Rainbow Scrap Challenge Update and a Free Quilt Pattern

This was not the plan, but I have a Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt finish with the first three months’ colours!

I’m actually quite pleased with it. January was dark blue, and I did a couple of medium and medium/dark blue 9-patch blocks. February was dark green, and I added in some muddy ones. March was red, which was when I realized my original thinking of a rainbow of 9-patches that finish at 7.5” wasn’t going to work the way I had envisioned; it would be a humongous quilt.

Lyra Quilt Along - Spiky Star Points

This week we are making the last units for the blocks, the spiky star points.

These can be easily and efficiently made using your Tri Recs or Wonder Triangle rulers. There are eight star points per block for a total of 32, as well as the eight that make up the centre star, so 40 all in all.

Gratitude and Glimmers #106

"Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall. It's the little things that make happy moments, not the grand events. Joy comes in sips, not gulps."

                                                                            - Sharon Draper

Welcome to my post of glimmers (of joy and wonder) and gratitude for the month of March. You can find links to more posts like this one at LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color.

1. This is the absolute BEST. I couldn't' stop grinning the entire two videos. Watch both, one comes on after the other) and I am still grinning as I type this! Click to watch Huxley the rescued raven imitate his rescuer's sneeze and say his name.

Another Lyra Quilt Top

I worked hard to include this third version of Lyra in my newest pattern, and then I had a DrEAMi—Drop Everything And Make It—moment and pulled fabrics and looked at the logo colours and adjusted and cut and sewed…

The result!

It’s one of those “eee!” feelings to see it come to life.

Lyra Pattern Release!

And it’s on sale, 25% off!

I’ll admit I was a little disappointed that I did not get the pattern totally together for yesterday’s post in my annual QAL. However, in retrospect, I think this is better, so that it gets its own post, and it includes a third quilt!

My original thought for the cover shot was to get this quilt under a magnolia tree, which are at their peak right now. However, when we were tootling around the little town of Essex this past week, which is just 15 km from my little town of Kingsville, we spied the old train station. It is a beautiful old building and made for a great backdrop, we thought.

Lyra Quilt Along - Square in a Square Units

First of all, thank you to those who linked up—some gorgeous fabric pulls. I have heard that the kite shapes went together very well (yay) and so well, in fact, from one quilter, that she went ahead and finished the quilt top, figuring out the other steps on her own. I think she’s competing with Rose for the speediest sewist award, ha.

This week we are taking it easy and making five square-in-a-square units.

Lyra Quilt Along - Piecing the Kite-Shaped Star Points

One of my favourite things about hosting these Quilt Alongs is seeing everyone’s fabrics, so when I saw the fabrics Susan in Australia (Granny Smith Quilting) has pulled, I thought, for the second time, and am now acting upon it, that we need a link-up to show off our fabric choices and/or cutting. If you don’t have Instagram or a blog, just email me (click ‘View my complete profile in the sidebar) a photo, and I will happily post them for you!

I thought we’d tackle the more intimidating shape first. I’m sure you’ve found that cutting the kite shapes is a bit of a pain in that they don’t nicely line up along the fabric length. I did update the cutting post with a photo of that step. This results in some weird leftover triangles which is annoying, I know. It’s worth it though for the cool effects they add to your block.