Scrappy Sprout and Rainbow Scrap challenge finish

Ta da!  Finally a finish to celebrate!

I started Scrappy Sprouts in  August 2014 when Lisa and I were looking to replicate our leaders and enders project/challenge. Lisa found this pattern for the spouts (leaves) online HERE at Traceyjay quilts blog.    I love leaf prints, using scraps and rainbow colours - which is how I ended up with this pattern.

I started making leaves, slowly but the output doubled when I started following the Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy blog online HERE .

The original pattern for the leaf, was just that.  But Canadian designer Krista Hennebury published a pattern in the June 2015 issue of Homespun magazine.  And that helped me enormously.  Because I had a great stack of leaves and no idea how to get them to look good together.  I followed the colour graduation in the Homespun pattern and added the flowers. 

 I deviated from the pattern by adding an extra row on the end - to get the width for it to hang a good distance over the side of my bed.  

My friend Elaine Kennedy from Pine Grove Quilting (Adelaide) quilted the top in vertical sections, so the pattern over the sprouts is different to the pattern in the sashing between the sprouts.  

I love this bright, fun nature of this quilt.  It is out of the box for me in terms of colour - but I enjoyed every minute!  I made a lot of the leaves as leaders and enders and got to use up a big stash of 2.5" squares.  I used loads of left over binding scraps.  But do admit to having to beg lovely scraps of orange from my good friend Lisa - who gave me a generous collection of beautiful fussy cut prints, thank you Lisa!

Perhaps my most favourite bit, is the genetically modified leaves, where I unpicked blocks and added in fabric squares with bug prints on them...no garden blooms without them ;)

Happy quilting Sue. 

Growing Rainbow Scrappy Sprouts

I have spent two days in my sewing corner concentrating on making my RSC Sprout blocks grow into proper plants.  

I have feed them and done quite a bit of pruning.  There was a lot of "genetically modifying restructuring" (unpicking) required to ensure leaves had an even colour tone!

I previously had no pattern for an overall quilt design, so when I found this quilt layout in an Homespun magazine (June 2015), it got me all fired up to start putting the blocks together.

The designer of this quilt layout is Canadian Krista Hennebury.

but I got my pattern for the leaf block (which is the same as in the magazine) HERE free online from the original designer (who is acknowledged in the magazine) Tracey Jacobsen from traceyjay quilts.blogspot.

I am going to change it around a bit to suit myself.  I have made too many sprout blocks, so I want to add another plant to use them and make the quilt wider.  I love her flowers, but would like to make a dresden flower, perhaps a sunflower?  

 I am anticipating brown as a colour one month, so will make scrappy brown blocks for the soil. But for now I am hoping that the colour for September is orange so I can make the last of leaves(sprouts) and start sewing the plants together.

Happy quilting, Sue.

PS if you want to see more, go to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge link HERE.

July is Red

The RSC colour for July is Red.  I finally got the solid red border on this quilt last weekend.   

 With some help from my friend Lisa I found a suitable back.  The back got made and the quilt got sent to my long arm quilter, Vicki.

Then I finally worked on some RSC blocks, these are my red Scrappy Sprouts (leaves).  I haven't made any of the other blocks yet, but I have unpicked the left over strips from the bargello.

Thereby ensuring I have even more scraps to work with!

Happy quilting Sue.

PS the bargello is back from Vicki, who has worked her quilty magic in an amazingly quick turn around.  Just stitching the binding on, will show you very soon.

April is purple

It took me half way through April to get stuck into Purple for the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge.  The main reason was school holidays and finishing projects for our up and coming exhibition.  

I started with some nine patches.

Once I started I realised the biggest problem I had was the fact that I had cheated and added purple into the pink patches in February.  So I unpicked the offending purple patches and replaced them with pink.  I found a bit more pink scrap in my stash (I really need to do a bit resort of my stash) and also unearthed some more purple. 

And then I decided I had better make a pink and a purple star, because I had more fabric!  

They are not the same type of star so I am still hoping to make each colour in the other style.  

I don't have any yellow star blocks because I ran out of yellow scrap in March - but I did make a blue one in January.  I plan to go through all my boxes of fabric and tidy them up as the different colours have been spread here and there....after my local quilt show is over!  Then hopefully I can tackle May's colour (and catch up the missing stars) whatever it is, with a lot more ease.

Happy quilting Sue.

Pink scraps

The Rainbow Scrappy Challenge colour for February was PINK!  

I had sufficient pre cut scraps to make 2 scrappy nine patch blocks and 11 leaf blocks.  Unfortunately all my leaf blocks face the same way....in March I will have to make sure I make more right facing leaf blocks...ugh this thinking when sewing does my head in!

I was definitely not in the mood for thinking when sewing yesterday, so I made four bodies (they need two sides) for my scrap chook pot holders.  This is the best pattern I have for using crumbs.  I love string blocks but don't like crumb blocks for some reason.  However I love these pot holders, they make great practical gifts.  I used a combination of pink and purple, as my pink palette is lacking.  However I did remedy that by buying some pink (with a thin stripe) yardage on sale....which is intended for a "girly" eye spy quilt.  I always end up making boy eye spy quilts...just want to even up the numbers!

Happy quilting Sue