Orange Zest Blocks

Having squeezed most of the "juice" from my orange scraps for this month's RSC2020, I'm starting to use the zest - lol! In fact I thought I was done making blocks but I spotted some neat blocks made by Cynthia Brunz at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework and decided to shamelessly copy them. I'm calling mine "Scrappy Irish Chain" blocks.

If you use this Irish chain tutorial by Amy Smart, sewing the chain pieced strip set units together forms a four-patch. If you are making a single block like the ones I made, the four-patch is pieced together to form the center of the block. I cut 2-1/2 inch squares for the solid pieces and made the HSTs with squares cut at 2-7/8 inches and trimmed to 2-1/2 inches. My block finished at 8-1/2 inches.

I also made them in green to join with the other green blocks for January. I think I am finally finished with green and orange!

This one is my favorite

I'm joining the fun at Cyndy's Oh Scrap! and to Angela's So Scrappy

Lost Stars Quilt Blocks

Last month I saw some unique blocks made by @pamalamajodesigns on Instagram and they immediately became a squirrel in my sewing room. That happens so easily and so often! These blocks are called "Friendship Stars". I've never given friendship stars a second glance until I saw a Pam's version, in which the darker star is paired with a slightly less dark fabric instead of a strong contrast - does that make sense?

These are the blocks made by @pamalamajodesigns

I wanted rich, lush looking fabrics with deep tones.

Since it will be for my husband, who claimed it after he saw the first six blocks, I've named it "Lost Stars" after one of his favorite Adam Levine songs.

I've been cutting 2-7/8 inch squares to make 2-1/2 half-square triangles, and the rest of the block is 2-1/2 inch squares. It will be lap-size for my tall man. The blocks finish at 6-1/2 inches, so I figure I will need about 120 blocks in a 10 by 12 block layout.

I have 26 blocks, so I have a few more to go!

I'm linking this post to all the scrappy goodness at Cynthia's Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework.

Orange Geese Are Migrating

I had thought I was finished with orange scraps for this month's RSC2020, but after I saw Angela's display of orange goodness at So Scrappy, I decided to pull out the orange scrap bin for another go-round. This time I chose another pattern - Geese Migration by Cynthia Brunz of Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework.

This block consists of 15 2-1/2 inch squares and a panel of flying geese. It goes together quickly once the fabrics are chosen. I had forgotten how much I love making flying geese! I would love to have taken one of Cynthia's classes on choosing fabrics for this quilt, but I'm not sure if she is still teaching them. UPDATE: Cynthia says she is teaching an upcoming class at the Roseburg Oregon quilt show in April.

I love the way it looks on this piece of Maple Sugar Grunge by Basic Grey

You can see Cynthia's original Migrating Geese quilt as well as a newer version right here. Go look at her fabulous fabric choices!

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday at So Scrappy and Cynthia's Oh Scrap!

Valentine's Day Heart Mini

Welp, I did it again. Distractions are the rule here in Squirrel-ville. I'll blame this one on The Joyful Quilter whose blog I visited earlier this week. She had purchased a cute little heart mini quilt and then made one herself. The original was made by Jayne at Twiggy and Opal, who lists the Rainbow Heart Trio pattern in her Etsy shop. Before I knew it, the PDF was in my cart, and then it flew out of my printer.

This scrap-friendly pattern gives instructions for various combinations of a large single heart, one large double heart, and one small heart. I chose the large double heart.

I used darker tones and a faded-look flowery print as background for the small center heart. Then I used the same colors for the larger squares in the outer heart against a creamy blender for the background. I didn't want to distract from any of the dark red scrappy goodness, so I bound it with the same creamy blender.

These pieces belonged to my Mom. Inside the heart dish

is a ruby rhinestone heart pin that she used to wear

For the backing I used the same fabric as the center heart.

Happy Valentine's Day to you! This post is linked to Oh Scrap! on Cynthia's blog, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Orange and Blue Scraps and First Squirrel of 2020

Scraptastic Star in orange

Orange strings

The RSC2020 color for February is orange, and the above blocks are added to the Scraptastic Star and string blocks I made last month.

This scrap challenge is good for me to overcome my reluctance to put warm and cool shades of the same color together. Last month I felt constrained to try to blend my greens on the star, but this month I felt more free. And I like the combination just as well!

In my previous post I talked about joining the 2020 Color Challenge. The bird for February is the Indigo Bunting, and I struggled to find large enough blue scraps to make HSTs for this block. We have the option of not using scraps, but I really want to use my scrap bins this year. Finally I found a piece I thought appropriate for the blues I wanted but did not have enough of it, so I got the bright idea to reduce the size of the block from 12-1/2 inches to 8-1/2 inches. I really like the result.

I also redid last month's Goldfinch block to the same 8-1/2 inches and not only used different fabrics but also did my own take on the pattern.

In other news . . .

And I am deep into 2020 Squirrel Country. I've been pulling darker shades of my stash for Friendship Stars. My inspiration was from by @pamalamajodesigns on Instagram, whose photo (see below) instantly put me on a quest to try something different. I love the dark richness of the fabrics I'm using, and I'm having fun. And having fun with a squirrel is all that matters, right?

Pam calls hers "spinning stars" and made a unique doll quilt from them.

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday at So Scrappy, Cynthia's Oh Scrap!, and will link up with Jen's 2020 Color Challenge when it goes live at the end of this month. Have a great weekend!