June 2021 Monthly Color Challenge - Pumpkin!

June's block is beginner friendly from instruction through construction. Jen of Patterns By Jen has, once again, made a perfect pairing with block choice, colors, and food. To get your free block with instructions and "how-to" video, head over to her blog any time this month! After the end of the month, you can get this and past month's blocks for a small $1 fee in her Payhip Shop, plus find past years challenge blocks and her quilt patterns. So much quilty goodness is there.

There's always something satisfying when chain piecing - especially when making flying geese units. 

 

The 12" block completed:

The 6" block completed:

Both blocks - aren't they just great?!

For the couple of months I am participating this year, I carefully chose my blocks based on color so I could later make them into a fall table runner. Each month I have made the 6" and 12" blocks. They compliment each other nicely and will adorn my kitchen table come fall. 

The background fabric will be the smaller floral print, backing the larger floral, and the stripes will be the binding for a bit of flare. 

You'll have to come back later this year to see that runner in use with a fresh pan of pumpkin bars adorning its top. Here is a link to my go-to recipe: Pumpkin Bars 

Of course, I just couldn't wait for the table runner to be completed, so we have fresh baked pumpkin bars for dessert tonight! 

Yummy!

Please head over to the other bloggers' and see what they created for their June blocks and pumpkins:

Jen - Patterns By Jen

Wendy - Pieceful Thoughts

Crystal - Daybrook Designs 

Raylee - Sunflower Stitcheries 

Andi - True Blue Quilts 

Patti - Patti's Patchwork 

Ashli - Quilt 2 End ALZ

Joanne - Everyone Deserves a Quilt

And...

Let's take the time to give a final "Thank You" to our second quarter sponsors. 

Daybrook Designs - 2 PDF Patterns

Fat Quarter Shop - Gift Certificate

Patterns By Jen - Tucker Trimmer 1 Ruler*

Appliques Quilts and More - $10 Gift Certificate

The Warm Co - 90 x 108 Warm and Plush 100% Cotton

Quilters Dream Batting - 60 x 60 Dream Poly*

Benartex - Fat Quarter Bundle*

Island Batik - Fat Quarter Bundle*

Make Modern Magazine - 6 month subscription

True Blue Quilts - Book: Monochromatic Quilts Amazing Variety*

For The Love of Geese - PDF Pattern

Bea Quilter - PDF Pattern

Dragonfly's Quilting Design Studio - Goodie Bag*

Those marked with * are for US residents only. Prize laws vary throughout different countries.

The final link-up for this quarter will open at Patterns By Jen later this month.

With that, keep quilting, take breaks as needed, and maybe enjoy your favorite pumpkin treat just because. 

Thanks!

Fawn

***Bonus Recipe***

I just have to share this second very delicious recipe that our family loves. Please note that for all recipes I share you can substitute your own frozen or home canned pumpkin (fully baked before freezing is what I do) in 1cup equivalents to every 8 ounces. If you have an extra ounce, it just adds flavor and moisture to what is being baked. Anyway...Old Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies for more baking pleasure. Enjoy!

March 2021 Monthly Color Challenge - Yams!

Yams....or sweet potatoes? That is the question at hand when looking at March's focal color - red orange - for the Patterns By Jen 2021 Monthly Color Challenge . While the two are technically different, the names are interchanged for sweet potatoes. Let's take a closer look.

From the Library of Congress, "Yams are closely related to lilies and grasses. Native to Africa and Asia, yams vary in size from that of a small potato to a record 130 pounds (as of 1999). There are over 600 varieties of yams and 95% of these crops are grown in Africa. Compared to sweet potatoes, yams are starchier and drier.

The many varieties of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are members of the morning glory family, Convolvulacea. The skin color can range from white to yellow, red, purple or brown. The flesh also ranges in color from white to yellow, orange, or orange-red. Sweet potato varieties are classified as either ‘firm’ or ‘soft’. When cooked, those in the ‘firm’ category remain firm, while ‘soft’ varieties become soft and moist. It is the ‘soft’ varieties that are often labeled as yams in the United States.

In the United States, firm varieties of sweet potatoes were produced before soft varieties. When soft varieties were first grown commercially, there was a need to differentiate between the two. African slaves had already been calling the ‘soft’ sweet potatoes ‘yams’ because they resembled the yams in Africa. Thus, ‘soft’ sweet potatoes were referred to as ‘yams’ to distinguish them from the ‘firm’ varieties."

Where does that leave me on color with the challenge? I chose to follow the sweet potato color way, and this year I am only making 4 blocks total. The 12" and 6" blocks for this month plus the same sizes for June. When looking at my stash, I did not want to use what has been seen - this was not about stash busting. So I searched for fabrics that called to me finding three old lines designed by Sandy Gervais for Moda through one of my local quilt shops, The Quilt Shop, called "Fall Back in Time", "Sweet Potato", and "Mix and Mingle". The colors coordinated perfectly and I formulated a plan to turn my blocks into a fun table runner. That table runner will be revealed later in the year.

I finally had the chance to use my new, wool pressing mat. It was time to truly test it by not using any type of sizing product. All my research suggested it should not be necessary. The two photos below demonstrate that using steam and the wool pressing mat, sizing products are not necessary. Not only was I able to press all fabric with success before cutting, it played well while sewing and pressed well (even on the bias) after piecing had been done. The pressing time compared to before had been significantly cut down with not needing the sizing product, but also due to the process working faster from the heat and steam coming back up through the mat from under the fabric working at both sides. This is one purchase I am glad to have made. 

The cut pieces for both blocks came out beautifully.

This perfect cutting helped my blocks assemble perfectly. First is the 12" block:

And the 6" block:

Make sure you head over to Jen's blog linked at the top of this post for instructions that include a how-to video for making the block. Jen's block instructions are always wonderfully written for quilters of all skill levels to follow. 

All this talk of sweet potatoes makes me hungry. Here's my go-to recipe for preparing them. It is a basic roasting roasting recipe I wrote up myself after researching many and settling on what would work for my family.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

(serves 4-5)

Ingredients

3-4 medium sized sweet potatoes

2-3 tbsp. olive oil (can use virgin or extra virgin)

pink Himalayan salt (optional)

Tools

peeler

large mixing bowl

cutting mat or board

crinkle cutter or large chef knife

non-stick baking sheet or stoneware bar pan (large size for either)

Preheat oven to 425°

Bake time: 25-30 minutes

Directions

Peel and wash sweet potatoes.

Cut into 1" to 1 1/2" cubes.

Coat with olive oil in bowl and toss until even coated.

Spread evenly on baking surface.

Roast at 425° for 25-30 minutes. 

(Potatoes should be browned or even lightly blackened on sides and corner edges to show a crispy roasting has been accomplished for the exterior of each piece.)

Season with pink Himalayan salt if desired. 

Cool for a few minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

I will roast and serve these with anything from chicken to beef to pork to venison or even fish. They are easily spruced up by adding different spices if you like. Other vegetables can be added (such as potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and more) to expand on this recipe. In our house, we generally keep this simple and to sweet potatoes only enjoying the wonderful flavor they offer. 

Make sure you head to the other bloggers pages to see what stance they took on the yam vs sweet potato conundrum. Also check out their blocks and any recipes they have shared for the month. 

Patterns By Jen

Dragonfly's Quilting Design Studio

Create with Claudia

Love to Color My World

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Sunflower Stitcheries and Quilting Blog

True Blue Quilts

DayBrook Designs

Quilt 2 End ALZ

Make sure to head over and visit all the sponsors for this quarter thanking them for their very generous prize contributions. We are so appreciative! Here are the prizes:

$10 Gift Certificate 

PDF Pattern

Goodie Bag

Fabric Bundle and Book

Fat Quarter Bundle

60 x 46 Dream Angel 100% Flame Retardant Fibers

60 x 46 Dream Wool

PDF Pattern

Mini Monty (Fabric Bundle)

55 x 60 batting 80/20

PDF Pattern

2 PDF Patterns

Whew! That's a lot of fun information. Thank you for joining me while I take a break from college life after work to get back on top of my quilty world. I appreciate everyone who visits and leaves a comment. Let me know what your favorite recipe for sweet potatoes is, or if you like yams better. I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever eaten them, nor am I sure if there is a local source to buy them. Do they taste like potatoes? Someone needs to let me know in the comments, please.

Keep quilting, no matter what's going on in life....take that break.

Thanks!

Fawn

A Pixelated Wonder - 2020 Color Challenge Finish

The 2020 Color Challenge came to a wrap in the most amazing way. Jen from Patterns by Jen designed "Pixelated" for setting our blocks.  

Let's start by taking a look at my twelve blocks from 2020.

I chose to make all my blocks in batiks. Alas, I did not choose to make the pixelated sashing with the same material. Creating those pixels were a tad trying. My stash contained wonderful Kona solids that just happened to coordinate well with the blocks. Those solids played so nicely with other fabrics in the past that I just couldn't resist using them.

 

The strip piecing was easy enough. Truth be told, I have never used my seam ripper more on any project before this one beyond this point.

The first time I pulled jack out was after I got close to half the sashing blocks put together in groups of four. On a whim, I decided to lay some of the sashing out with a few of the main blocks. Something didn't look quite right, so I referenced the pattern. I'm a stickler with following patterns, and upon noticing the incorrect direction of color flow in the pixelated blocks, jack went to work. 

(See that ironing surface in the background? It is truly a poor man's ironing surface that is soon to go the way of the dodo.)

Yep. I completely tore apart a few of those sashing blocks down to their base strips. Then I had the epiphany to turn those little blocks on their sides. Genius! I still had some to assemble, thinking this would be the perfect plan for assembling the columns of sashing and still look correct. Oh, how wrong that thinking was, so once again I had a date with jack. Turning them on their sides avoided the issue of stretch in the fabric (a bias issue) for the rows, however, left the direction of the colors still going the wrong way in the columns. There was twisting and turning of the sashing blocks, breaking out jack to tear those blocks apart as needed, and then putting it all back together again to make it play nicely - fabric bias, color direction, and all. Then it was on to putting it all together - finally!

  

Yay! The top was finished for the end of the year. Quilting this fun creation will happen over the next month as I take my time giving each color block the attention it deserves. I'm going to try my hand at some free motion quilting on my machine with this quilt as it and other personal projects become the focus for the new year. 

Please head over to see how other host bloggers finished their quilt tops or quilts:

Jen Shaffer of Patterns by Jen

Joanne Hubbard of Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Roseanne Nelson of Home Sewn By Us

Sarah Vanderburgh of Sew Joy Creations

Alla Blanca of rainbows. bunnies. cupcakes.

Wendy Tuma of Pieceful Thoughts

Now that you've read all about my adventures with this top and checked out the other bloggers creations, click below where you can join a special year end Quilt Show link-up Jen has created for everyone to share their completed 2020 Monthly Challenge tops and quilts.

As always, keep quilting.

Fawn

PS - While you're over at Jen's blog, check out the January block for the 2021 Monthly Color Challenge PLUS her latest pattern release - Winter Trees. I will be joining that quilty fun just as soon as possible, as well as sharing a few projects of my own. Stay tuned!