Design Wall Monday ~ Scrappy Irish Chain

 

Design Wall Monday ~ On My Cutting Table

It has been a long, long time since I participated in this blog party 

Design Wall Monday @ Small Quits and Doll Quilts

This is the first block piecing I have done in over a year.

My vision has slowly declined and my hands are achy,

but I am enjoying being back in my happy sewing corner.

I decided the

Scrappy Irish Chain Scrap-Along @ Coriander Quilts

was a good way to regain my piecing skills before making a baby quilt

 for my grand-niece. 

Today was a two blocks sewn day and my seams and squares are looking better, 

so I am feeling good about my progress.

I now have all 12 of B Block completed and 3 of the 13 A Blocks needed.

I am not ready to roll down my temporary design wall yet.

Hopefully next Monday I will have a quilt top on my wall and ready to sew. 

Have a happy quilty week! 

Scrappy Saturday Sewing ~ More Scrappy Irish Chain

 

Today was a good day of scrappy sewing. 

All 12 of my Block Bs are done!

Yesterday and today I made good progress on my 

Scrappy Irish Chain Scrap Along @ Coriander Quilts

Although I love all the random scrappy quilts that I am seeing in the 

Coriander Quilts Group on FB

I decided to go with my third plan for the A Block Layout

 which I posted last week in this post: 

Second & Third Scrappy Thoughts.

I really like the controlled scrappy look for this quilt.

This is my first of revised Block A.

I will need to make 12 more. 

This block plays very nicely with the alternate Block B

I need to find and cut more blue and yellow 2.5" squares 

and add them to my project jars. 

I really have to sort my scraps as the only colors that will appear in this quilt are yellow, blue, green and white and a bit of brown.  No yellow with pretty little red flowers for this quilt. I need to save those scraps for another day.

Quilty Kitty Nutmeg is continuing to be very helpful with the making of this quilt.

I have been sewing in the morning, afternoon and even late at night before sleep.

It feels good to be in my happy quilty place again. 

May you have a happy quilty weekend! 

Quilty Kitty Nutmeg Is Sew Helpful

Last night I  finished sewing all the strips for my Block Bs. 

For the first time in a long, long time, 

I was sitting at my machine when midnight arrived.

My days have been busy otherwise. 

Today Nutmeg was a helpful quilty kitty inspector.

Many times she left the comfort of her warm and comfy

  cutting table cat bed to check my work.

After I promised her I would use my seam ripper on any of my piecing 

that was not purrr-fect.

I pieced ... and yes I did use my seam ripper a few times.

The two strips on the right are purrr-fectly acceptable.

Time for our evening crochet time.

Nutmeg says, "Purrrrrrr!"

Trusting the Process

 

The first Block B is done for my 

Scrappy Irish Chain Quilt

These are big 18.5" blocks unfinished. 

Your can see the lovely leafy details on my creamy white tone on tone background fabric in this photo. 

This free Scrappy Irish Chain pattern may be downloaded in the link below: 

Scrappy Irish Chain ~ Free Pattern by Jessie Fincham

I love the quilting design in Jessie's quilt.

NOTE:

If you are making this quilt, 

there are cutting errors in the original pattern.

Corey Yoder has posted important 

Corrections to the Cutting Instructions Here

Since the original free pattern is not hers, 

Corey cannot fix the errors in the pattern. 

Here are my first two blocks together.

As expected, the busy scrappyness of the Block A is calmed and tamed considerably by the juxtaposition of Block B with its restful white space.

The first block looked so chaotic that I was having

Second and Third Thoughts Here

Now I am thinking maybe not.

I decided to make this pattern after loving the very busy and scrappy sample quilt.

Maybe I should just trust the process.

I do love busy, scrappy quilts. 

I am also crocheting while I am thinking. 

The shawl that I am making for my daughter is nearing completion

and long enough to warm my lap as I stitch.

The kitties are enjoying having their kitty tree by the radiator in our living room. Nutmeg is in the gray hammock. Katniss is actually laying on a folded quilt on top of the radiator.  Cassian is not in the photo but he is on the furry blanket on bottom of the cat tree.  Maestro is curled up in a fuzzy cat bed on my bed, which her favorite place to sleep. All four cats have been sleeping on my bed most nights.  The kitties like to share body heat on cold winter nights.  Cassian has yet to be admitted to a kitty cuddle with the others, but he is now allowed to sleep on a quilted pillow at the head of the bed.  Trusting the process with the kitties means he may be allowed to curl up with the sister kitties someday. 

It is turning cold here and we are forecast to have

 -12 degrees F by Thursday night.

Brrrrrr! 

Second ~ and Third ~ Scrappy Thoughts

 This is my Second Thought.

I am thinking of limiting my palette and

 hoping to create a secondary design in the chain.

In this layout, I have only blue, yellow and white background colors in my squares.

I have taken out the green scraps and am limiting the green 

to the single fabric in the chain borders

My First Block for my Scrappy Irish Chain 

looks maybe a bit too busy even for my "all scraps are welcome" eyes.

My seam ripper has to find that lightest green square. 

Then this block may turn into a kitty quilt. 

This is my Third Thought. 

For this layout, I also pulled the white and used dark blue in the center and light blue to yellow for the center of the chains.

I would have to cut many more dark blue scraps.

Mr. Scrapatch has already added his thoughts while walking by my cutting table and said he likes the dark blue center in this layout. Mr. Scrapatch loves blue.

I am going to make one Block B and think some more.

Which layout would you choose?

Opinions always welcome.

:) 

Back to Sewing ~ Block 1

 

My first block is done for my

Scrappy Irish Chain Scrap Along Quilt

This scrappy goodness is being hosted by Corey Yoder.

This is Block A ~1 of 13

Here are her inctructions

Scrappy Irish Chain Scrap Along ~ Part 2 ~ Block Piecing

This is a very big and busy block made of 9 rows of 2.5" squares.

I need to make one of the Block B next so I can see how my fabrics and colors are working.  Right now I cannot see the pattern.  The large neutral background center in the alternate block is really needed as a place eyes to rest.

It was good to be back to sewing.  My lovely workhorse of a Janome MC6600p is getting old.  I have sewn so many seams with her that her tension mechanism is wearing out.  I have the tension set to the max to get an even stitch.  It is one of the reasons that I took a break from machine sewing. Buying a new machine is not an option for me now.  I need to find away to get my machine working.

Overall, I am pleased with my back-to-sewing efforts so far.

Looking forward to playing with the fabrics again tomorrow.

Happy Sewing!

Hope to get another block done tomorrow. 

Scrappy Saturday ~ Scrappy Irish Chain Fabrics

 

I have decided to restart my sewing skills by making the 

Scrappy Irish Chain Quilt

featured in my last post. 

I am making a yellow and blue and green quilt!

I have printed the pattern and Corey Yoder's background fabric cutting chart

Here are the fabrics that I have pulled from my stash. The jelly roll at the top is one of my oldest treasures. I have two charm packs of the prints and a charm pack of the wovens, too.  It is Sunshine by April Cornel for Moda fabrics.  The charms in the front are from a newer Corey Yoder line called Spring Brook.  The pieced fabrics are left from a project made with the scraps from my Favorite Bed Quilt reposted here on my I Like Thursday post. I will also be including other random blue, yellow and green scraps.

This cream background and green fabric is from 

Birdsong by Pat Sloan for Benartex

You may purchase these fabrics 

Birdsong by Pat Sloan @ Fat Quarter Shop

via my affiliate link where

I will receive a small percentage of the sale at no extra charge to you.

This fabric is from last summer and is still available in many shops.

I really like the soft green in this fabric line.

I bought a panel and some fat quarters and the lovely creamy neutral.

It is the last stash purchase I have made

 other than the bee fabrics for the baby quilt.

I am committed to sewing my stash this year

and keeping any fabric purchases to a minimum

 with only occasional visits to my local quilt shop.

Today is Local Quilt Shop Day

So I will be visiting my favorite local quilt shop ...

Bits n Pieces Quilt Shop in Pelham, NH

when I take my afternoon break.

This morning I hope to have at least one Scrappy Irish Chain Block done. 

May you have a happy Scrappy Saturday!