Saturday, August 19, 2017

RSC Blocks

The end of July through the middle of October is the busiest time on the farm for me. Besides the challenge of hay making, the garden's bounty is ripening and ready to be preserved. There isn't much time in the day for sewing. When I do have time to sew, I need to work on something that can be put down and picked up easily, nothing challenging. Nearly Insane has been put on the back burner and I have worked on the RSC blocks.

The August color for the RSC is neutrals. Well, that won't work for me, I'm making the actual rainbow colors for my quilt. I only have 2 more colors to make, pink and orange so I pulled out the appropriate 4-patches and made the blocks.

I'm making 28 blocks of each color. I sew the blocks in groups of 3 so I can vary the fabrics. The first group makes 10 blocks, the next two groups make 9 blocks each.


First I organize the squares.


Then I web sew the first two vertical rows together. I sew all the first vertical rows.


Then I add the third vertical row.


Finally the 4th vertical row is added.
After all the blocks have been webbed together, I press them and then start sewing the rows together.

After all the rows are sewn together they get a final press.


Here are a few of the pink blocks for display. 


I also sewed the orange blocks. Now orange is a challenge for me because it is NOT a color I especially like. 

In fact, when I joined the RSC, I didn't have very many orange fabrics at all. The fabrics with the dots are left over fabric from making the pinwheel crib quilts along with a few other fabrics. I actually ordered a fat quarter bundle of orange fabrics from Connecting Threads so I would have a variety of orange to use. They turned out ok. I'm still not excited about orange but I can live with these blocks.

When I started making the RSC blocks, I was using leftover white on white fabrics. I've use them up! I needed to expand the selection fabrics to be used for the solid squares. 

The little squares finish at 1" and the solid squares are 2".

I'll be putting these blocks away until later in autumn when I have time to sew the blocks into a top. 

Linking to -  Scrap Happy Saturday, Quilting is More Fun than Housework, Show & Tell Monday With BambiLove Laugh Quilt, BOM's Away, Quilter's Monday Fiber TuesdayMy Quilt Infatuation, Finished Or Not Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF!

23 comments:

The Joyful Quilter said...

Even though you added some colors to the mix, there are still LOTS of wonderful LIGHT NEUTRALS in your blocks for the RSC!!

Monica said...

These blocks are so pretty. It looks like you are working ahead a little!

PaulaB quilts said...

Both sets of blocks are equally pretty. Don't know how you can work so small and have them so even. I do find that making rows like you do instead,of 4-patches is much easier to stitch together because you can press the rows in opposites so they lock well. Keep up the good work!

Chopin - A Passionate Quilter said...

I like the orange. The pinks are interesting. Even though this is your busiest season, you are now ready to put the quilt together, maybe I will be there about the same time. I too will probably run out of the white fabric and have to do a little mixing.
Nice tutorial for chain piecing.

http://longarm-quilting-inspirations.com said...

I love you colors, the quilt will be so beautiful when done. Prayers for farm safety as the harvest time approaches.

Isabella Eisenbeil said...

Good job with the color grouping. The blocks look great and the finished quilt will look cheerful and inviting. I look forward to seeing the other colors.

Jayne said...

I love this! Mixing the colors with neutrals is a great idea. I don't know how many times I've run out of white for a long term project! Mixing neutrals has helped on numerous occasions for me!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

I love these blocks! They are similar to something I have considered for RSC. Can't wait to see them all together. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

I never had much orange in my stash until recently either, but now I'm enjoying using more of it! Your new blocks are so pretty - I like the background fabrics as much as the colors!

Marie said...

Love your blocks, both the colours and the size. I'm a sucker for tiny blocks!

Cindy said...

Love your blocks and I love the orange ones best!!!!!

evaj said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
evaj said...

Thank you for inspiration and linking to the Show and Tell Monday !! Bambikram

Lynette said...

It sounds like it was good timing for you to get the call for neutrals, so you could just have some easy sewing to do during busy farm time. :) I'm not an orange person, either, although it's grown on me somewhat during my years of quilting. I do like it in autumn type projects. And you kinda need it in a full rainbow approach. But I still wouldn't choose it for its own merit.

Goofin' Off Around the Block said...

The blocks are coming along nicely. The oranges make me think of orange sorbet or an orange creamsicle. Maybe I'm just too hungry at the moment. LOL. Happy sewing! Andrea

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Gretchen,
These blocks so cute and colorful. It will make a beautiful quilt when you get to working on it later. I don't have a lot of orange in my stash either, although I like the color. I guess it's just not a go-to color. ~smile~ Roseanne

Ramona said...

Beautiful blocks! I used to not like orange and now I love it. Blue is the color I'm lacking in my stash. And I love blue.

Susan said...

They look great! That's how I sew my quilt blocks together into a top. Eleanor Burns always calls it flags, but web works, too. So what will you do with the left over orange from that bundle, I wonder. LOL

Sandy Panagos said...

Orange is one of my favorite colors. It's fun that we're all so different, isn't it? I love how you threw in a few other colors with your red blocks. It really looks good!

Gosia @ Quilts My Way said...

Lovely work ! The orange is adorable !

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

I love orange!! Your blocks are coming along. I hope when you have them all finished and pieced that you'll link up your finish with TGIFF. Thanks for linking up this week with TGIFF. Good luck with hay making and your other farm work.

Glenda said...

Love these wee blocks Gretchen they look so fresh how stunning this quilt will look on a bed, will look like Spring is in the bedroom. Cheers Glenda

Anonymous said...

This is a really good idea that you have going on. manufacturing
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