Scrap Happy Day March 2025 - better late than never!

Each month, on the 15th, a group of people post on their blogs about their use of scraps over the previous four weeks.  Generally it is fabric but not always, and there are some innovative uses of scraps displayed.  Kate sends a reminder email so we don't forget to post on the 15th of the month.  See below for details of how you can join in.  It is a great incentive to get things done.

I wasn't at home on the 15th so am hoping that posting this on the 17th will be okay.  

In the last month, I've worked on a few scrap quilts.

Two baby quilt tops from scraps of fabrics used for Days for Girls menstrual health kits.  I had to work with the strip widths I had and the colours.  Bright and cheerful.  I will wait until I have a few quilt tops for DfG before the next steps in turning them into quilts.  

A couple of months ago, I grabbed all the blue-ish 2.5" strips from the strip box and sewed them into dark/light pairs and then into strips of four.  I then cross cut the strips into 8.5" blocks.

The blocks are then cut on the diagonal and sewn together with different pairs of triangles, so the darks and lights alternate.  Trim the blocks to 8" square and lay them out.  

Sew the blocks together and voila!  A quilt top with movement and a secondary pattern in it, and I've used up a bunch of 2.5" strips.  Because I wasn't planning very well, some of the fabrics are lights in some pairs, and darks in others.  However, it still works.  The pattern is one of Bonnie Hunter's scrap patterns, the strip twist   I plan to add a border to this quilt which should make it around 55" x 75", a nice lap quilt size.  When that will happen though, who knows!

Do check out Bonnie's website.  There are heaps of free patterns, perfect for using up all those fabric scraps we can't bear to throw out.  

The bloggers below are all ScrapHappy Day participants, maybe not every month, but their blogs are worth looking at.  If you want to join in too, contact Kate below and have some fun with scraps.  Kate sends a reminder email each month, a few days before the 15th, so you can post about your work with scraps.      

Kate, Eva, Sue, Lynda,

Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 

Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,

Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,

Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 

 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,

Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,

 Tierney, Hannah and Maggie

February 2025 Chookshed Challenge report

February's number was 10 and I've completed Mason's quilt!  Happy that I've done that.  

My challenge number 6 from January is still continuing, with February spent planning the flowers in the next round and then joining them (with their cross) into pairs and then the pairs into fours, then the fours into eights. I'm hoping that my evenings in front of the TV in March will be spent adding the four sections onto the rest of the quilt.  Fingers crossed.  

Deana from Dreamworthy Quilts has chosen the new number for the March challenge.  It is #2 so, as I know I've actually finished that one (in January), I will work on another number.  I will be away from home for about four months this year so will keep the embroidery kit numbers for those months and the quilts I've completed.  (Not sure that I should have started this challenge this year, however it is done now.  We will see how we go.)

My list is as follows:

1. complete strip sets for blue strip twist quilt
2. quilt and bind A's quilt
3. second backstitch embroidery kit (for while I'm travelling)
4. quilt and bind S's quilt
5. quilt and bind R's quilt
6. continue flower blocks for J's quatro quilt
7. complete bunny Fat Quarter Mixer quilt top
8. start on Amelie's quilt
9. backstitch embroidery kit (for while I'm travelling)
10. quilt and bind Mason's quilt

Chookshed Challege 2025 - Deana from Dreamworthy Quilts is one member of the Chookshed Quilters.  Each month in 2025, Deana will select a number from one to ten and quilters work on the project with the corresponding number from their own list.  The main rule for this challenge is that there are no rules, which should work for me as I am away for large chunks of 2025.  For example, if the number six is chosen, and that particular month is a bit tricky to work on that numbered project from my list, I can change the project!  And a goal could be just masking minimal progress on a particular quilt.  I like those sorts of rules.