Rainbow scrap blues & Friendship Chain

 

My leader-ender project has been these tiny 2" 9-patch blue blocks for much of the month for the 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I really don't know what my plan for them will be, but... they keep accumulating.  At the close of today's sewing, a few beyond 50 have been pieced.  The blue scraps are almost finished; I dare say there isn't much blue ANYWHERE in the bins anymore.

The simple planned pattern in mind for the beginner quilter's class, Friendship Chain, has almost reached flimsy status today.  A small border is still being considered; it's currently 40" x 40"; crib quilt, nothing fancy, and will eventually be donated to Quilts for Kids.  These fabrics have been on the shelf for many years, so the feeling of accomplishment definitely brings on a "feel-good" moment or two.

Linking up with SoScrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge today.

 

Dawn's Early Light: blue strings for RSC

It's been a long time since I've devoted a full day to relaxing with some piecing up in the quilting loft.  I ventured up right around 8AM, turning on Virgin River, and continued piecing some blue string blocks for the Dawn's Early Light quilt.  A fair amount of time has clearly been spent in the quilting loft lately, because I only tune in to Virgin River while quilting... and I recall beginning the series right around New Year's.

Folks, this photo is quite misleading!  The tidy piles give the impression that much of today was neat, petite, smooth and organized.  Bahaha... but this is the current state after about 8 (EIGHT!) hours of piecing and burning through most of my scrap blue strings!  

The bag be empty, folks!

Half of the necessary blocks are completed, with the remaining half partially started.  The plan for tomorrow will be to check the 1.5", 2" and 2.5" bins for blue strips to trim down into strings;  if not, some yardage will be pulled to finish these up.

The red/white star block subunits for Dawn's Early Light have been machine-side as my leader-ender.

... and this was my sign to call it a day.  

With another 4-5" of fresh snow, the fire's been burning away all day.  

There are zero plans in my mind to head out running, much to the NON delight of Bailee girl.
I've officially allowed the weather to win and beat my mindset.  Ugh.  I've been in a funk...

Perhaps tomorrow though... 

A batch of soap was also prepped this afternoon while lunch was cooking.  This "Lavender Rose" is a new-to-me fragrance. It came home with me from a Florida flea market last summer, and seems to be holding its scent during the initial phases of saponification.  Some ground up oats were also added to the mixture to act as a light exfoliant.  Unfortunately, I'm on-hold for any more soap creation until I reorder some olive oil - going to give this olive oil pomace a try; seems to be a good deal.

Linking up with SoScrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge today.

More putzing: Rainbow Scraps w/mini 4-patches, Walker's quilt, and we got our run done.

Does anyone else set their alarm on weekends?  I mean, I do, but I don't know why since I'm up most days between 5-6:00 AM regardless of said alarm or not. This morning... Bailee and I rolled out of bed and started the day with some coffee (me obviously, not her) while updating the blog, but then put some plans in mind for the day of putzing.

There is something to be said about a great "putzing" schedule!  With 💙blue still in mind from SoScrappy's Rainbow Scrap challenge, the set-aside box of left over 1" strips from the Omigosh quilt was dug through.  Plenty of blues and neutrals remained, and these tiny units are crazy adorable.  

And WHY do we wait so long before changing our blades?  Or, maybe you don't... I shouldn't assume. 

Always on the hunt for a deal, after Christmas, I stopped in at JoAnn's on the search for some replacement blades (and a cutting mat) knowing they would be needed soon.  #STICKERSHOCK at the pricetags!  I passed up all options and not having many more shopping options in our area, I went off to peruse Amazon.  These titanium-coated blades were found after a fair amount of searching, reading reviews, repeat.  The reviews for THESE seemed decent, so the purchase was made.  My goodness!  The ol' adage 'you get what you pay for' went by the wayside.  I've been quite impressed!!  Besides, being a frugal ol' fuddy-duddy, TEN blades for the fraction of a price elsewhere has been quite impressive!  I have another set in the cart for when I place my next purchase of Bailee's treats. 

Walker's quilt definitely needed to be on the agenda today.  I'm going the easy way out by edging it with simple borders.  Two smaller inner borders were added today before closing up shop; next week the final set (or two) will be added.  It's currently 89"x89" and is intended for a king size bed.  I think I'll be shooting for 105"x105"; this post back in July has certainly been helpful on how the different sizes fit a king size bed.

As hoped, Bailee and I hit the snow-covered roads for a run as well.  The day TRULY has been quite nice, all things kept in perspective that we live in NW Wisconsin.  No wind, low teens, and dressed for the weather, we set off to complete a 5K training run.  However, we were both feeling pretty good, so we turned it into a 5-miler.  Can she get a whoop-woop!?!

A few weeks back, some snow-boots were purchased for her and she's taken to them like a fish to water.  

Post-run snack of choice:  Greek yogurt with apple slices.  We still have probably 2-dozen apples left downstairs in the root cellar from our harvest back in October. [the January update of that process]  The apples are showing some dehydration with their skins, but inside they are still crisp -n- juicy!  

I'm off to fry up some taco meat for a Taco Bar potluck the 7-12 staff is hosting tomorrow for school.  
Then tonight... full intentions of putting the feet up, turning on the Super Bowl (most likely background noise), and will turn out a few rows on the Sky, Sand & Sea scrap afghan.

What a glorious day!

Happy Sunday.

Today's link ups:
SoScrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Kathy's Quilts Slow-Stitch Sunday

UPDATES: Rainbow Scrap '25 (DEL); Emme Groomed; Old Town; and SMART goal

Meet Emme, the sweetest cockapoo ever!  Her owner struck up a conversation with me at Friday evening' basketball game, which led to me spending some JOYFUL time bathing, fluffing and grooming her yesterday morning. Seriously, JOYFUL!

There are some dogs who are cute, and then there's EMME! Her demeanor is top-notch; happy puppy. 

And once all dolled up, she and my Bailee played outside in the fresh 4+ inches of snow that fell overnight.  This is the first real snowfall we've had up here in Wisconsin this winter.

My goodness - seriously!  This much cuteness should be illegal!  She's sooooooooo soft, and huggable, and LOVEABLE!

After she departed, and a quick lunch... and the snowfall keeping me from running outside...
... the afternoon was left wide open to simply putz-putz-putz.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge was 100% in mind.  So, two-birds-with-one-stone:

The Dawn's Early Light red-star piles have been growing as my leader-ender.  However, with those units nearing completion, time was spent organizing the next unit.

PERFECT TIMING!  Blue strings!!!💙

Years and years ago, Bonnie's scrap system was implemented in the quilting space, so grabbing the bag of blue strings allowed me to get cookin' on these units straight-away once the papers were cut.

About an hour of late afternoon time was also devoted to assembling a few more Old Town quilt blocks;  half of them from the reveal step have been checked off the list.

What a gloriously 'putzy' afternoon in the loft!

And theeeeeeeeeen, the tiny voice in my head started saying, "just get on the treadmill.  C'mon, you have a streak underway of hitting those 10K steps daily; don't let this weather (and a small groin-muscle annoyance) break the streak!"

7:30 PM reality:

SMART Goal achieved:  8:15 PM

I'm nursing a small strain from a run earlier this week with Bailee.  Old age... what'cha gonna do?!?!  So this was nothing fancy; no running... but a good powerwalk for about 40 minutes on the ol' treadmill helped me check off Day #27 of 10,050 steps (cuz 10K would simply be too boring). 

#SmartGoals - you've got this!

Today's plan:  putzing, and an attempt at a 5K, groin-permitting.

Happy sunshiny Sunday morning.  

Linking up with SoScrappy '25 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Rainbow scrap, Old Town mystery, Walker Wedding quilt... and all the rest

 The weekend run-down...

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - breaking into February's BLUE.

The 1.5" strip bin was sifted; and there weren't a LOT of blues available, so the Dawn's Early Light pile was sifted as well in order to find a nice mixture of blue pieces for 4 of these scrap blocks for the Rainbow Scrap challenge.  I'll be linking up with SoScrappy; be sure to head over there to see what everyone is up to at the start of February's blue month.

Putzin' - putzin' - putzin' along with Bonnie's '24/25 Old Town mystery.  Definitely not in any hurry here, unlike earlier years, so taking my time to trim up each block unit to assist in a neater assembly.  The matchy-matchy of seams CERTAINLY makes assembly much nicer; much more stress-free (err... much less stress might be a better description) ... regardless, piecing the blocks will be MUCH more enjoyable.

... and the first block was pieced this afternoon, waiting on the design wall for the rest.  Clearly, I've changed up the colors of the mystery, choosing only to use what's on the shelves.  Overall, I'm super pleased with how they've been arranged and are playing quite nicely together.  This block almost reminds me of the Hawaii Sunset a few of us pieced back in the years 2012-2014 (give or take).

And PROGRESS on Walker's Wedding quilt.  Whoop-whoop! The top center is pieced!  Next up, to figure a plan of borders;  plain, intricate, pieced, combo...? All these thoughts will be on the docket next weekend.

I've decided to part with the Juki TL98Q.  She certainly gave me many great years paired with the Grace Company GMQ Pro quilting frame, but since the upgrade to the Q'nique 15 almost two summers ago now, I simply haven't touched the Juki.  Therefore, mindset shift; why have it sit in storage when someone may find use from her??

A few other goings-on around the ranch:  time was spent with Bailee girl this morning. 
Bathed, fluffed and groomed in my basement grooming center (ie: former bedroom of one of the girls). 

She's once again a soft-n-fluffy CLEAN golden-doodle who can pretty much beg for anything using those puppy-dog eyes of hers.

The Christmas tree was also finally cleared, and in its place, one of the portable mini-greenhouses was set up in hopes to give my Alocasias some new life.  Additionally, starting up one small tray of 4-6 tomato plants is on my mind.  Just a few; nothing of surplus quite yet.

Livin' the life as best we can with our new-found empty nest household.  
#GrowinOldTogether

2025 Rainbow Scraps (Pineapple Blossoms & Connectors); Recovery Run with BDog

That glowing sphere is certainly a beautiful sight after some dreary cold Wisconsin weather lately, HOWEVER, it is some deceivingly beautiful morning sunshine.  She was pretty darn-tootin' chilly this morning.  
-2F, feels like -15F; wind 8mph (7:29 am)

Paul kept a strong, hot, wood-furnace fire burning all night, so the quilting loft was mighty sweltering as I ventured up at 8AM.  Shorts and tshirt it t'was (LOL) as I began piecing and pressing the wedding quilt rows together.  There are clusters of seams that gather at many intersections, so I took my time (painstakingly so) pressing the row seams open... and after three rows pieced, I righteously lost interest... at least for now 😂   

I'll always give ADHD credit for all the projects, hobbies and past-times my life has endured, whether obsessively accomplishing to finishes OR leaving them behind until obsessed enough to pick them up again.

Hence, SoScrappy's 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge took over for much of the time remaining in the morning.  Her color for the month of January:  PINK. 💞

Most of my bins (2.5", 2", 1.5") are fairly void of pinks, but found enough to make up a couple of Bonnie K. Hunter's Pineapple Blossom blocks (including BONUS pinwheels), and a couple of self-designed 8" connector-style blocks.

LOL... then this girl won me over.  She seemed antsy.  And hot in the loft!
So, we layered up and hit the pavement for a 45-minute recovery run after I initially said "no way, jose'" this morning due to those temps!

The day had warmed to 7F (feels like -6F with winds still at 8mph), and my running gear consisted of:
 -thermal tights under a pair of thermal pants
 -thin cotton short-sleeve shirt, under a long-sleeve wicking shirt, under a 'cuddle-dud' long-sleeve, under a crew-neck sweatshirt, under my light wind-breaker.
 -stocking cap, fuzzy warm gloves and scarf that wrapped around my lower face, covering nose and mouth.
Outcome:  perfectly comfy, sweaty even, although that head-wind on the final stretch tore through the scarf covering just a wee bit; nothing unbearable though.

Today's quote courtesy of Real Simple Quotes

Make it a great day!
Happy Saturday!