Scrappy Rainbow Saturday 1/14/2023

My 2023 projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge have gotten off to a slow start. I pulled out a collection of orphan blocks and project leftovers from years past that all feature bright and/or dark blues, our assigned colors for January, hoping to be inspired by them

The first pieces I decided to play with were leftovers from a class taken in 1998 called "Tribble Trouble." The borders at the top and right side are cut off in the photo, but you can see enough of it. (And yes, that quilt top is still hanging, unquilted, in my closet.)

Tribble Trouble, 60" x 74", pieced in 1998

This quilt was from the book Start with Squares by Martha Thompson (still available online.) My arrangement of the blocks is different than the pattern in the book.

I discovered some leftover pieces from this project, including a scaled-down version of the blocks. By adding a few more fabrics, I was able to piece two large blocks (15") and two small blocks (8".) 

Some other leftover pieces discovered in that bin were made as sample blocks for a pattern I was considering. After piecing a second center unit, I had enough parts to make two blocks. The unusual shapes in these blocks were very tricky to cut and piece accurately.

The pattern for these blocks is called "Hawaiian Spinning Stars" from the book Travels with Peaky and Spike by Doreen Speckmann. This book is also still available online. 

I was fortunate enough to take a week-long workshop with Doreen back in the summer of 1999, and she was going through the proofs for this book at that time. Unfortunately, she died suddenly just a few months later. I love the vibrant colors in her version of this pattern from the book.

Hawaiian Spinning Stars by Doreen Speckmann

Up next will be deciding how to use these blocks made from old leftovers. They may get combined together, along with whatever other bits and pieces I have pulled out. Maybe I can put together enough for a baby quilt?

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA