The backlog is SERIOUS.  I'm just trying not to add to it, and I actually have a plan for tackling the UFOs this coming year.

Starting tomorrow!

I hope all who celebrate had a happy holiday.  This little Snicklefritz keeps climbing in the Christmas tree and knocking down all the ornaments.  Thank goodness my hubby weighted the base so he can't tip it over.

I'm wishing more sunshine than shadow for you, and all of us, in 2023.  Happy New Year!

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

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Split Personality

Last week, I finished this quilt.  I call it Crossroads.  It's made from my 1800s reproduction fabric scraps.  I bound it by hand this week, and washed it to bring out the crinkly goodness.

Check out these colors--cadet blue, garibaldi red, double pink, indigo blue, and of course lots of shirtings.
Now take a look at this week's finish, a Split Nine Patch:

Bright colors, novelty prints, lots of kid-friendly fabrics.  (It looks good with my grandson's car in the background, doesn't it?)
Sometimes I'm historical, and other times I'm just hysterical.  Maybe I have a split personality.

If so, Split Nine Patch is definitely the block pattern for me.  I was using up strips from the 3.5 in. shoebox for this one.

Here's one block laid out on the treadle cabinet.  Sometimes this block is made with a square of dark in the center, instead of the split square I used.

You can see more of the crazy fabrics I used here.  I got a huge stack of Route 66 fabric scraps at a flea market last summer, and lots of them made it into the quilt.

This was so easy to quilt on my Pfaff with the built-in walking foot!  I just crosshatched the center and quilted lines through the squares.  Between the light and dark areas I quilted with the edge of the presser foot on the seam.

The back is a giant dots print from Connecting Threads.  It comes 108 in. wide, so no seam on the back this time.  My daughter thinks it looks like something a clown would wear.

The binding is from a remnant, and I just barely had enough.  Last year, I bound everything with red, so this year I'm using up the blues.  Not sure what's next when those are gone.  (Shopping??)
The Split Nine Patch will go to a children's charity, and I hope it will be loved to pieces.
I can't wait to see what everybody else is making at Busy Hands Quilts and Crazy Mom Quilts.
Gotta split!
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches