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.   

I eventually changed to using a different green fabric than the one cut here.

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 Angela's challenges, this time I wasn't sure any of her approaches for quilting Log Cabin blocks worked for this one.   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: The End of March and Plans for April

 Ahhh, so another month ends!  How fitting that it aligns with the weekly check in for "To Do Tuesday" that is usually hosted by Carol over at Quilt Schmilt.  

However as of the time I'm posting this, Carol hasn't posted the link-up for this week (I hope everything is okay).  So if she sets one up in the next day or two, I'll update this with the link to it.   

So last week the plans for finishing up the month were:  

1.  Go back to "Modern Twist" and try to complete it for this month's UFO Challenge finish. 

I am still working on it.  I've only been able to sit down and stitch on it a little at a time as I'm still feeling my way on quilting it.  So at best I can call it "moved forward" for March.  

Even as I am looking forward to seeing what "UFO Challenge" number The Quilted Forest pulls for April,  I also want to continue working on this and try to finish it by the end of that month. 

2.  (Finally) work on the "Picture That" QOV top. 

Okay, finally made the final fabric choices so I can start cutting and piecing it.  I expect this one to be a quickie to stitch up!

3.  Start stitching the fourth (and last) "Hexie Snowflake" block to its background.

Yes, it has been started and is about half way done.  Should be completed by the weekend.

4.  "Fully finish" the "Year of the Horse" cross stitch.

Done!  Detail on that in this post.

Also Accomplished as March Finished Up:  

Having been able to finish the March blocks for my "Alaska" BOM a week early, I figured I'd put the blocks I've made to date up on the design wall just to take in how far I've gotten with this project.

Pretty good!  Although when I went to take the blocks down, I realized I had placed some of the blocks flanking the outer most center blocks incorrectly.  The blocks in those positions are pieced in mirror image and I clearly had put some of them in the wrong spots.  I made a note of that for when I lay these out again.

I have two more blocks to make to fill the center and in both cases I'll need eight of them.  So in April I'll tackle one of them knowing I need to make two blocks a week this time around.

Since I also have plans to make an enlarged version of the basic deisgn, I'll also be adding an additional  border of blocks.  Those blocks just so happen to have the same piecing as the other block I need for the center, just colored slightly differently.  So when I make those (in May), I'll make both sets of blocks in tandem.  I won't get them all done in a month --- I will just continue to work on them consistently until I have all that I need.  

Ooh, since the block making and constructing the final top is likely to go into June, this will be a perfect project to put on my list for the Fat Quarter Shop's annual "Red, White & June" event that month!   

Other Plans For April:

I'm trying to meet a deadline of making a Log Cabin quilt by May so I can send it down to my MIL to present at the June meeting of "our" guild.  Originally my plan had been to make two new designs that I've long wanted to make.  However with so many other projects in progress,  I've accepted that it just isn't going to be possible to get them done in time.  

I did start the "Sparkle & Shine" project that has only nine giant blocks and will continue to work on that in April and am hoping to get it done.  However, the other week I realized that I already have two Log Cabin WIPs, both of which started as "Rainbow Scrap Challenge" projects and one of which just needs to be quilted.  

So I decided it would make way more sense to try to get them finished up for the challenge.  The hold-up on the finished top is that up to now,  I couldn't decide how to quilt it.  So I need to sit with it a bit more over the next few days and try to come up with a plan for that.  

I also need to work on an idea I have for the layout of the other blocks which as of right now involves making additional alternate blocks for it.  If I can get that done, then I can determine if it'll also be possible to get it quilted in time as well.

So plans for this week are:

1.  Continue (and possibly finish?) quilting "Modern Twist".

2.  Find out what the "UFO Challenge" project pick is for April.  

3.  Do the cutting for the "Picture That" QOV top and maybe start piecing it togther. 

4.  Finish stitching the fourth (and last) "Hexie Snowflake" block to its background.

5.  Cut the pieces for the next set of the "Alaska" BOM blocks and make the first two.

6.  Layer RSC "Rainbow Log Cabin" and (possibly) start quilting it.

7.  Start making the alternate blocks for the RSC "Rainbow Log Cabin Hearts" layout.  

Hope I don't shoot myself in the foot with such a long list to start off the month!  I'm hoping Carol at Quilt Schmilt is able to get the "To Do Tuesday" link up set up.  If she does, then I can go see what other quilters have finished for March and have lined up for the start of April.  I'm guessing there should be a lot of pretty Spring projects starting to bloom in quilt studios around the world!