RSC 2016, May

     The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for May was green.  It was exciting to think about my Civil War blocks because I could use that interesting "poison green".

But when I began thinking about what to do for my little boy charity quilt, I was at a loss.  I looked through my green 2-1/2" strips and was not inspired.  They were all olive greens, suitable for use in my usual color palette, but not for a child's quilt.  There were no primary or leaf greens to be  found.   I finally thought of my Christmas stash and found some better greens there, more of a forest green.  Who knew shades of green had so much personality?  Some little rail fence blocks later and a cute  "wheels" print and I had a flimsy.  This paragraph makes it sound so easy, but the truth is those green and gray blocks were stuck to the design wall for two weeks, waiting for inspiration to strike.

     I found a cute dinosaur print for the backing at Sew Sweet on Saturday so I'm ready to finish it after I return from my vacation. 

I will attempt to link to SoScrappy.http://superscrappy.blogspot.com  Be sure to follow the link party to more RSC fun.

Judy

Bricks in the Barnyard

     You may remember back in September when my quilt guild hosted Bonnie Hunter for a trunk show and two days of workshops.  The first day was Bricks in the Barnyard and the second, Smith Mountain Morning.  I had a bin full of homespuns, so knew I wanted to use them in Bricks, but had decided to do a smaller version.  How many large quilts does a woman need?  It has only been a year or so since I did the Split Nine Patch in the barn raising setting, so wanted a different setting for this one.  Here is what I chose.  

I really like it, though not so crazy about the error I made.  I had made it to that corner with the quilting when I discovered it, although it took me awhile to decide what was wrong with it.  Can you see it?  What did I do wrong?  

Do you ever just want something finished?  I was working on that braid border and was so over it.  So I just quit!  Sometimes we just have to take charge.  There are no quilt police.  So I seamed my two partially built braids together (that was a trick which involved some partial seaming) and put them in the center of the backing.  The sides are unbleached muslin ( I bought a bolt of that in one of my moments of insanity).   

I will admit, though, that nothing highlights your quilting like muslin.  

Done is better than perfect.  Now I can 

keep on stitching'

Judy

Quilt Camp 2016

     Quilt Camp in Arrow Rock is my favorite time of year.  It doesn't get any better than May in Missouri, then you add in good friends, shopping and quilting and you are getting close to perfection.  I teach a Mystery Quilt class, so get to meet many of the participants.  We had such a wide variety of students this year with even Hawaii and New Zealand represented, as well as many mainland states.  As many of you know, I live in a historic village with lots of 19th century buildings.  My classroom was in the building known as Brown's Chapel.  It is a historic building which served as a church for the African-American residents in the 19th, into the 20th century.

Doesn't it look inviting?

    Here is the mystery quilt for this year.  I call it Village Life and designed it to use a layer cake with a background and a border fabric.  I used a Bonnie and Camille fabric line called Hello Darling.

Here are some of the others in various stages of construction.  There were several who got it to the flimsy stage.  

     I didn't take pictures until the final day, so not all of them made it into this post.  I'll try to do better next time.  

    This is our Challenge Quilt contest  displayed in another of the historic churches.

     This is the inside of the chapel with mystery quilts in progress.  For lots more pictures, see the Arrow Rock Quilt Camp Facebook page.  For information about next years camp, see www.arrowrockquiltcamp.com

Thats all for now.

Judy