Finished Or Not Friday: Did You Ever Quilt a Rainbow....

Okay, the post title happened because when I started writing this post, this popped in my head:

Joining in once again over at Quilty Girl (and new Grandma) Alycia's for this week's "Finished or Not Friday" linkup!  

I present my finally finished "Rainbow Scrappy Log Cabin":

Front

Back

I say finally because this was one of the six (!) projects I started back in 2021 when I decided to finally dive into Angela's (of the So Scrappy blog) Rainbow Scrap Quilt Challenge. This pattern is the one that comes with Accuquilt's Log Cabin die although they call it the "Scrappy Star Log Cabin".  I wonder if that's because Pam Heller,  Accuquilt's Cutting Expert always cites this die as a good one to use to cut up your scraps. 

After learning about and following the RSC, I immediately envisioned using the pattern for the challenge since that would absolve me from having to choose a colorway for the quilt.  Use all the colors in the rainbow and you don't have to pick a specific color direction!

Funny thing was that of all the projects I started that year, I wound up only picking and die cutting the fabrics for this during the challenge since I realized that I wanted to have all of the fabrics gathered and complementary before starting to piece the blocks.   As a result the actual block sewing didn't start until 2022.  However as usual with a lot of projects on my plate, I only made maybe three blocks that year and then this got lost in the project shuffle.

It got revived again in 2023 when the American Quilters Society teamed up with Accuquilt and held a quilt along for this pattern.  I got the top done but then the next usual question/issue was how to quilt it and so it sat again.  In 2024 Angela Walters held another of her free motion quilting challenges called "How Do I Quilt It?"  that covered stitch patterns for Snowball, Chevron, Log Cabin and Curved blocks and Applique borders.  That year I also had a Snowball block quilt that I was looking for inspiration for the quilting.  I did get that one done but unlike another time when I got two quilts finished because of one of her challenges, this time I wasn't sure any of her approaches worked for me.   So once again it sat! 

Then this year the guild I belong to long distance with my mother-in-law announced that their challenge project for this year would be making a log cabin quilt!  Perfect!  Ever since owning the die I've longed to make a lot of Log Cabin quilts so pulled out all the ideas that I had for them.  However, in the end since this one was already pieced and ready to go and only needed to be quilted, it became the one to get done!  Another push was having a deadline since finished quilts were to be presented at the guild's June meeting. 

My expectation was to get it quilted by the end of May so I could mail it down to North Carolina in plenty of time.  Well you know what they say about the best laid plans:  it still took me until last week to decide on what wound up being a very simple quilting plan:  evenly spaced straight lines across some of the major directions that the piecing followed.  

Even then such simple quilting, done free-motion with a ruler, took me a little longer than I expected.  Then I decided after the quilting was done to add a flange accent to the binding I had planned to do using the outer border fabric. I was able to once again use up some of the leftover Log Cabin strips that I had and sewed them together to form the accent strip to create the effect.

It's a subtle touch next to the busy border fabric but I like it!  Even better, a flange binding is my favorite kind of binding: completely applied by machine!  

I finished it up on Sunday and mailed it out on Monday.  Unfortunately I'm still on pins and needles as it was estimated to arrive to her by yesterday.  It was in NC by that time but as of today is still listed as having been transferred to the postal distribution center in the next big town.  I really hope it gets to her by tonight otherwise after all of this effort, it might still not be part of the guild presentation tomorrow!

Well at least I can say I've checked off another UFO on my master to-do list --- even if it's not the one I was supposed to be working on this month LOL!  This month the number that was pulled on this year's UFO Challenge List (I'm following The Quilted Forest's picks on YouTube) was #1 which on my list is my "Scrap Vortex" quilt. 

That's another one that's only waiting to be quilted but has stumped me up until now.  Mostly because I have some vague yet also specific ideas on what I'd like to do on it but haven't quite worked out how to make that happen.  Hopefully this finish will inspire me to get that one done too.  Not to mention I still have to finish the quilting on March's UFO pick, still layer and quilt April's and cut out the "Newfo" picked from the list for May.  Never a dull moment in my quilt world!

And it's also never a dull moment in the worlds of the quilters that gather at Alycia's each week for "Finished Or Not Friday"!  So head on over there to see what everyone has worked on this past week whether it was finished or not!

To Do Tuesday: Trying To Get Back on Track for June

Ooh, it's been a while since I connected with everyone for Carol's weekly "To Do Tuesday" over at Quilt Schmilt!  The end of April and all of May were busy and only got busier as each week progressed!  It was hard to make time to get to my stitching spots --- whether the couch for some hand work or at my sewing machine.  As a result I feel like I've neglected some of my favorite family members --- my craft projects!!

Some of the life events that got in the way of crafting during this time:  There's been a slate of community association meetings and a related conference to attend.  The community garden season started so there was spring planting,  hosting the 5th grade of the local middle school for their annual Spring visit and attending a virtual eco-gardening course I signed up for.  

Part of our plot in mid-May

Since my last post we've also been on two camping trips with my DH's co-workers: one early season one to test out some new equipment we had purchased and the other our 3rd (for us) annual Memorial Day Weekend trip.  That weekend was also my birthday weekend when I hit a milestone one: the big 6-5!

Just part of our group and a rainy weekend saved by canopies and tarps! 

  

On the crafting front, in late April after finishing the second of two Quilt of Valor tops for the guild that I belong to long distance, it was my plan to then work on quilting a Log Cabin project to submit for their June challenge or to try to work on or finish two LC projects-in-process for the same purpose.  

However that got pushed aside mostly because there have been an over abundance of new quilt project idea "squirrels" that completely overtook my attention and wallet!  I also signed up for both the Quilted Life Summit and the Machine Quilting Summit again this year.  Good thing I opted for the VIP extended access membership for both since I have yet to be able to sit down to watch the sessions!   All of these beautiful distractions and "what ifs" knocked my focus totally off.  While enjoyable and exciting they were all horrible for my productivity!!

All of the same has also been true for my cross stitch productivity as well!  Back in April I couldn't resist embarking on a new Spring themed CS freebie by Jardin Prive.  My hope was to stitch it up quick, finish it using Helen D's "floss wrapped hoop" technique and then also "fully finish" the Lizzie Kate Spring-themed design I stitched up two years ago.  The plan was to put both out on display for Spring before April ended.  

Nope, didn't happen!  This was where the "Peace 'N Love" stitch was as the life events and squirrels got in the way of stitching on it reguarly enough to get it done.  However I'm glad to say that I got in enough time during the Memorial Day camping trip and while doing laundry when we returned to finish it up!  

So now I still need to "fully finish" it as planned.  Unfortunately,  I'll need to get a bigger hoop than the one I originally planned to use to do that since I'd like more space surrounding the stitching in the finish.  

However with June now underway,  I want to focus on "patriotic season stitching and decorating".  In past years I followed the Fat Quarter Shop when they did their "Red, White & June" stitch alongs but I don't see any mention of that on their site this year.  That's probably because they are doing the Celebrating 250 Years of America Quilt Along that started back in February and runs until the same month next year. 

I already had my projects lined up for "RWJ" stitching for both cross stitch and quilting.   For the former there were soooo many great cross stitch patterns being offered to honor the country's big occasion when I looked them up at the start of the year:   

Click the picture to enlarge and excuse the few non-cross stitch images here....

I did finally settle on purchasing just one pattern to try to make:  

I liked this one because it is done in the tiered cake stand format.  It will be similar to the London themed one I made last year from Erin Elizabeth's series of patterns.

I had picked out this Susan Ache design three years ago when she released her "Summer Memories" book:

I had hoped to start both in May for "Cross Stitch Maynia" but I've already shared how May went off the rails for me.  In addtion to those two cross stitch projects,  I can also continue in the patriotic colors theme by getting back to work on my Laundry Basket Quilts "Alaska" BOM project that stalled due to all the other things that came up last month:  

I only got to three and a half of the next eight blocks I needed to get done. 

Additionally there's the possibility of (finally) FFO-ing my Primrose Cottage "United We Stand" WIP and to finish up my "Seeds of Glory" quilted pillowcover since I want to try the same edge finishing technique on both.

The good news is that despite all of those plans, goals and dreams, my actual "To Do" list this week will be super short:   

1. I need to finish quilting my "Rainbow Log Cabin" project to be presented at the June guild meeting in NC the Saturday after next!  

This is my one and only priority right now even though I hope to also still do some cross stitching in the evenings as well.  

Needless to say there's never a dull moment even if it's not always doing the crafty things I love.  So I am glad to jump back in by linking up with everyone for  "To Do Tuesday" at Carol's Quilt Schmilt blog and look forward to seeing what everyone else will be working on this week! 

P.S.  If you are a Tula Pink fan, you've got to check out reports (article here and video here) of her career retrospective that was displayed at the recent H + H industry show.  Very fun, colorful and inspiring!!