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

Rail Fence Spinners Finished!

There have been a couple of recent finishes that I waited to share here because they were gifts. Well, the gifts have been presented, so it's finally time to reveal one of the finishes (I'll save the other for another day.)

Back in early November I finished a project that had been in the works all year. This is the Rail Fence Spinners quilt, which has been presented to our new great-niece Quinn.

Rail Fence Spinners

39.5" x 48"

The blocks for this quilt were made each month based on the assigned color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. By the end of the year, I had 80 blocks, which were enough for two baby quilts. The other quilt top was shared in an earlier blog post HERE.

I love the way the grey print worked for the setting triangles and border. It has little spots of bright colors at the intersections of the white lines, which worked perfectly with the rainbow of scraps in the blocks.

The fabric used for the inner border and binding is a batik, and that was the one problem child of this quilt. When I washed the quilt after it was finished, the dark pink color in that fabric ran and stained some of the light background fabrics. Fortunately, I knew about a tutorial by fabric dyer Vicki Welsh with a process for correcting that problem. I tried her method and it worked! I recommend all quilters bookmark her tutorial.

For the back I used a pretty flannel with a rainbow of colors. Flannel is my favorite choice for backing baby quilts. This was a wide back piece that I got at JoAnn's a year or two ago.

We were in Wisconsin visiting my family last weekend, and that is when I finally gifted this quilt and met the newest member of the family. To top off the post, here's a photo of Quinn on her new quilt. I hope the quilt helps keep her cozy and warm in the Wisconsin winter.

Linking up with:

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at soscrappy

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Rail Fence Spinners--Quilt Top #2 Done!

The Rail Fence quilt collection continues to grow! This week I finished assembling the top of my second Rail Fence Spinners quilt.

Rail Fence Spinners #2, 40" x 48.5"

I was especially happy with the way the border fabric worked with the rainbow of colors in the blocks. I knew it wouldn't be possible to get the white diagonal grid design in the border and the setting triangles to line up perfectly, so the dark pink inner border is there to give a separation between them. The same dark pink will be used for the binding.

My Rail Fence collection started in 2022 as one of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I made blocks for a few months in 2022, then continued in 2023. At that end of that year, I was able to make two small quilts, one with the blocks set straight, and the other with the blocks on point.

Rail Fence Stairsteps, 39" x 48"

Rail Fence Zigzag, 39" x 41.25"

There was still a stack of Rail Fence blocks left after I made those two quilts. I discovered that joining them together into groups of four made pinwheel-type designs that I dubbed Spinners. I made Spinners through 2024, using up last year's Rail Fence blocks and making even more. I ended up with enough for two small quilts, the one at the top of this post, and the straight-set quilt from last week.

Rail Fence Spinners #1, 42.5" x 54.5"

I think it's time to take a break from Rail Fence blocks! I still have just a few left over, but I'm ready to move on to something new.

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 Housqework on Sunday. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 10/13/2024

The main focus in my sewing room this week was on the Rail Fence Spinner blocks that I've been making all year as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I started the week by making five blocks, which used a total of 1/4 yard of fabric. That brought my total number of blocks up to 80.

The next step was to start stitching blocks together. I joined 48 blocks together to make a small quilt top, which you can see in yesterday's post. I used 1/2 yard of fabric for the border.

The rest of my spinner blocks are in the process of being joined together in an on-point setting. Here's the planned layout. I still need to figure out a border for this version.

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                      .75 yards

Used year to date:           115.375 yards

Added last week:                    0.0 yards

Added year to date:             88.75 yards

Net used in 2024:          26.625 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. Besides the Rail Fence Spinners projects, I've also been spending plenty of time on quilt guild business.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024

10/6 - 10/12              7 of 7 days

2024 Total          281 of 286 days

Success rate               98.25 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Rail Fence Spinners Quilt Top #1

One of my 2024 projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge has been the Rail Fence Spinner blocks that I started making as a way to use up leftover Rail Fence blocks from a 2023 RSC project. I counted up my 6" blocks at the end of September and had 75. I made five more blocks using black and brown scraps, our colors for September. 

Adding those last blocks brought my block total up to 80, which could have been joined together 8 x 10 to make a small throw quilt that would measure 48" x 60" before borders. However, I couldn't decide if I liked them better set straight or on point. I chose to make both versions as baby quilts. Here is Rail Fence Spinners #1 with the blocks set in straight rows. 

Rail Fence Spinners #1

42.5" x 54.5"

I auditioned several different fabric for the border and ended up choosing this fun print with all the colors of the rainbow in it.

I've got the remaining Rail Fence Spinners blocks joined together on point, just waiting for the borders to be added. I hope to get that top done before next Saturday.

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

ScrapHappy Saturday

I was able to pull out some orange scraps and work on a couple of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week. First up was finishing the August blocks for the RSC Hen & Chicks sampler. We are making four different block designs each month in both 3" and 6" finished sizes, and I am limiting my fabric choices to batiks. My selection of orange batiks was very limited, but I did get them all made.

RSC Hen & Chicks sampler

After that, I made some orange Rail Fence Spinners, ending up with a total of 10 blocks.

Last month our RSC color assignment was aqua, teal and turquoise. Besides pulling out scraps, I also discovered a stash of tiny (2" finished size) bowtie blocks plus some 4-patches, all in those colors. There were over 160 of the bowties, but even if I'd used all of them together, they would have made a very small quilt, maybe 24" x 28". Instead of making more blocks, I decided to use what I had to make placemats, ending up with a total of four placemat tops. There are only 2 bowtie blocks left over!

All in all, it was a fun and very scrappy week. Who knows what kind of scrappy trouble I might get into next week! There are still plenty more orange scraps to use.

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

Aqua Scrappiness

We are approaching the middle of July, and I'm just now getting going with my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I finally had some time available this week to start pulling out my aqua, turquoise and teal scraps, our assigned colors for July. The first set of blocks to be completed were the Rail Fence Spinners. I made eight blocks with the blue-green scraps, plus one purple block because I needed one more of that color.

I've made a start on my Hollow 9-Patch blocks too and should have those done before next week. After that, there will be the RSC Hen & Chicks Sampler blocks to make, plus the Laundry Basket Quilts Birthday Blocks and a set of Terry blocks. That list makes me feel a little tired, but I hope to get them all done by the end of the month. 

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

Scrappy Spinners

It seems that my routine for working on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects in recent months has been to start with one of the easy blocks that requires very little cutting. This month that meant my Rail Fence Spinner blocks. All that's needed are 1.5" x 3.5" strips, this month using the blue scraps. I made 9 blocks.

When I went to add these to the bin that contains the blocks from previous months, I discovered two more blocks that had been made from last year's Rail Fence project leftovers. Now I have eleven blue blocks.

Since we are into our sixth month of RSC scrappiness, it seemed like a good time to get a photo of all the colors together.

These blocks finish at 6" each, and I will probably wind up with enough blocks at the end of the year for one throw quilt or two baby quilts. I love the way the background strips form little spinners too!

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

Pinwheeling in Pink

We have moved on to pink as our color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I was able to get one set of pink blocks done this week. These are my Rail Fence Spinner blocks.

It was fun going through my pink scraps and strips for these blocks, and I'm looking forward to continuing with even more pink scraps for the rest of my RSC projects.

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

Not Quite Ready for a New Color

Even though the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge switched over from April's yellow to pink on May 1st, I still had some sets of yellow blocks to finish off. 

Up first were my yellow 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".

Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts is hosting a Birthday Quilt 2024 quilt-along. There is a new pattern for a 6" block posted every week. I am alternating using a dark or a light background each week, and my blocks this month all feature yellow.

The yellow Rail Fence Spinners needed yellow strips cut before I could make the blocks. After that, they went together very quickly.

It was a lucky coincidence that the May block pattern for Jen's Color Challenge featured yellow. The inspiration for Jen's color choice was the Electric Yellow Lab, a type of tropical fish.

I'm done with the yellow scraps and hope to have some time this weekend to start pulling out my bits and pieces of pink.

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

Finishing the Purple Blocks

March seemed to go by very quickly, and now it is time to wrap up my purple projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I finished off a couple sets of purple blocks this week. Up first were my Hollow 9-Patch blocks.

After that, I made the latest of the Birthday Blocks from Laundry Basket Quilts, ending up with four purple blocks for March. A new block pattern is posted every week, and I am alternating using light or dark background along with the RSC color of the month.

LBQ Birthday Blocks

There is one set of purple blocks that is not quite finished. These are my scrappy improv blocks inspired by Terry Rowland (I call them my Terry blocks.) I have these 25 little 3" blocks finished, and another 15-20 more blocks cut and waiting next to my sewing machine.

Besides all the blocks shown above, I also shared a couple other sets of blocks earlier in the month. There were the Rail Fence Spinners and the Hen and Chicks Sampler blocks. I pulled those blocks out of my RSC bin and put everything up on the design wall together in an incredible, scrappy collection of purple! 

I'm eager to find out what our color of the month will be for April and get started on some new sets of blocks!

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

Stash Report and Stitching Time 3/24/2024

There has been plenty of fabric moving both in and out of my stash this week. The incoming came from a recent fabric order, 4.5 yards added.

The outgoing fabric was used in a variety of projects. I used 1/2 yard for my last Project Quilting entry of 2024, an Irish Chain placemat (which you can see and read more about HERE.) I also used another yard on these two Scrappy Trips style placemats that have been waiting to be finished.

A total of one yard was used for a combination of projects that are being added together for the Stash Report. They are the purple Rail Fence Spinners, the Hen and Chicks Sampler blocks, and two blocks for Jen's Color Challenge. 

Rail Fence Spinners, 6" blocks

Hen and Chicks Sampler, 3" & 6" blocks

Jen's Color Challenge, 12" blocks

2024 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   2.50 yards

Used year to date:              22.50 yards

Added last week:                  4.50 yards

Added year to date:               22.0 yards

Net used in 2024:                .50 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. Despite having been out of town for a few days at the beginning of the week, I was able to keep my 100% record intact. I always take a hand stitching project along when I travel, and that was true on this trip. Three more applique heart blocks were finished while I was away.

I've been hand stitching heart blocks since sometime in 2021. I used to do lots more hand applique when I was working and stitched on the train commute each day. Now it mostly happens when I am traveling. I really should count up how many heart blocks I've made and figure out what to do with them.

15 Minute Challenge for 2024: 

3/17 - 3/23          7 of 7 days

2024 Total        83 of 83 days

Success rate                100%

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA