Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Rainbow Scrap Challenge finishes



At the end of 2020, I finished up two RSC quilts. The blocks were made over the last several years, using up strings and crumbs. I find those types of scrap blocks a little chaotic unless I make them in a single color. This quilt is made from string blocks pieced on foundation paper. Since most junk mail is 8.5"x11", I cut the paper into 8.5" squares and trim the final block to that size, too.


I generally start my string block with a dark strip, say navy blue, then fill in one half of the square with darker shades of blue and the other half in lighter blues. Four blocks made like that can be put together into these diamonds. Since red and pink are two different RSC months, I separated them. Pink blocks use dark/hot and light/baby pinks. Red blocks use mostly red strips for the dark side, and neutrals with a little bit of red for the light side. There's a black and white block, too.


On the back of this quilt, I tried to match less-loved fat quarters in the same color as the block directly opposite on the front. I was mostly successful, but I doubt anyone would ever really notice. Mostly it just looks like a collection of rather ugly fat quarters!


The second quilt is made with crumb blocks. I seem to have lots and lots of crumb blocks, so rather than use all colors of the rainbow, I stuck with purple, pink and yellow in an ombre.


Each block has a sashing strip of black on two adjacent sides, and this sort of tumbling offset look is easy to achieve. Lots of fun little bits and bobs among the crumbs!


The back is also purple, pink and yellow. Both quilts were finished in late December 2020, and donated to Quilts Beyond Borders. 


Around the same time, we were anchored in West Palm Beach, Florida. At the local mall, there is an artificial tree with color-changing LEDs on each "leaf." The leaves slowly change colors in various patterns. The effect is spectacular! Here it is in red.


And here it is in rainbow. I've never seen anything like this before and we visited The Tree several times while in town. It's mesmerizing!

18 comments:

  1. Congrats on two great RSC project finishes. It’s great using up strings and crumbs, and your donated quilts will certainly be loved. It’s amazing the light effects we can get with color-changing LEDs, isn’t it? Our neighbors across the street had color-changing LEDs installed under their eaves. Apparently the light strips are programmable for various colors and seasons. I guess we’ll see when the next holiday rolls around!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Two great RSC finishes. Both so bright and colourful, they will cheer up whoever receives them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Two great finishes. I find I don't have the patience to make crumb blocks. I like that sashing and am going to use that setting on some black and white blocks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Finishes are great and the tree, just perfectly timed to fit with your rainbows of colour!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love the strings! I opened the image in another tab on my laptop and enjoyed seeing all your colorful bits of fabric closeup. I was actually considering a black/white block the other day. Now that I see how good it looks, I'll add that to my stack.
    I agree, those lights are mesmerizing. My husband and I started dating in the early 1960s, and his folks had an aluminum tree with a light to the side with a rotating rainbow color wheel that shined on the tree. At first I was shocked, because my family's Christmas trees were traditional. Then I couldn't stop watching it and could never decide which was my favorite color. To this day I love (and buy) color changing LED candles and Christmas ornaments.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love all the rainbow goodness, Louise!!! Including the fun tree! I'd be mesmerized, too!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congrats on finishing off TWO of you Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts, Louise. They are fabulous, front AND back!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice finishes on both of the quilts! I can see why that tree is fascinating with those fun color changes. You two find so many fun things to explore :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I really like how the black sides on the crumb blocks created the dancing effect and help calm the chaos of the crumbs. That tree is mesmerizing.
    Pat

    ReplyDelete
  10. I want (need) to do crumb blocks and have a few started from making the scrap boxes all last year, so I do like the black on two adjacent sides! I'd been seeing white in my mind, but this has changed it! That's a great string quilt too! Just fascinating what one can do with strings and HST format.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Two lovely quilts made from scraps... I had a close look at your crumb blocks having recently tried to be more relaxed about improvising fabric blocks.... they look good in that grouping of colours....
    Hugz

    ReplyDelete
  12. Quilts Beyond Borders must have been pretty excited to receive these bright, cheerful quilts from you!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Two great finishes, Louise! I agree with you about the strings getting chaotic if one lets them. Good solution making them monochromatic. Neat sashing on the second one.
    That tree is fantastic!
    Blessings,

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wonderful quilt finishes. Maybe I’ll do another string quilt ... although I should be finishing not starting as usual! I’ve not seen a lot of color changing led lights. Either that or I just don’t notice them. Something to look forward to.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congrats on your RSC finishes. Both look terrific! And someone will love them. That LED tree is really something, I can see your fascination with it. I can also see quilty color palette inspiration there....

    ReplyDelete
  16. That is one cool looking tree Louise! So fun to see how you put your scrap quilts together.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Those are fun finishes! I especially love rainbow quilts, and your string quilt is reminding me I have a rainbow string quilt top to get finished, too. Love how you've pieced the backs, too. Isn't that a neat lighted bush? A fun sight!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Good for you finishing up the quilts - I have lots waiting for me to get busy with. The colours on The Tree are amazing, quilt ideas abound!!

    ReplyDelete

Please feel free to leave a comment and I'll reply as soon as I can.