Saturday, March 16, 2024

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC24 - Week 11

Welcome to Week 11 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This week is going to be a crapshoot.  Pardon my language, but I've developed a cough and it's not showing signs of stopping anytime soon.  There are a variety of items on my agenda.  We'll see how it goes.

Keep reading to find out more...

SUNDAY - ProjectQUILTING

I was feeling the effects of the coming season.  Be sure to follow the link provided to see what became of the cheerful binding shown below:


The following page for the Get Messy Season of Growth was made during this morning's Weekly Morning Art Zoom hangout using a bit of magazine image, bits of paint peeled off my brayer, along with a scrap of fabric:


This afternoon, I spent some time chatting with Knittingsuek during our weekly Zoom session:


MONDAY - Work

My desk is decorated for PURPLE month:


TUESDAY - Tidy Up Tuesday

Work

For those of you who enjoy seeing what's hanging from the gallery wire each month (Hi, Dorothy!), here is half of the display:


WEDNESDAY - I've got another mid-week "weekend" this week.  Today, I put the finishing touches on this journal page from Monday's lesson at Get Messy.  There are so many layers that I almost don't recognize it as my own journal spread, but here it is in my current Altered Book Journal:


I also got a jump on my PURPLE project for the RSC:


And then...

I enjoyed my weekly Zoom session with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color:


THURSDAY - I had really hoped to visit with my Weekly Quilt Group friends, but I don't want to give anyone my cough, providing it's NOT just allergies.  Sigh... I'm not coughing all the time, but when I do, it sounds terrible.  (Thank you, asthma!)

The other half of the gallery wire was shared in Tuesday's entry.  These two quilts remained:


FRIDAY - Knit Group?  Nope!  I was scheduled for the early shift at work today.  That doesn't leave enough time to slot in a visit with my knitting friends.  :o((

Judy was interested in seeing how my PURPLE page came out last week.  Here it is completed.  This journal spread was shared in Get Messy's weekly email update:


(Since we opted out of an Art Day tomorrow because of my cough)  Britt and I stayed on the call to chat for a while after our Weekly Evening Art Zoom was over:


SATURDAY - It's LINK PARTY day for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  I hope you will join me in visiting Angela @ So Scrappy to see what the RSC Quilters have been up to this week.

Happy International Quilting Day!!!

I'm of to cut those PURPLE fabrics that were pressed on Wednesday.  Here's hoping you have a wonderful day at your sewing machine or with your quilting friends.

Until next time...
Get SCRAPPY!!

Sunday, March 10, 2024

ProjectQUILTING - PQ15.5 - Wearables

WEARABLES


Welcome to The Joyful Quilter!!  And... Welcome to the wonderful world of Project QUILTING hosted by Kim Lapacek @ Persimon Dreams!!  This is my 5th year of participation in the Challenge.  (I'm surprised it took me more than a season and a half to figure out that I've participated longer than 3 years!)  Anyway, Trish Frankland @ QuiltChicken is the creator of the crazy challenges that participants will face during the next 4 weeks.  This week's challenge is long overdue, since from its inception, ProjectQUILTING was modeled after the TV show ProjectRUNWAY.


Sassy @ Farm Quilter got me started at the beginning of Season 11 by inviting her readers to join in the fun.  I accepted her invitation and the rest is history.  As I have for the past two years, I will be dragging along my friend LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color again this season, as she enjoys having a reason to stretch her creative wings.  Would YOU like to join me in this creative journey, too?  


FAIR WARNING:  It's a wild ride, but oh SEW rewarding!


Challenges are given and start to finish you have ONE WEEK to complete your project.  PQ 15.5 can be found at THIS LINK:




Step One...

I wonder.   How on Earth I will be able to create a wearable in a single work week?!

Step Two...

Read the instructions to see what is required of the fifth challenge.  Here's what Trish had to say:

PQ 15.5 WEARABLES

For this week’s challenge, we’re working with “wearables” – I want you to either start or end fashionably. Here’s what I mean.
 
One option is to turn clothes into something else. Are you ready to recycle your wedding dress into something new? Is it time to make a special project from t-shirts or old ties? I hear denim makes great rugs!
 
Or, you could quilt-ify something you wear. Try some visible mending and embellish existing pieces, or make a tote or hat or apron.
 
Another option is to use the theme in a quilt. Make a wall hanging about your passion for shoes, or try that Ugly Sweater quilt block pattern (#ad).


She went on to say the following:
 
... there’s a special opportunity for you this week! You can make a piece of clothing. Any piece of clothing you sew will qualify this week: pajama pants, an Easter dress, a jacket, a skirt – you can do it all. And for this, I’m making a one-time-only exception to the usual PQ rules about 3-layers or embellished or pieced, etc. This week only, if you whip up a sewn piece of clothing (from a pattern is fine!) you can enter it in PQ! 
(I’m doing this to allow us scaredy-cats a growth opportunity to try apparel sewing.)
 
Now, don’t get carried away breaking the rules – you still have to BEGIN and END your project between 3/3/24 and 3/10/24 (no WIP projects, please), and it still has to be FINISHED. Done means buttoned, bound, hemmed, zipped, snapped or tied with a bow – your project must be finished to qualify.
 
I cannot WAIT to see where you take this one!

Step Three...

Explore the possibilities.

What are you thinking, Joyful???

My first thought was to make a pair of pieced earrings, but I do love upcycling denim.  I have quite a stack to blow through and there's a bucket hat pattern that I bought YEARS ago at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, but never sewed up!  There's also a T-Quilt waiting in the wings.

Step Four...

Let's stop and narrow down the possibilities.

Step Five...

While pondering Step Four, I headed up to the studio to decide on my supplies:

I head straight for my PURPLE Quilted Scrap Basket.  That is March's Color of the Month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and I might want to include it in this week's challenge project:


Tutorial for these baskets can be found HERE.

But...

None of those scraps felt right for the project I've decided on, so I walk down the hall to the auxiliary studio closet (otherwise known as the guest room closet - since we rarely have guests, I annexed the space not long after moving into this house 2.5 years ago.)  I found the following sets of fabrics for consideration:

Butterflies with my own Dye Frenzy creations

Colors pulled from the floral

A rainbow of Ricky Tims hand dyes

Step Six...

Review the rules:

RULE ONE: your project must be wearable, or have been made from previously worn items, or have another connection to clothes, shoes and fashion accessories.

You have one week to meet the challenge. Every challenge piece must be a FINISHED project seen through from INCEPTION to COMPLETION during the challenge timeline – that is, started on or after March 3, 2024, and linked up by noon Central Time March 10, 2024.

Step Seven... Get to work!!!

After testing out several arrangements, I opted for this combination of fabrics:


Here is a bit of my construction process...

(Scroll down to the bottom of the post NOW, if you don't care to see a blow by blow of the making of my quilt.)

On Monday evening, I deconstructed the sweatshirt that my husband donated to the cause...


What are you doing with a sweatshirt, Joyful?

After work on Tuesday I did some quilting:


It took numerous attempts to find a pleasing arrangement...


But once that was done, the pieces were rough cut:


On Wednesday, the front was assembled, pinned and quilted.  The back was laid out after trimming up:


Thursday was a complete wash:

Metaphorical crickets in the studio. I never went farther than from my bed to the couch all day.  Fortunately, I made it to a point yesterday that being sick today didn't stress me out about finishing my project by Sunday's deadline!

On Friday, I was SEW thankful for having the day off work!  I was feeling much better:

So, after running a few errands, I quilted the back...


And got started on assembling my new jacket:


Well, that went fast!  All that remained to be done was the binding when I headed for bed:


Saturday morning, after linking up with Angela's Rainbow Scrap Challenge...

I cut and prepared (what felt like) a mile of binding:


By lunchtime, all that was left to do was stitch it on:


After lunch, I took care of that task - AND sewed it down, along with fixing bit that I missed when turning one of the corners.  When you are sewing at 1/8", it's bound to happen sometime:


The only thing that hadn't been addressed was finishing the sleeves...

With a turn of the hem, I'm am thrilled to present my completed Color Block (Wearable) Quilted Jacket, my entry for PQ 15.5:


There is usually a reason that I participate in these challenges...

... And this time, it was because I've been considering a new Quilted Jacket for quite some time and I've made a jacket in a week before.  As luck would have it, I was only scheduled to work two days this week!  Thank you, ProjectQUILTING, for providing me a challenge prompt that worked to fill my desire for a new Quilted Jacket!

There you have it...

Process, product, and the REAL reason for accepting this Challenge.

Follow THIS LINK to the Season 15 overview.  Check back on the Challenge release days (or sign-up to be notified automatically) and there may be one that YOU just can't resist.

It's a SHORT turnaround time!

Depending on the size and complexity of your project, that doesn't HAVE to be insurmountable.  With a little creativity and a few evenings, you really CAN do this!  My project 
was begun 2 nights after the prompt was announced and was finished with approximately 17 hours to spare!  My post wasn't ready for release until the morning of the deadline.  Since I have a thing about releasing my PQ posts on Sundays anyway, that wasn't a problem.  I joined Kim's Link Party immediately afterwards.

Until next time...
Challenge accepted!!!




Remember:  If I can do this, YOU can do it, too!

(Plus, there's a spot to post your completed Project QUILTING inspired projects AFTER the deadline for any of the challenges.)

Saturday, March 9, 2024

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC24 - Week 10

Welcome to Week 10 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  This week is an "ON" week for ProjectQUILTING.  There are a few artsy things on tap, as well.  Will PURPLE fabric scraps play a part?

Read on to see the ebb and flow of my week...

SUNDAY - My week began like many others.  While arting with my friends at Get Messy, I worked on a new collage using the words and images below...


And once that was done, I added another layer to a page in my NEW Get Messy Art Journal:


After lunch, I visited with Knittingsuek for a while:


MONDAY - Work...

Was followed by some decision making about my latest project:


Forgive the late-night photo, please. The background is white.

TUESDAY - Tidy Up Tuesday

Work was followed by a bit of quilting:


WEDNESDAY - It was a Wonderful Wednesday, but there's no post.  Today was my day off.  I had an art class in the morning and more quilting to do in the midday.  The afternoon was spent catching up with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color during our weekly Zoom call:


THURSDAY - I had hoped to visit with my Weekly Quilt Bee friends, but I was up half the night and wasn't able to attend.  It was a lucky thing that I wasn't scheduled to work today.  Here's a clue as to just how bad I felt... I took an afternoon nap AND fell asleep watching an art journaling video at 8:30 PM!

FRIDAY - Another day off work, but did I go to Knit Group?? Not today!  The knitters are going to Carolina Fiber Fest.  I had things to take care of at home (and really didn't need the lure of new yarn.)


If YOU have been waiting for a neighborhood update, the first 4 lots now have the plumbing rough-in complete and additional building tasks are sure to follow:


At tonight's Get Messy art hangout, I started a new page in my Altered Book Journal:


SATURDAY - It's LINK PARTY day for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  I hope you will join me in visiting Angela @ So Scrappy to see what the RSC Quilters have been up to this week.

I've been doing some Secret Sewing this week, including a scrap of hand-dyed PURPLE fabric and this lovely floral from my stash:


If you are curious, stop back tomorrow to see what has become of them.

Until next time...
Get SCRAPPY!!

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

The 100 Day Project - #100Days100ThingsDecluttered - Week 2

Welcome to Week 2 of the #100Days100ThingsDecluttered new mini-series here on The Joyful Quilter!!  I started The 100 Day Project on February 18th.  I'm still shocked that I finally committed to it.  It's particularly popular on Instagram.  I have been hesitant to participate before now.  I'll be releasing weekly updates for those of you who might be interested in seeing what goes out the door.

What's your project, again, Joyful???

I signed up with a different idea in mind than most.  You can read about it HERE.  That link will tell you all about my project.

The gist of my focus...

Decluttering my home and studio in an effort to free up space for MORE creativity.

Here's my progress for Week Two:

3 grill utensils (that we never choose to use)
1 decorative door hanger
2 quilt blocks
3 paperback books
1 dead highlighter
1 basketball tote 
3 more decorative tins
1 bag of ethnic scraps (tried using them in several different projects, but can't seem to make them work)

Week 2 Total: 15/100

Updated Project Total: 31/100



Thank you to those of you who encouraged me in my decluttering efforts last week!  I appreciate your kind comments and your willingness to cheer me along.  Angie @ A Quiltering Reader's Garden decided to join me in my quest.  She had the following to say:

I'm joining! If ever a quilter needed to declutter, it is I. Day one of decluttering starts now. Good Luck!

Wishing Angie the best of luck!

Come back next week to see what goes in the box during the next 7 days.

@dothe100dayproject
#The100DayProject
#DoThe100DayProject
#100Days100Things_TheDeclutterEdition
#100Days100ThingsDecluttered
#filltheboxjoy

You can follow me on Instagram @thejoyfulquilter.

Until next time...
Do the 100 Day Project!!!

Saturday, March 2, 2024

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC24 - Week 9

Welcome to Week 9 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  It's transition week for the RSC Quilters.  We're all waiting for Angela to let us in on her little secret of what color scraps we'll be digging into during the month of March.  On a personal level, it should be a moderately calm week.  There are a few regularly scheduled events on the calendar, as well as on previously postponed class.  It's an "off" week for ProjectQUILTING, so that should allow time for almost anything I'd like to do.  Some decluttering and some art-ing, too?  I may even have time for some quilting!

Read on to see how the week progressed...

SUNDAY - The day began with my Weekly Morning Art Zoom where I enjoyed creating the following prompt-free page to use some new-to-me supplies:


After lunch, it was time for my Weekly Zoom call with Knittingsuek:


This evening, I worked on sewing pairs of strips together for my RED donation quilt for my 2024 Rainbow Scrap Challenge project:



Work

This pile of completed rows sits waiting for pressing:



The next step in the making of my RED donation quilt top was to sew pairs of rows:


WEDNESDAY - Wonderful Wednesday

Before heading off to work, I started on the following page during this morning's (previously postponed) Caylee and The Journal class at Get Messy:


After work, I headed straight home for my weekly Zoom with LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color:


I was pleased to share my big RED donation quilt top...


~ 45 x 48

Along with the smaller one that I made at the same time using Jasmine's calculations for her Race Quilt Variations, modified to suit my way of making the finished size I want:


~ 45 x 45


Before work, I decided to begin working on this Leap Day art page:


After work I attended my Monthly Evening Quilt Bee meeting.  Here's me with my February mini quilts, but I got no group photo:


When I got home, I discovered that my NEW Get Messy Art Journal had arrived:


FRIDAY - Day Off!!!

I started the day with a relaxed visit with my Knit Group friends:


I checked several times, but sometime during the late afternoon LeeAnna emailed that Angela announced the Color of the Month for March:

    PURPLE

After dinner, I worked on my new journal during tonight's Weekly Evening Art Zoom:


SATURDAY - It's LINK PARTY day for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!  I hope you will join me in visiting Angela @ So Scrappy to see what the RSC Quilters have been up to this week.  It will be interesting to see how many people have already started on their PURPLE scraps for March.  Here are the scraps that I have to work with during the month:



Until next time...
Get SCRAPPY!!

Joining Alycia
for