2024 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Review

It's the first Saturday of 2025, and I haven't yet figured out a plan for my 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. Before I worry about that, I'm going to look back at my projects for the RSC in 2024. It was my 12th year of participating in the RSC, and I have to start off by thanking Angela for continuing to host the challenge every year. I am also grateful for the encouragement and inspiration every week from the other quilters who participate in the RSC.

My RSC projects for 2024 included new projects plus a couple that carried over from previous years. That combination of new and old will also continue into 2025. For this wrap-up post, I'm going to start with the projects that were new in 2024, then work back through the older ones.

In looking back at my records from last year, I was somewhat surprised to discover that I started three new RSC projects in the very first week of the year. The first was the Birthday Quilt 2024 from Laundry Basket Quilts, a block-of-the-week series of patterns. I made my blocks using the RSC colors and alternating between light and dark backgrounds. After eight months, I decided to stop making more blocks, framed all the ones that were already made, and joined them together into a small quilt top in October.

LBQ Birthday Blocks

40" x 56"

Another sampler quilt was also started that first week of 2024. This one was the Hen & Chicks sampler, designed by our RSC hostess Angela. Each month I made four 6" blocks and four matching 3" blocks. You can see how Angela joined her blocks in this post. I decided to go with a different type of setting, and got all my blocks joined together into a top before the end of the year. 

RSC 2024 Hen & Chicks Sampler

41.5" x 55.5"

The third new project that was started in the first week of the year was Hollow 9-Patch. I used 2.5" squares to make 6" blocks in the RSC color each month. These were great to have as a leader/ender project. I ended up with about 80 blocks by November, and I have been working on getting them joined together. The blocks and sashing on the left half are stitched together, and the rest are joined into columns.

The last new RSC project for 2024 was started in February. That was the "Terry" blocks, inspired by Terry Rowland's colorwash quilts, featured in her series of three YouTube videos. These scrappy little blocks will finish at 3". I have approximately 400 blocks made, and I need to go back and make some in colors I missed, plus add more to a few of the other colors. Here are all of the pink blocks from last May.

One of my 2024 RSC projects was a carry over from 2023. I had been making Rail Fence blocks all that year, and by the end of the year I had two quilt tops (see them in this post), plus an assortment of leftover blocks. I discovered that joining four blocks together made a pinwheel-type design. That led to making many more rail fence blocks, and by the end of the year I had one quilt top and one finished baby quilt.

Rail Fence Spinners #1, quilt top

42.5" x 54.5"

Rail Fence Spinners baby quilt

39.5" x 48"

I have one quilt top from 2024 that features our color of the month from July, which was the aqua/turquoise/teal family. I was inspired by a herringbone design from a Kleenex box, and used that inspiration plus a stack of blue-green fabric scraps to make a little baby quilt. I am hoping to revisit the herringbone design this year.

Herringbone quilt top, 33" x 39.5"

One RSC project from 2023 was finished in 2024. I had taken a class in June, 2023, A Maze Zing with Candace Hassen. The original pattern produced blocks that finish at 16" x 24", but I scaled mine down a bit to 13.5" x 19.5". I made blocks using the RSC colors for several months in 2023, then finished them all off as placemats toward the end of 2024.

A Maze Zing blocks (before quilting)

My plans for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2025 are still undecided, although I am determined to finish some of the many rainbow quilt tops hanging in the closet. It feels good to see that most of my 2024 RSC projects are either finished tops or very close to that point. I'll finish up the Hollow 9-Patches soon, and get back to the Terry blocks at some point. I look forward to another year of colorful, scrappy adventures!

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

Best of 2024--End of Year Review

For the tenth straight year, Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs is hosting the Best of 2024 Linky Party, a chance to link up our top blog posts from the past year. Cheryl suggested some ways to choose our best posts such as most views, most comments, best tutorials, and favorite finishes. I'm going to include several of her suggestions, plus throw in a couple of my own. Each listing has a link back to my original blog post.

1. Most views: Jabberwocky

The blocks for this quilt were made throughout 2023 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I got them all joined together in late January, 2024. The block pattern is by Judy Martin in The Block Book. The book is out of print, but you can still find copies online.

Jabberwocky, block pattern by Judy Martin

65" x 76.75"

2a. Most comments: Orange Peel Rainbow

The applique blocks for this quilt were stitched as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge all through 2019 and up to the summer of 2020.  The blocks were joined together in August, 2020. The quilt top waited patiently until spring of 2024, when I added a border, then finished it for entry into a local quilt show. This is also my favorite finished quilt of 2024.

Orange Peel Rainbow

39.5" x 51.5"

3. Favorite mystery: Lighthouse Inn Modern Mystery Quiltalong

This was my second mystery quilt by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr of Modern Quilt Studio, and they are masters at keeping you guessing while you make the blocks. I love the way my colors in this quilt worked together with the navy background, and the gradation of block sizes makes for an intriguing design.

Lighthouse Inn quilt top

57.5" x 82"

4. Favorite self-designed quilt: Herringbone

While cleaning off my cutting table one day in July, I ran across a portion of an old Kleenex box that I had saved as a quilt design inspiration. That led to my making a small, scrappy herringbone quilt from a wide range of turquoise, teal and aqua scraps. I would have made it larger, but ran out of the light contrast fabric.

Herringbone quilt top

33" x 39.5"

I might still add a border to this little quilt top, and I'm also thinking about making it again with the ends of the strips cut at a different angle. This is a design that I can envision making in multiple variations.

5. Project of the year: Placemats Parade

2024 turned out to be the year of the placemat for me. I started out by making placemats for all the different Project Quilting challenges at the beginning of the year. Those were followed by 22 placemats made for our guild's Christmas market, then many others to be donated by the guild to Meals on Wheels. The final total number of placemats made in 2024 came to 80!

Piles of placemats

Those are some of my quilting highlights from the past year. I'm still thinking about plans and goals for 2025, but I'd be willing to bet that placemats will appear again. My top goal is to start fewer new projects and get more of the old ones finished. 

Thanks to Cheryl for giving us all the opportunity to share our favorite posts and projects from the past year. I'm joining up with her "Best of 2024" linky party.

Happy quilting and Happy New Year to all!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Turquoise Saturday

My quilting goal for the past week was to finish making this month's blocks for my various Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. Our assigned colors for July are all the blue-greens that I love so much: aqua, teal, turquoise, etc. I've had a great time digging through my scraps, but I still have more blocks to make.

The main reason that I didn't get more done for my ongoing RSC quilts was because I was too wrapped up in the new project that I shared in last week's post, the Herringbone quilt. I knew that I might run short of my light sashing fabric, but kept going anyway with the goal of making a baby quilt, and I had just barely enough for that. Seriously, I think my largest leftover scrap of that fabric when I finished measured about 1.25 x 1.5". It looks like solid white in the photos, but it actually has a very pale teal print on white. This is my Herringbone quilt top, followed by some close-ups of the fabrics.

Herringbone quilt top, 33" x 39.5"

One of my favorite things about making scrappy quilts is reminiscing about the various fabrics, where and when I got them, and other quilts they were used in. The photo above is a perfect example. The darker woven-looking print along the right side was a piece that I got at a sale back in 1998, 5 yards for 50 cents/yard. The print at the bottom left corner is also from 1998 and was purchased at the AQS show in Paducah. The bright turquoise fabric at the very center is one that I got in Paducah earlier this year. Despite the wide range of ages and styles, they all work together beautifully!

I didn't think to include a photo of my inspiration for this quilt in my previous post. I've had it for years and it resurfaced on my cutting table recently. This is a first for me--a quilt inspired by the design on a box of Kleenex!

After I finished making the Herringbone quilt top, I had quite a pile of scraps and strips with angled ends laying around on my cutting table. Instead of trimming them down into squares and triangles, I started sewing them together randomly. I was able to piece enough together to make a placemat, which will join the donation pile for Meals on Wheels.

The placemat top is done and has been stitched around the outer edges with some batting and that same print from 1998 for the back. All that's left to do is a little bit of quilting, probably horizontal lines along the piecing seams.

One set of RSC blocks that did get finished this week were the latest Hen & Chicks Sampler blocks. I'm using all batiks for these blocks, which will finish at 3" and 6".

I still have two sets of RSC blocks that haven't been made yet this month, the Laundry Basket Quilts Birthday Blocks and a set of Terry blocks. I will try to make a start on those later today. It's feeling like they might continue over into August.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. I'm also linking up with the Table Scraps Challenge at The Joyful Quilter.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Scrappy Squares and a New Project

July is slipping by much more quickly than I would like, and my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge reflect that fact. I was able to complete my set of nine Hollow 9-Patch blocks this week, using lots of squares of favorite aqua, teal and turquoise fabrics.

I also used some of my blue-green scraps to try out a new idea, a herringbone design. I like the way it's looking, but I'm going to run out of the light print before I get very far. Maybe there's enough for a baby quilt? Or I might go through the fabric stash again and try to find some other light fabrics to mix in. There's always the option to switch to solid white.

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

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA