Overwhelming fabric scraps. I thought this was such a fun topic to discuss. so here I am. Do you love or hate working with fabric scraps? Do you sometimes get overwhelmed with your piles of fabric …
UPDATED JULY 6, 2022 — CLICK HERE TO SEE MY CRUMB PIECING TUTORIAL TO LEARN HOW I SELECT FABRICS AND SEW MY CRUMB BLOCKS. INCLUDES A VIDEO TUTORIAL. A little over a week ago on February 22 I …
Do you love scrap quilts? Do you wish you could create your own? Today I share time tested tips and tricks for scrap quilting success.
Do you have some unused denim fabric that you want to turn into a quilt? Here are some denim quilt patterns you can try.
Most quilters can’t bear to part with scraps of favorite fabrics and tend to keep them in little bins and boxes for future use. Crumb quilting, although not a new idea, is enjoying a resurgence now as we try to use up all those bits of fabric we’ve been saving.…
This Scrappy September, we want you to raid your fabric stash and sew up something beautiful with all that's left of your other projects. We knew that quilters end up with lots of leftover fabrics and that inspired us to get scrappy with our September sewing! This September, we are challenging you to make a new quilt entirely from your scrap stash. Are you up for it?
The week between Christmas and New Year's I pin basted four quilts, preparing them for machine quilting. Today I am sharing the third finish of the four. I made this quilt from rectangles I found in a box of scraps from a quilt I made a number of years ago. There were a lot more rectangles than I remembered, so I started randomly placing them on my design wall and created this top. This was pure mindless sewing, which is needed on occasion! The machine quilting was purely mindless, too. I was listening to a book on Hoopla while I quilted. No measuring, no counting, so stopping and starting. Just quilt and move the fabric. It was fun making this quilt from the box of scraps. The binding is also from my box of binding scraps. I would not usually put all of these fabrics together, but it seems to work here. The backing peaking out from the bottom corner was left over from a larger quilt. This finish will go in the "to be given" pile. Happy Quilting!
I'm all about saving time and money. When I first heard of chain-piecing, I really latched onto it. I discovered that not only did it prevent the little bird's nest knot on the underside of the fabric when starting and that it saved thread, (Have you ever noticed how much thread is thrown away as you sew? You could stuff a doll with it!), but it also kept a whole line of pieces together so I didn't have to get up and down as much as I was sewing. I could get into my groove and go. I then learned that if you used a little scrap of fabric - about 1-1.5" wide and sewed over that at the end of the chain, you had all the benefits of chain piecing indefinitely. Cool. I was converted to the method. Then as I was reading a quilting book (Cut the Scraps! by Joan Ford, pg. 35), she mentioned how she always had 2 projects going at once. The main one and a secondary one that was done over a long period of time. Here's how it works. You are sewing along and come to a place where you need to remove your sewing from the machine. You reach into your little box of pre-cut pieces and sew a couple together, using these as your holder while you remove your sewing project. When you begin sewing again, remove the secondary project and put it off to the side. This first photo is of two scraps I am sewing together to make longer strips. When I have sewn these together, I can remove the black thing behind it that I was sewing. The second photo is of a little plastic container I use to contain my secondary project. In this case, I began accumulating 1" strips - things that others were throwing away and I thought, "Surely something can be made from these!" I think that it's much easier to do this if the secondary project is purely scrappy in design. You don't want to have to keep two projects in mind and remember which one you are working on. One inch strips may not be your cup of tea, but choose some scrap project - especially if it's a "grab bag" style, and you can put those scraps to good use. What I am doing is sewing 1" x 9" strips together, or if the 1" pieces are smaller than that, I am piecing then together to make longer strips which I then cut down to about 9" strips. I sew them together, little by little. When I have 16 strips sewn together, I iron it (I know, I'm waiting until the end), and then trim the square to 8.5" x 8.5." When I get enough of those squares made, I can make them into a quilt. I've been working on this for the last 2 years and have 15 squares out of the 80-120 I need to make a full or queen, so it will be a while before I have it complete, but, I love that I can be wasting nothing - no fabric, no thread. See finished quilt here.
A couple of nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night, and, in that semi slumber state when I was letting my mind wander while trying to go back to sleep, I thought of a solution to a puzzle…
I realize that this is NOT a news flash, but I've been playing with scraps again. Ha! It's messy work, but someone has to do it! I made these banner blocks for the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild. The only requirements were to use brights and white fabrics and they needed to be 6.5" square. I had a lot of fun making them. This one is my favorite! It's a mini version of my bright birch trees quilt. The block is made up of 31 teeny tiny scraps....and one big white scrap. I love it so very much! I like this one, too, although not quite as much. It also uses 31 scraps...that must be the magic number or something. After making these teeny tiny ones, the pinwheel pieces felt absolutely huge! I could have kept going and made scrappy blocks all day long, but I kind of ran out of time. I'm counting these blocks as scrap project #58/101. These name tags are for some of my friends at the MMQG. (Can you tell that it's meeting night?) Also made from scraps. I love making these because they use small scraps of batting, too. There is never a shortage of those floating around the craft room. These are scrap project #59. This is an orphan block-turned-pot holder. Each square finishes at 1"! I used Insulbrite AND batting, so the quilting got a little bit funky....but it will just get used and stained...so, to quote my daughter, "it don't matter!" This is scrap project #60! Woo-hoo! And these are still waiting to be sewn up into something, someday! I wonder what they will become...
The vortex quilt project was a great scrap buster. I got 2 quilts out of that project. But for some reason, after all the mess all over my sewing room, and working several months on those vortex quilts, I still had a huge pile of scraps!! They just seemed to multiply!!! So I decided to try scrap strips instead to see if I could lesson my scrap mountain. I put my scraps into piles strips that were about the same length. I had 6 or 7 piles of different lengths. I pulled two from the first pile (let's say they were 5 inch strips), and sewed them together, then without cutting strings, I sewed 2 together from the next pile (lets say they were 7 inch strips), and on down through all the piles. When I had sewn 2 together from each pile, I started back at the top. I picked one from the 5 inch pile and sewed that to the existing 5 inch strip, without cutting strings. I kept my nice big scissors near by, there was a lot of chopping at the machine. This was a donation quilt. So, I used a sheet for the back, and wrapped it around for the binding. I was careful to start and stop my quilting just 1 time because when you're carrying the backing around to the front, you can't just go running off the edge when you're quilting. Do you have a good way to get rid of scraps? I'd love to hear your ideas.
Scrappy Broken Dishes Quilt – Antique Inspired Hello Dear Friends and Readers, Reflecting on antique Dutch quilts, I will immediately think of stars, hourglass, tumbling blocks and broken dishes in the quilt designs. Of course there are others too, but this is what comes to mind for me. The appeal is timeless and the beauty of … Continue reading Scrappy Broken Dishes Quilt – Antique Inspired →
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📷 Holy cow, I like this one from Pinterest (Russian sewist). Do you save photos of quilts you'd like to try? This one would be great for reducing my scrap bin overflow. 95% of my scraps are 2.5" wide strips. Smaller strips I give to my friend Jerry, the rug guy. This Russian artist's quilt I like the variety of color and pattern, "fits me to a T". (Where did that expression come from, I'd like to know). The Light and dark cornerstones are deliberate--and that is something that peaks my interest. I especially like the skinny sashing, even though its medium to light value is almost LOST. 📷 Above, is one of my quilts. Simple, fun to make. Designing quilts on the fly . . . my design idea here was to join Four (10.5") scrappy strip blocks with a light color sashing and orange corner stone. I couldn't decided in the first place if I wanted orange corner stones or turquoise corner stones . . . . so I framed the quadrant block in a dark blue small paisley print accented with turquoise corner stones. Other Bits: A couple years ago I was waiting, waiting, waiting, for Anita Solomon Grossman to come out with her simple cuts technique for "her Wonky Star" block, but it never materialized online. I experimented on my own to build her wonky star block (trying to think it through like Anita would). That experiment resulted in 8 wonky star blocks sitting in my scrap bin, (4) red stars on a teal background and (4) teal stars on a red background. Having no better use for them, I threw them into this quilt for interest.
I taught a series of classes in Atlanta that used Kaffe Fassett fabrics. As you can imagine, we had leftovers! After about 5 workshops I dev...
Tutorial on how to use scraps of fabrics to make a magic quilt that sews itself as you are making another quilt.
Scrappy String quilt by Emily of Quilty Love. See how Emily sewed together this fun and easy string quilt using her scrap stash.
My self-imposed ban on blog reading and posting is over as Lent ends tonight. I was only posting finishes on my blog, since this is my way of keeping track of what I've done and, more importantly, when. I missed reading about everyone's quilting adventures, but it was good for me to stop for a bit. As with most of us, the mask making continues. In between making masks, I worked on this scrappy quilt using 2 1/2" squares. As those who follow me know, I do not enjoy making scrappy quilts and am not a huge fan of how they look, either. This quilt has been fun to make, though. I kind of used it as a leader/ender with the masks, but then just began sewing the blocks so it could move along. When cleaning my Hidey Hole, I found a bag of 2 1/2" squares I had cut several years ago. I dug into my hug bags of scraps and cut more, adding to the mix. Then the 16 patches were made. There are all kinds of fun things to find in this quilt... butterflies, crabs, fish, whales, flowers, basketballs, golf clubs and bags, snowmen, shells, the sun, etc. My favorite though is the fussy cut Snoopy in the photo above. :) At least two borders will be added; one of the cream and then another round of squares. I may add another round of cream after that, but we shall see. If I add another round of cream, I may use a scrappy binding. Needless to say, there are A LOT of 2 1/2" squares left. Maybe another scrappy quilt is in my future. ***Edit*** I have had several questions about the pattern for this quilt from No Reply Bloggers. I did not have a pattern for this quilt. The design just came to me as I went along making it. Now back to making masks! Happy Quilting! Be safe and be well.
Tutorial on how to use scraps of fabrics to make a magic quilt that sews itself as you are making another quilt.
Get started with this beginner's guide to crumb quilting. Explore the materials, techniques, and tips for completing a beautiful quilt!
Quilts! Sewing! Books! Life!
This winter I'm in a bit of a sewing slump. I've decided instead of buying more fabric--I want to use what I have on hand, but use it differently. I don't have lots of solids, but I do have lots of fabric. Research: I've been gathering photo ideas to build Modern Scrappy Quilts this year. I'm looking for random--unexpected color combinations and simple construction. Here are some quilt photos from Pinterest that caught my eye. This first one I like. Its simple, simple construction. Take an oversized square, slice it, add some skinny strips, slice it again, and more skinny strips, and then square it up with a 10.5" sq. or 12.5" sq. acrylic template. No rules, just slicing and sewing. No sashing. 📷 The quilt below is so do-able as far as construction. Random. Improv. Beyond the white-black-gray bits for contrast, I see ORANGE dotted with this and that accent colors. Going shopping out of my own stash is fun. Using up lots of sub assemblies already sewn and ready to modify and use in another quilt. I am aware "stash diving" makes a huge mess in the studio. 📷 📷 Calling all Squares . . . calling all squares . . . come in squares. Above is the perfect solution for using up a half yard of this and that. Anything goes . . . but I'm drawn to the use of green, red, and papersack colors in this one. Works for me. 📷 Certainly I've collected lots of silly themes and strange patterns fabrics like this quilt shown above. What is most interesting? Look at the use of red and white fabrics paired with those weird fabrics. Liberally repeating red and white fabrics pull it all together, making sense of all the other weird fabrics that were added. It could just as well be blue and white fabrics paired with the weird fabrics. What I like most about this scrappy quilt is its simple construction, no sashing, alternating four patch. This light airy quilt is so pretty. I think I'll try this quilt concept right away!
Looking back on things, I chose the perfect time to make a scrappy quilt. Sewing together 2 1/2" squares in a somewhat random way is really mindless. I didn't have to concentrate on anything, really. I went back and forth on what to do with the borders of this quilt and after realizing that I didn't have enough of the white fabric to do what I had in mind, I decided to add three more rows of the scrappy squares. I love it!! There are so many fun fabrics in this quilt and some go way back to the beginning of my quilting days. There aren't many batiks or Christmas fabrics in the top. I've saved those fabrics for other things. It's a little bit of an "I Spy" quilt. Do you see golf balls, a sneaker, an orange, a pumpkin and a dreidel in the squares above? I need to get the backing ready and then get this quilted. I may do it myself by quilting a grid across it. This quilt top made a huge dent in my bucket of 2 1/2" squares! *****Edit**** I have had several questions about the pattern for this quilt from No Reply Bloggers. I did not have a pattern for this quilt. The design just came to me as I went along making it. Since we are all at home and not able to go out much, I've been cooking more. One of the things I have wanted to make for a long time is pasta. An order for pasta making attachments was put in and they were delivered last week. Easter Sunday Doodlebug and I made homemade fettuccuni with shrimp scampi. There are things I learned making pasta for the first time. One thing is that we will be doing it again!! Coronavirus Cooking. YUMM!! Happy Quilting! Be safe and be well.
Earlier this year, some of our Tasmanian MQG members got together at one of our sewing days and started putting blocks together for our raffle quilt. One of our very dedicated members (my friend Lauren) then put the rest of the blocks together. We worked together to piece the top - and then it was handed over to me for the quilting (which I finished back in April). We made this quilt using a bundle of Kona solids, and Carolyn Friedlander's fantastic Aerial pattern. The blocks are all paper pieced, so it was the perfect choice for a group quilt in terms of making sure the blocks were all the same size. It went together like a dream! It took me a while to decide how to quilt this one, but I knew I wanted to keep it fairly simple since it's such a dynamic and complex design. I ended up deciding to quilt in the ditch in all the seams in each block, and then chose one colour within each block to do some free motion organic straight lines. I think it works really well - the texture is really lovely without distracting from the complexity of the blocks. I used coordinating Aurifil thread for all the quilting - my healthy thread stash certainly came in handy ;o) How to quilt the borders had me stumped for a while - but I ended up extending out the 'fractured' lines within the blocks, and then filling in the spaces around them with some swirls and a couple of feathery designs. It wasn't until I quilted the last border that I discovered what I should have done across the whole border - rather than extending the line and echoing it at an angle on both sides (as in the photo above), it looks much more effective where I've just echoed one side (as in the lower area in the photo below). I'm still really happy with how this one came out, but it was a really great learning experience and has given me ideas for how to quilt future projects :o) We are currently selling raffle tickets for this quilt, and the winner will be drawn at the Craft and Quilt Fair in July. The money we raise will be going to a support a sewing program at our local Women's Prison. I am thrilled that we are supporting this program - I know so many people (including myself) who have found sewing and quilting to be amazing therapy when going through difficult times in life. If you are interested in purchasing tickets, please contact us at tassiemqg at gmail dot com. xx Jess PS stay tuned for my MisDirection pattern release later this week! I can't wait to show you my amazing testers versions.
I remember seeing a quilt by Kaffe Fassett where the sunlight shines through the fabric to give it a stained glass effect.
Happy Needle and Thread Thursday, friends! This week, my wild thing is on Spring Break, and so he and I decided to take a trip down to Baton Rouge to visit my family for a few days. We left the hubs and the dog at home, so the trip was a little different from the usual, but it was a really fun way to kick off Spring Break. I finished up this quilt before we left, but since we just got back yesterday afternoon, I'm just getting around to sharing! From the very beginning, the bright improv scraps paired with the black and white sketch reminded me of distorted screen images when a TV signal is messed up; and I think the oversized chevron layout just adds to that effect, so I decided to name this quilt Distortion. I really had a tough time deciding on the backing for this one though. Sometimes, when a quilt has so many colors, the choices are just too many. I finally settled on this large floral print, and I love that it picks up the reds and yellows in the quilt. It is a Koko Lee print that I found on the designer aisle at my JoAnn, and it is really soft. I decided on a Kona Chartreuse binding for this quilt, and I think the color is just funky enough to match the feel of all of those improv bits. This quilt was FUN from start to finish, and I can't wait to start teaching this class. In fact, I'm going to be teaching it in June at my favorite quilt shop in Baton Rouge, Red Stick Quilt Shop. With a great variety in scraps, background fabric, and layout, I can't wait to see all of the lovely variations of this one! I also realized that I never shared this little mini with you here. I snapped a quick Instagram photo, but I wanted to be sure that my blog friends get to see it as well. My guild president had the fantastic idea to organize a Thoroughly Modern Mini Swap with all of the MQG chapters in Tennessee (we have four- Memphis Area, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Music City/Nashville). It is such a fun way to connect across our state! I decided to dive into my aqua scraps, and make a structured improv argyle mini for my partner. The finished mini is 18 inches square. I can't wait to mail it to her! We have one last piece of business to attend to before we link up, and that is to choose the winner of the fun fat quarter bundle from Fat Quarter Shop! Comment number 78, delaineelliot, is the lucky winner. Congratulations! I'll be contacting you by email soon so I can get your shipping address! Okay then! Time to check out some of the beauties that were linked up last week. I had the privilege of seeing this oh-so-gorgeous Wavelength quilt in person at our guild sew-in, made by my friend Lori at Crossquilt. This Lone Starburst quilt by QuiltFabrication is such a neat version of a Lone Star quilt! and I would be remiss if I didn't include this stunning Anna Maria Horner Epic Medallion finish by Quilty Habit. Just WOW! Y'all keep me inspired each and every week, and I can't wait to see what you share this week. Let's party! 1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing! 2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others. 3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link. 4. Spread the comment love far and wide! 5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated! *If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop" when selecting your thumbnail photo. For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work! :)
Postage StampBeautifully scrappy! The quilting is perfect... Love the border! Full Post: Postage Stamp
The end of the year is coming fast, so I have been evaluating my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts to determine which I want to finish and which I want to carry into next year. One of the RSC quilts I have been working on is the simple color block quilt made with 2.5" squares. For October, I made a couple brown blocks. I knew I needed some red blocks - so I went ahead and finished up three from squares that I had already cut and were in my stash. A couple of yellow blocks were needed too. At this point, I knew I was pretty close to having enough blocks to finish the quilt. When I moved the blocks from my quilting studio to my sewing room, I knew I needed more green blocks so I went ahead and made a few of them. So here is what I have so far. I still need to sew up two more blocks and adjust the layout a bit. I think I need another dark blue and maybe a pink. Hmmm.....What do you think? ********************************************* It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps. Here are the details for linking up: This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece. You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps. If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week! If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap. This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others. Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do! You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter Linking Up: Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making) Em's ScrapBag (Moving it Forward) So Scrappy for RSC19
Hello and welcome to my stop on the Summer Scrap Elimination Challenge! I love sewing with scraps, so when Sheridan asked who would be interested in participating in this challenge, I signed up immediately. A challenge like this is always great motivation to dig into those scraps. If this is your first time visiting me, I'm glad you're here! I'm a quilt pattern designer (see all of my patterns here) and a Christian. I share devotions here every Monday morning (read my most recent one here) and my quilting adventures all the time 😊 Sign up for The Bulletin to get my newsletter, which is filled with news from here, a delicious recipe and fun things to make. Late last year I finally sorted all my scraps by colour and it has made it so easy to find what I need! I should have done it years ago, but I was hung up on the idea of needing beautiful baskets to store the separate colours in, but I didn't want to buy them, lol. Finally I decided to use shoe boxes instead, since I had a few of those lying around already, and that allowed me to get the job done. If you haven't yet found the perfect sorting/organizing system, I encourage you to just go for it, even if it's not Pinterest worthy. Being able to easily find the scraps we want makes it so much more likely that we will actually sew something with them! For my project for the challenge, I decided to make colour coordinated panels from scraps, just sewing random bits together until I had a useable size. In this case, I chose to make the blocks 8 ½" square. Crumb quilting like this is perfectly mindless and relaxing, though it is a bit time consuming. Sometimes, you just want to sew pieces together without worrying about matching points or precise cutting and this is perfect for those times. Keeping the blocks all one colour, while also using a variety of fabric, was more challenging than I would have thought...it can be so hard to decide if a fabric is teal or blue, lol. Really, there are no wrong answers, though, so it was all good. Just like this, these blocks would make a pretty quilt, but I chose to turn them into snowball blocks, with black corners (also pulled from the scrap box!). Of course, snowballs don't come in all the colours, so I'm calling these my Marbles 😊 I had every intention of having a finished mini quilt to share today, but then life happened, in the form of deadlines that needed to be met, hikes that needed to be hiked and campfires that needed to be enjoyed. So, instead of a mini quilt, I have one finished Marbles block and 6 squares ready for their corners, with another square started. This is an approximation of what they'll look like when I finish more blocks and get them made into a mini. Want to make you own Marbles block? Here's how I made mine. Start with a fun assortment of pretty fabrics, all in one colour. You'll also need thread, either in the same colour as your fabric or a neutral. I chose to use Aurifil 2600, which worked nicely with my variety of teal fabrics. You'll need a good pair of scissors to trim up your pieces and I use my Clover mini iron to press seams open as I go. When paired with my homemade pressing board, I can press the seams without leaving my chair. This is the only time I don't purposely set up the iron across the room, thereby forcing me to move regularly while sewing. If I did that while making these crumb blocks, I'd never finish a block! Lastly, you'll need your rotary cutter, mat and ruler. Without thinking too much, pick out two pieces. If needed, use the scissors to straighten up the sides, then stitch them together. Press the seam open. There will be a lot of seams in this block and pressing the seams open really helps the block to lay flat(ish). Use the scissors to trim them even, giving you a straight edge to add the next piece to. Again, without thinking about it too much, pick out the next piece and stitch it on. Don't be afraid to cut up a larger scrap if you need a shorter piece. Press the seam open again. Trim with the scissors to give yourself the next straight edge and just keep going. I usually like to work on several small chunks at the same time. I add a piece to each chunk, chain piecing them, then press them all at the same time. Before long, you'll be able to join the chunks together into a larger piece. Keep repeating the same process, adding individual pieces or joining chunks together as you see fit. This is the mindless, there-are-no-wrong-answers part of the process 😊 After a while, the pieces would get so big that I didn't feel like I could cut a straight edge with my scissors, so I use my ruler and rotary cutter. In this case, the piece is bigger than the 8 ½" I was aiming for, so I trimmed one side and then set it aside while I worked on the chunks to make the other half of the block. When I had enough sewn that I knew it would be bigger than 8 ½" square, I trimmed the other two chunks and then stitched all three of them together. At this point, it's all crazy and wonky around the edges. Use your ruler and rotary cutter to trim it to 8 ½" square. Depending on how big the trimmed off pieces are, you might want to throw them back into the scrap box for the next time, or just dive right into stitching your next block using those trimmed off bits as your starting point. Because of the way bits are sewn together, then trimmed, it's quite likely you'll end up with seams right at the edge... or pieces that will probably end up disappearing in the seam allowances. No big deal. That's just the way these blocks go. To turn the squares into Marbles block, you'll need four black 3 ½" squares. Draw a line diagonally from corner to corner on the wrong side of all four. Because this is the Summer Scrap Elimination challenge, I'm also making bonus HSTs when I do these stitch-and-flip corners. There's no point in creating more scraps while making a scrap elimination project, right? I learned about using Triangle Buddies from Bonnie Hunter and I love to make bonus HSTs this way, so that's how I draw my second line on each square. Pin the squares in the corners of your crumb block, with the diagonal lines going across the corners as shown. Stitch right on both lines. Trim off the outside corner, leaving a ¼" seam allowance. Press the corners open to reveal your finished Marbles block 😊 But don't forget about those bonus HSTs! Trim their seam allowance to ¼" and press them open. In the interest of using them right away, I stitched my bonus HSTs into a little pinwheel block. Since I've only finished one Marbles block, I've also only made one pinwheel, but I plan to make a bonus mini quilt out of these pinwheels. And that's it! Somehow my scrap boxes don't seem much emptier than they were when I started, but I truly think they multiply when we're not looking. Just means I have what I need to make lots more Marbles blocks and other scrappy projects, right? I hope you'll tag me on social media when you make your own Marbles blocks. I'm @devotedquilter on Instagram and @devotedquilterdesigns on Facebook.
A couple of nights ago, I woke up in the middle of the night, and, in that semi slumber state when I was letting my mind wander while trying to go back to sleep, I thought of a solution to a puzzle…
Dumpster Diving 3.0 is FINISHED! 48" x 62" Quilted with vertical wavy lines using Glide thread in Bark. The back was not what I had planned to use - it's better. I did a favor for Jill S. in Illi
I was thinking today that, sometimes when my spirits are low, all it takes to lift them again is to ask myself one little question: “What is beautiful about this moment?” And, you know what? The universe always has an answer for me. In fact, the universe usually has several. Two of today’s beautiful...Read More »
Welcome to finish it up Friday! When making this quilt, I had visions of a larger lap size quilt or a pillow cover, but then I did a reality check. If I put that much time and effort into something that size, no one would be allowed to use it. Ever! So, a mini it is! I absolutely love how it turned out! The measurements are here, if you'd like to make one of your own. It's a great way to use up some teeny tiny scraps! The quilt measures about 13 1/2" x 16 1/2". Speaking of teeny tiny scraps....I was in Duluth earlier this week and I had a chance to meet up with my friend Sue for lunch and shopping. She made the sweetest little pin cushion for me! Thanks so much, Sue! The scrappy patchwork above the pin cushion is her work as well. There was more than a little squealing going on at the table. I feel the need to dive into my scrap bins again--surprise, surprise! (The blocks were made using Victoria's technique.) Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks for joining me for finish it up Friday!
I finished my last RSC quilt top on the very last day of the year. Nothing like a self-imposed deadline to get you motivated! At the beginning of 2016, I picked 4 different blocks to help me work through my stash of scraps. And by the end of the year that stack of blocks was huge! I spent most of December either preparing for or entertaining company. Once everyone headed home on the 29th, I realized that I only had 2 1/2 days to turn that pile into 4 quilt tops. Motivated by 3 weeks of not sewing and determinations I got to it. I picked the easiest first. I ended up with 38 birch tree blocks. So I could take 2 out and make it a 6x6 layout or make 4 more to make it a 6x7 layout. Since this one was smallish, I decided to make the extra blocks. Luckily these don't take too long and this went together quickly. So fun and colorful! And a great way to use up those random solids and tiny little pieces that I can't bring myself to throw out. Next up was my stack of wonky stars. I had 37 blocks. These blocks are pretty big and a little more time consuming to make since they are made from slabs of tiny scraps, so I quickly decided to leave one out and make it a 6x6 layout. No sashing involved so it was another quick finish. Next up was the medallion log cabins. I had exactly 56 blocks, so 7x8 layout it was. Yay! I had fun playing with the layout. And it went together quickly since again there was no sashing. So much fun to look at all the different fabrics. And finally, my Geese Migration quilt. I saved this one for last, since it might take a little longer to put it together. But once I cut the sashing and triangles it went together very quickly - just 7 diagonal rows. Don't tell the others, but I think this one is my favorite. :) Hopefully they will all be quilted by the end of 2017. I can't wait to see what the new year brings. My mind is already coming up with ideas for RSC 2017. See you next year!! Tracy Visit me on Instagram @tracysbitsnpieces
Once again I’m taking advantage of my renewed interest in sewing and have started getting all these fun spotty borders put on my 63 crumb blocks. There will be nine different color ways of sp…
I was lucky enough to attend the AQS show in Chattanooga last week, so I’m sharing some of my favorites with you. These are not meant to be representative of the show and they certainly do n…
Like most fabric addicts, I have a hard time throwing away scraps of fabric. It’s almost embarrassing the tiny pieces that I find I need to save. I mean really tiny. If it’s much bigger…
Hi friends! Today I have a really special (long) post for you! Today I want to share a quilt that took me two years and about 85 hours to...
I have this big plastic jug that originally held big pretzels. It's the Costco size pretzel jug. At one point I started putting 2 1/2" squares in this jug and at the beginning of the isolation it was full. It was time to do something with these squares. I had no idea where this quilt would go, but I started sewing them into 16 patch blocks. It was fun...put a 16 patch block together and sew. Do another and sew. It was the mindless sewing I needed at the beginning of this isolation time. I had made a bunch of the blocks and decided it was time to move them to the next step. Onto the design wall they went. At first I was going to use just white 2 1/2" strips for sashing, but then this idea came to me to use 9 patch cornerstones and rows of 2 1/2" squares in between white strips. (This way I would use up more 2 1/2" squares!) The top was coming together! I figured the border would be a solid piece of fabric and call it done. However, the 2 1/2" squares said "Not so fast!" I made more nine patches and sewed those together to make the borders. The top was completed. Then it languished. Finally, last week I pulled it out to quilt. Grid quilting was the final decision. Here is the finished quilt. I am not one to design my own quilts, for the most part, but it was fun to see where this one would lead. There are so many fun fabrics in these blocks. For the binding, I pulled out my binding scrap box and used some darker red pieces. My sewing machine was giving me fits while I was quilting it, but I finally got it finished. I may have to start filling that jug again! Isn't this backing fabric awesome?!? I was going to piece a backing from scraps, but that is my least favorite part of quilting. Wide backing it is! This quilt is going to a special couple. Hopefully it will be delivered this week. Happy Quilting!
quilt-as-you-go, QAYG,
