11/7/13

Sewing Rainbows

It was absolutely great to be back sewing after ten days away. I've barely set foot in the sewing room since the beginning of Mike's illness. I was just sort of standing at the entrance and tossing stuff in. As a result, it was a disorganized mess, and I needed to take some time to organize things before I could even think about sewing.


And given the storm of the past week and a half, it seemed a good time to get caught up on my little ladies for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

http://superscrappy.blogspot.com

Since I'm three months behind, I'd say it's a good time for a lot of reasons. These blocks are a little tedious to make, and I spent all afternoon on the three I made today. The skirts are paper-pieced, and since that means they end up a mirror image of themselves, I start there so that I can keep the rest of the colors in the block straight as I go.


The remainder of the block is traditionally pieced, and the next step is to decide on the flesh tones for each block, and then to add the sleeves and hands.


After that, I add the legs and the shoes.


Finally, I make the heads and decide on hair color for each of my little ladies.


Then I sew them all together! Here's September's baby blue:


October's black:


and November's brown:


And here are all my little ladies! Just one block to go before this quilt is finished.


So that was a good day's work, and I am really loving how this quilt is looking despite the tedium involved in making the blocks.

Here's something else I want to tell you about. Did you know that one of the astronauts currently working and living on the International Space Station is a quilter? Meet Karen Nyberg. If you click on this link, she's filmed the cutest video about quilting in space. In the video, she invites all quilters to make one star block and submit it to be sewn into a quilt that will be displayed at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in 2014. Here's the scoop.


Click on that image if you need to to make it larger. Cool, huh? I don't know about you, but I'm going to make one of these blocks. How much fun is that?


Finally, you have just a few hours now to link up with your October NewFO's. I'll be selecting and posting the winner of this month's needle nanny tomorrow morning. Don't miss out!

25 comments:

Junebug613 said...

Yay for sewing time! The ladies look fabulous. Oh! I am definitely going to make a star block to send!

WoolenSails said...

I am glad you are able to quilt again and can't wait to see more of your new projects.

Debbie

Dogwood Lane Rambles said...

A day in the sewing room what a relief! The rainbow ladies are looking super cute, I just returned from a viewing of the stage play "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" and your ladies remind me of the colorful 'ladies' I saw on stage today :) so much fun!!

ipatchandquilt said...

Those girls are fabulous!
Thanks for the info on the competition! How fun!
Esther
esthersipatchandquilt at yahoo dot com
ipatchandquilt dot wordpress dot com

Anonymous said...

The ladies are adorable. I chuckled at the tedious-but-worth-it comment. Some things are. Others are tedious-and-never-again.

quiltzyx said...

It's hard to believe you only have ONE more block to go with the ladies! I remember the first one you made....!

What a great idea - I think I could manage to make ONE star block too. Thanks for letting us know about that.

Nita said...

Love those ladies of yours :)

Shanna said...

That is awesome!

Tami C said...

Oh my! You have such a big sewing room! I didn't realize that you had your ping pong table in the middle of your sewing room! Your ladies are looking just wonderful. I'm with you, I am liking how it looks too. I will go watch her video and will probably want to make a block too!

Brown Family said...

THe little ladies are so cute. I wonder what color December will be!

Karen said...

It is so good to see you back in your sewing room!! The little ladies look lovely but I agree that they are time consuming. Good luck.
The video of quilting in space was fascinating. There are problems I would never have thought about.
Happy sewing!!

Michele said...

Your ladies quilt is turning out spectacular and I can't wait to see it all finished.

Sheila said...

I love your little ladies! This has been fun to watch the group of blocks grow each month : )

Karen said...

Your little ladies are darling. Thanks for the quilt block info. I will think about making a block.

Deb A said...

Your little ladies are adorable and look awesome in the rainbow of colors.

Cathy said...

Cute, cute, cute and such a unique quilt it will be. I love quilts that make you smile!

Julie in GA said...

Your rainbow ladies look great. Only two more to go! Glad you managed to get back to your sewing room.

Dar said...

Your sewing room does not look a bit disorganized! Is this the before or after. Your little rainbow ladies are sure cute. That will be such a sweet quilt when you are finished.

Angie said...

Your rainbow ladies are just too cute - thanks for showing the group of them together - what a fun quilt!

Kate said...

Your Scrappy Lady blocks turned out so cute. Hard to believe there is just one more month in this year's challenge.

Barb H said...

Thanks so much for sharing the "Quilting in Space" video. I'd never guess that making a quilt block would be so difficult but then, I've never been weightless in space. I think I'll have to send in a block for that quilt. Now, what kind should it be . . . ?

Faye said...

These are so cute! They look great all together

Lynne said...

My sewing room has been going through the "dump and run" phase for the last month! I really should get back in there and sort it out!

Your RSC girls quilt is looking great!

Thanks for the heads up about participating in the star quilt in 2014.

Quilter Kathy said...

I just love these little ladies! What an amazing project for the rainbow challenge!

Sarah said...

Your little ladies are fabulous! Quite fancy doing a star block!