Rainbow Rose QAL Week 5

This week we assembled the quilt block and added our borders.  I've chosen to diverge a bit from the pattern as presented and used 3 borders rather than one.

The next week or so will be crazy-busy with kids and grandchildren here for the 4th of July weekend celebrations.  I don't really expect to get much more accomplished until after they leave but the two options I'm looking at for finishing this are to either add some applique along one corner, or alternatively to leave it as is, quilt it and then bind it with the peach fabric used in the narrow accent border.

I have to thank Connie at Freemotion by the River for her recent post about using one's garage door as an outdoor design wall!  Ours worked perfectly for that purpose early this morning.

Linking up with Modern Quilters Ireland who are hosting this fun Quiltalong.

Rainbow Rose QAL, Week 4

Well, I think it's officially week 4, but since I just started this QAL last week, it's week 2 in my world. I did complete the center star for this week's linkup, so without further ado:

Thinking about how the border(s) will go together and whether they might be embellished with a bit of applique.  Time will tell.

Linking up with Modern Quilters Ireland, which is hosting this fun Quiltalong.  

Rainbow Rose Quiltalong

A little late arriving, as the Rainbow Rose Quiltalong is well into Week 3 over at the Modern Quilters Ireland blog!   I had seen a post about the QAL a couple weeks ago, and then a sweet vintage Jolly Bar arrived in the mail from Lara at BuzzinBumble.  It sat on the ironing board waiting to be stitched into Something Special, until Lara's latest post reminded me of the Rainbow Rose quiltalong.

So, what is a mostly traditional quilter like myself doing over at Modern Quilters Ireland blog anyway?  Well, when I looked at the pattern - lo and behold, it's a variation of a traditional Carpenter's Wheel block (Brackman 3811b), the Jolly Bar fabrics are vintage reproductions, and it looked perfect for what I hoped to make from these fabrics - a summer table-topper. And, after all I am 25% Irish!  Why not?

Yesterday saw the completion of Week 2's instructions and much of Week 3, which I finished stitching late this afternoon.   Here is Week 2:

And Week 3:

The camera always sees better than my eye.  Here's what I saw when I first focused on the corners for Week 3:

Oops!

After a little "frog stitching" and a few minutes later:

Ah, much better!

My "rainbow" is a bit lacking as the colorways of the Vintage Picnic fabric line do not include yellow, and my fabric stash is not plentiful in traditional rainbow hues either.  But I'm happy with where this project is headed and hope to have it completed very soon for our summer dining room table.  

Linking up with the Modern Quilters Ireland blog.  

A June Finish

This quilt is on its way to Fort McMurray, Alberta this today, along with six other quilts that our quilt ministry group worked on over the past few weeks.  I pieced this one over several evenings and did some simple ditch quilting and machine bound it, all-in-all the fastest quilt I've ever put together!  It took longer to take apart and re-cut the unsquared pieces we started with than it did to put everything back together again.

The finished size is about 62 x 75 inches.

Good to have this quilt completed and to begin working on some new projects waiting in the wings!

For instance, ideas abound for this sweet Jolly Bar Vintage Picnic collection - I was doubly lucky during Lara Bucella's recent blog hop featuring her newly published book Crafted Applique .. New Possibilities, winning both a copy of her book from one of her featured bloggers and one of the giveaways on Lara's blog.  I love the fact that I'd just received an order of some yardage that just happens to match perfectly one of the featured colorways in the collection.

Picnic cloth, summery placemats and napkins?  Time will tell, but I'm looking forward to working with these vintage style fabrics.  Thank you Lara!

Westering Women - May

May's block for the Westering Women BOM is named The Platte River.  Barbara Brackman adapted this block from a much more complex block called Nebraska that appeared in the publication Hearth and Home from a century ago.  I'm glad she simplified this block, and I enjoyed piecing this one.

We have traveled along the Platte River a number of times while driving across the country.  One particularly beautiful evening a few years ago we  walked along the river in a little park near our motel in North Platte, Nebraska.  The park was also home to one of the nicest memorials honoring our veterans that we have seen anywhere.

We're now nearly halfway through this interesting BOM journey.  I've really enjoyed reading some of the history links provided with each month's block.

Blessings

I've been blessed recently with a wonderful core group of  quilting sisters in our little church's quilt ministry.  For the past couple weeks this little group of mostly new quilters has worked together to complete five hand-tied comforters to be shipped this week for victims of the disastrous wildfire that left thousands of Fort McMurray Alberta residents homeless.  Four additional quilts are in various stages of stitching and should be ready to ship soon!

A small, totally unexpected package arrived in our mailbox the other day, a sweet surprise from a wonderful blogging friend, Janet O. who blogs at Rogue Quilter, who thoughtfully sent along one of her fabulously detailed mini-ornaments bordered with the last tiny pieces of a fat quarter I'd sent a while back, along with this pack of mini-squares perfect for using in my Westering Women BOM.   Thanks so much Janet, I love them!

And, a couple recent quilty blog giveaways have found their way to our mailbox.  This lovely fat quarter bundle and book from a recent Quilters Newsletter Blog giveaway - so appropriate since there's a new grandbaby on the way whose mom has already given thumbs-up to this bright and cheerful fabric collection!

And in the past few days a I was lucky enough to win copy of what may be the hottest new publication in the quilting world this summer, Lara Bucella's  Crafted Applique ... New Possibilities book from Ruth at Charly & Ben's Crafty Corner!

A month-long blog hop introducing Lara's book and featuring a host of projects using her method of producing beautiful, fray-less machine applique has just concluded, and I have to say there have been some really spectacular intricately detailed applique projects featured.  I've ordered the couple small supplies needed to give Lara's technique a try and can't wait to get started!  My first project will be a set of toddlers' big alphabet letters that Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict featured recently on her blog.   You can see the many projects featuring Lara's applique technique during last month's blog hop by visiting her blog at BuzzinBumble and scrolling down to the calendar of participating bloggers.

Blessings abound!  Today I hope to complete the borders on another quilt top destined for Fort McMurray and get a good start on another just beginning to take shape.  Photos soon.  The weekend thunderstorms and sunny skies this morning should make for good garden-growing weather this week.  So glad to have the garden planting pretty much completed and more time in the sewing room for a few days.

Til next time ...

May's Quilty 365 Circles

We were super-busy this month, but I managed to keep up with my circles.

I don't know about others, but my scrap bins are just about depleted of conversation prints after passing the half-way mark in this year of circles.  A fabulous quilter's yard sale would go a long way toward fixing that dilemma!  Not that I don't actually have scraps (as if), it's just that I've already cut a circle out of all the ones I really like and want to make an appearance in this quilt!

A couple momentous days happened in May:

News of a new grandbaby on the way!

A "Really Big" birthday

And days marking the warming of the earth, and the fruitful season ahead:

Linking up with Audrey at Quilty Folk, who started this whole Quilty 365 adventure!