A Scrappy Finish

A while back I finished this gorgeous quilt kit from Michael Miller fabrics and of course ended up with a pile of scraps.




I love scraps!  And usually after I finish a project, the scraps immediately get broken up and distributed by size, color etc.  But these scraps just seemed to want to stay together.  so, they have sat for more than a year just hanging out.  One of my quilty goals for this year is to get some of these WIP and stacks of saved fabric taken care of! So, on my list for January was to do something with the leftovers from this quilt.

Here is the scrappy stack:

 This stack included large 1 yard pieces all the way down to strips of 2 1/2 inches.  I needed a pattern that could use up some smaller pieces as well as some bigger cuts for the bigger designs.  I decided on the Scrappy Summer Quilt by Cluck Cluck Sew.  It was perfect for a scrappy quilt!!

I ran out of the white with black dots fabric that I was using for the "white" blocks, so I bought about 2/3 yards of a similar dot.  I think the different sized dots just add to the scrappy feel.

I also mixed in a few other scraps to give it more variety and to save the larger pieces for a backing...

Ta Da!!  A pieced backing using only leftovers.  Yay!  A practically free quilt.  :)

I really enjoyed the tutorial for this quilt and will absolutely be using it again.  It was a quick and easy way to use up those scraps.

Even though I am sure this quilt top and backing will be hanging in my closet unquilted for some time, I feel better knowing that those scraps are all sewn together.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

Even More Rainbow Fun

So, I really thought that this year I would only be working on two quilts for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Silly me. LOL!

When I saw the Slow Sewing Quilt Along with Pen and Paper Pattern's new Garden Snail Pattern, I knew that I had to make them.  So, it looks like I will be playing with some snails this year.  First up are some cute little purple snails.

Marching this way...

marching that way.

And if the snails weren't enough, I decided to pull out my copy of the Forest Friends pattern.  The RSC will be a great way to work my way through these cuties. 

Here are my purple friends.

Here is to another fun year of working through those scraps and turning into something beautiful!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

Hive Crashing

Since I had pulled a bunch of fabric inspiration for my Stash Bee blocks already, and the fabric was just staring at me, I decided to go ahead and whip up a few more blocks.  LOVE them!!

I'm loving this color palette!!

And then I decided to crash a few of the other hives.

Diana chose a purple and grey disappearing 4 patch which was super quick and easy.  And Cyndi picked a simple heart block in red.  Both came together very quickly.

And then I saw Stephanie's pick.  It is a fantastic scrap block!!  And since I am always looking for a great scrap quilt, I knew that I had to give it a try!  I just love it, and have decided to use this as a leaders and enders quilt for the year. 

My basket of 2 1/2 inch scrappy strips is always growing and this will be a great way to try and tame it!!  Just look at this overflowing basket...

I plan to just keep a stack of 2 1/2 inch squares next to the machine and sew them into pairs between other projects.  In no time at all this basket should make a pretty little quilt.  :)

Thanks for the inspiration Stephanie!

Tracy

Embrace the Ugly!

The ugly Christmas sweater that is.

Have you seen Lorna's newest quilt along?  If not, jump on over to her blog and check it out here.

 

She is hosting a quilt along celebrating the ugly Christmas sweater.  I just love it because my boys have totally embraced the ugly Christmas sweater trend.  they have multiple sweaters and wear them all December long.  Som they are going to get such a kick out of this quilt.

Since, I love scraps and keep every. tiny. piece, I have lots and lots of random Christmas scraps.  I have 3 bags full actually.

There are all sorts of styles and colors in there, which will help make every sweater unique.  This will be a true scrap quilt!

Sweater Block #1 

Instead of doing the 9 patch, I decided to use one of the larger prints. Since it wasn't quite big enough, I added borders to it to blend in with the sweater, and I like it even better that way! 

Sweater Block #2

Sweater Block #3

I would have really loved some more of those blue accents on the bottom of the sweater, but I just didn't have enough.  I tried a few other fabrics, but nothing seemed right, so I just extended the red fabric down and left it plain.

I can't wait for the rest of the blocks to be released.  This will be such a fun quilt and a great way to use up these random little bits.

Thank you Lorna!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

January in Review

It has been a good quilty month!!

I finished a UFO and got it on a bed.  I pieced this string quilt at the end of 2014/beginning of 2015.  My aunt quilted it on her long arm last spring and sadly it has sat just needing the binding since then.  But now the binding is on and it is covering son #2.  All o f those seams and that extra layer of foundation muslin makes it a very heavy and warm quilt, perfect for winter.

Here are 3 more quilts with the bindings sewn on, just ready to be hand sewn down.  One has been quilted since last year, one I quilted myself on my machine and one I just got back from The Dancing Bobbin, our LQS.  Hopefully these will be done by the end of February.

I got 3 more quilt tops prepped and ready for the quilter.  Backs are sewn together and batting is cut.

My January comfort quilt is finished and turned in.  I used some layer cake scraps and practiced my machine stitching.  I am still very new to machine quilting and my machine throat is pretty small, so I am very happy with how it turned out.

I finished up 2 more quilt tops.

And started 2 of the scrap quilts that I have on my list for this year.

A scrappy bear paw:

And a Polaroid quilt:

I've had a lot of fun this month and feel really good about moving some of these projects along.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

Spools and Spools of Liberty Love

Oh my!  This quilt has been in my mind for about a year now when I saw it in Liberty Love by Alexia Marcelle Abegg.  I have been squirreling away pieces of Liberty fabric and other lawns and florals that I found.  I have also been tucking away little bits of whites and black/grey materials for the spools.  It has all been sitting in a basket just waiting.  Last night the pull was too strong to ignore and I decided to just make one spool to test out the measurement changes that I wanted to make in mine.  One spool lead to one block, which lead to five blocks. And well, I have a feeling that this is going to be one of those quilts that I just can't stop making until it is done.

This quilt appeals to everything I love about quilts.

The variety of prints, the scrappiness and the theme equal quilty perfection.

5 blocks down, 20 to go.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tracy

More Stashbusting!!

I'm on a roll!

I was so excited about the scrappy log cabin quilt I finished a couple of days ago that I decided to keep going.  That quilt didn't seem to make even the smallest dent in my stash, so I decided to try another scrap quilt that has been on my list.

Have you seen Soul Searching by Kathy Doughty?  It is a quilt from her book Making Quilts.  It has been on my mind for a while.

I figured since I already had my 2 1/2 inch scrappy strips out I'd just go ahead and start.  New year motivation!!!

So here it is:

It was such a simple quilt to put together.  I spent way more time playing with the fabrics and picking out my scraps than I did acually piecing it.

 Aren't scrappy quilts just the best?

 

Two quilts in one week all from stash feels great!

I can't believe that I could make two entire quilts and see not even a little dent in my stash.  It makes me wonder just how many potential quilts are living in there.  :)

Thanks for stopping by,
Tracy

Another Accidental Quilt...

Sometimes I "accidentally" start and finish a quilt that was not on my list.  That is just what happened this weekend.  Oops!

It started when I saw this quilt on Pinterest.

I loved it immediately.  I am always looking for ways to use up my 2 1/2 inch scrappy strips, so I printed out the directions for LATER.  You know, when I wasn't already working on like 5 different quilts.  But, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

At first I thought, I'd just pull out my scraps and organize them by color to see what I have.  Then, I'll just try a sample block to see how it works.  Then, let me just sort my white scraps and see if I will have enough.

Before I knew it, I had finished the whole thing.

And I LOVE it!

A happy accident for sure!

Thanks for stopping by,
Tracy

First Finish of 2015

Technically, this should have been my last finish of 2014.  It was meant to be a Christmas gift.  Life got in the way, as it often does.  But what a fun surprise it will be for my aunt!  I still plan on wrapping it up in Christmas paper and sending it her way.  She doesn't know it is coming.  :)

 This quilt actually started about 8 years ago when I made a quilt for my new baby goddaughter.  I wanted to make something light and beachy.  I liked the little baby quilt so much I decided I would make another larger one for myself.  We would match!

 I cut enough squares to make a twin sized quilt and put them in a ziploc bag to get to later. As it turns out, MUCH later.  I finally pulled them back out this fall and decided that it would become a queen sized quilt for my aunt.  I added a few more fabrics to make it big enough and got to work.

 The pattern is simple and went together quickly, but of course it had to be hand quilted which takes time.  Not something I always have a lot of with 3 boys running around.

But it is done, and I love it.  I feels so soft!

Quilt facts:
It finished at 81 x 95 inches.
It is hand quilted 1/4 inch inside each triangle and in lines around the border.
The binding is scrappy perfection.

Thanks for visiting!!