Scrapbag quilters today

I am looking forward to our monthly Scrapbag Quilters meeting today. I am taking 7 quilts that are finished and ready to add to our "inventory". We are always low in January because our main distribution time is late November/early December. This big quilt I will be sad to see go but it needs to find a home. I made it as a test for The Quilt Pattern Magazine long enough ago that I no longer remember its actual name. I think it was called Interlocked. It is 79" square. June S. one of my fellow Scrapbaggers long arm quilted it for me. She did a lovely job. The other quilts I have are smaller baby sized quilts. I am really trying hard to take my pile of tops from tops to finished and donated quilts. Piecefully, Joanne
Linking up with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts (here)

Baby Rail Fences, More Leaders and Enders

Three little finishes start the year off right. These quilts were all done as Leaders and Enders, so have been underway for a while. The scraps for the middle one came primarily from a friend (thank you Laurissa), the blue/green  and yellow on the left from my left overs and the blue and grey on the right from a quilt top left over. Pieces are all cut to 1 1/2" by 3 1/2". the centry strip is either the same fabric or very similar in colour and value. And I have two more in the works. The over all size depends on how many scraps I have in that colour scheme. I am not certain how a totally scrappy one would work. It is a lot of work over a period of time to discover you aren't happy with the result.
I was going to take these as my show and tell to Guild tomorrow but the weather continues to look iffy. The highway is however open today. Piecefully, Joanne

Edited to add a Link to A Quilting Chick's Leader and Ender link up
(here) and to Lorna at SewFreshQuilts (here)

I don't think I have ever met a blue fabric I didn't like

These blue pinwheels were made as Leaders and Enders. I was trying for a different effect. I got the lights in the middle OK but the next row out should have been darker. It is done now and I learned from this one. Will probably tackle a green one next. Each little block consists of four 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" pieces of two different colours (eight pieces in total per block). On this exercise I used various blues and off whites. I am tidying up some new scraps so they will be ready for a new Leader and Ender project. Piecefully, Joanne

Linking with Soscrappy (here) and Quilting is More Fun than Housework (here) this coming weekend.

Alida's Play with Me Quilt-Along

Alida over at alidatweloqdesigns.blogspot.com (here)has started a Quilt-along this year that caught my fancy. It is called Play with Me and each month she is featuring a different game board. There are a couple of particularly interesting features to this quilt along. One was that I did not know all the games so had to learn something new and two each each month along with the game board you learn a new technique.  This month's Checkerboard was constructed using a Bargello technique. The instructions were easy to follow and well illustrated. Once your "block" is done you have a choice of making it into a place mat, a travel game board or quilting the block and waiting for the remainder to be released and make a big game board quilt. At this time I am uncertain about what direction I want to go. I had originally thought a travelling game board but will mull that over a bit. Thank you Alida for a great start to this project. Piecefully, Joanne

Linking up with Lorna at sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com

A couple of test blocks and things I am learning

These are two blocks I tested for Kristy over at Quiet Play (here) .
She has done a whole series of geometric designs. I love turtles and asked her to do me a turtle sometime when she had a moment and you can see the result. A lovely little turtle. The elephant was part of her most recent call for testers and this is the one that I learned something on. ROOKIE paper piecing error, print actual size no scaling or sized to fit. So my elephant is a tad too small. but here is my problem, on Windows 10 I can't find the instruction to make it actual size. It is one thing to realize your error, it is another not to be able to fix it.
Looking out the window this afternoon is not a fun experience we are in a Snow Squall Watch and there is all kinds of snow blowing around. I can live with that as long as I don't have to go out in it. so for today I am OK but I do need to go out tomorrow. Maybe it will be nicer? Piecefully, Joanne

Edited to say: Problem solved!

A photo finish on a dark morning

This scrappy beauty is based on a pattern from the Me and My Sister design "Ingrid" from their book 3 times the Charm Book Two. All the patterns in the book are designed to use charm packs and some yardage and they all look great in their fabric choices. I dug through the 5" squares box and found bright's and then a black print with multi colour dots on it for my yardage. This one has finished at 27" by 35" so smallish. I was originally thinking wheelchair lap quilt. I suppose it could be a through it over the baby in the car quilt too. It is ready for Scrapbag quilters at our meeting at the end of the month. Piecefully, Joanne
Linking up with Lorna at SewFreshQuilts (here)

So nice to see a new year, welcome 2016

I am ready for something new and something fun. Lorna over at SewFreshQuilts (here) has tempted us with just the thing. I have no idea when it will happen but it looks like fun and colourful and happy. I could use all three. The past month has been overwhelming and I need to get myself sorted out and on the right track again. In December I read one of my book club's upcoming selections. It was titled They Left Us Everything by Plum Johnson. It is the memoir of a woman my age who ends up with the task of clearing out the family home so that it can be sold. That struck a cord. I have the beginnings of the mess she had to sort through. It needs to be dealt with NOW instead of by someone else after I am no longer able to do the task.
I have not counted UFO's or done any of the list making that seems to be popular with bloggers at this time of year. But I do have my quilt pinning table cleared off and ready to use. I have quilted two quilts since Christmas and have a third ready to quilt. One quilt is a test quilt so can't be shown at this time. The other is waiting to be washed and then I can do it's picture.
And of course there are so many new quilt alongs and BOM's starting. This is a lively hobby for me, job for others. Hopefully I will have more finishes than starts this year. Piecefully, Joanne