My Improv Garden

It has been too hot for me to be working in my outside gardens, so I have been keeping myself entertained by working on my "inside garden".

I finally finished my improv garden quilt and I can't wait to share it!

This quilt started out with the color green...I love it in my gardens but I struggle to use it in my quilting.  So one day as I was pondering why all those different shades work in my garden but not in fabric, I decided I needed to just make an indoor garden and play with the color green.

I decided to make some lovely improv flowers.  First I was inspired by the poppy - red with teal green foliage.

Sunflowers, peonies and nasturtiums soon followed.

So here it is...an aerial (or drone) view of my garden!

This quilt was a great exercise for me to play with my green scraps.  Thinking of each fabric as a leaf fighting for space with its neighbor helped me put all these colors shades together in a single quilt.

When I went to quilt it, I decided just to quilt each bloom with a dense spiral in the thread color of the flower.  I used a pine green thread and quilted leaves into all the green background spaces.

There is texture galore in this quilt!

On the back I used a green and black leaf patterned fabric I have had for years.  You can see the big yellow quilted flower.

So the back view of the quilt is a garden too!

 I used to teach this improv flower technique years ago and I think I will use this quilt to promote the class again.  I really like how this quilt turned out and I would love to help others make their own indoor scrappy garden!

Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

From Bolt to Beauty (Brag about your Beauties)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

Orphan Blocks

I was doing a bit of clean up in my sewing room - and when I went to stuff a few more orphan blocks into my little storage suitcase, I found there was NO MORE ROOM!

So that means it is time for me to design a few quilt tops so I can make some space!

Stay tuned to see what I find!!

Looking at my orphan blocks and spare parts, reminded me that September is the month I usually host a Quilty Orphan Adoption Event.  And it is coming up fast!  I am planning on the link up going live first thing on Thursday 12th and continuing through midnight on Saturday the 14th.

This event has been happening twice a year for over three years.  We will see how much participation we have this fall.
I am thinking many of you have cleaned up those older unwanted UFOs....

But maybe not....


If you want to read a little more about this event, you can go here and here.
I already have an item all picked out to hand off to someone else!

Time to see if you have any unwanted UFO or item you are ready to send off to someone else!

Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

Oh Scrap! : More Blue Blocks

I still have a few more blue Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks to share this month.

I made four more garlic knot blocks using blue, black/white, and taupe.  I have to admit that these are my current favorite block on my design walls.

Here are the two colors together that I have completed so far.

Oh, but look what can happen with a few rotations!

This is simply just a happy accident - it wasn't intentional.  But I have learned when designing a block, when you create a "pattern" of fabric/color within a block, it can open up lots of pattern options in the quilt layout.

And while I had the blue bin out, I decided to make a few Geese Migration blocks in preparation for some upcoming classes.  I will be at a Scrap Retreat in Eugene Oregon and teaching at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters Oregon.  Last I checked, there were still a few openings in all of them.

  You can read more information here.

*********************************************

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

Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)

Cooking Up Quilts (Main Crush Mondays)

Em's ScrapBag (Moving it Forward)

So Scrappy for RSC19  

Another Special Gift

After finishing my nephew's quilt for graduating from high school, I moved on to a gift for my niece - who just graduated from college.  

Now that she has her own place and a great job, she recently got a new dog.

Meet Norman!  He is cuteness overload!  

When I saw the "Chi Chi Chihuahua" paper pieced pattern from UnicornHarts, I knew I needed to make it into a pillow for my niece.

It was challenging to make a completely white dog but there are subtle differences in the fabrics I used.  In person, you can better see the face.  There are so many tiny pieces in each section but it was fun to paper piece again.

I made it 18" to fit the pillow form I already had. 

 I think it is cute - but not as cute as Norman!

Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

From Bolt to Beauty (Brag about your Beauties)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

Up on the Design Wall

I am trying really hard not to start any new quilt designs this month so I thought I would bring in some of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks and put them up on the design wall in my sewing room.

Yes, it is time to finish up this garden quilt!

I am sure some blocks will get moved around a bit.  I still need some purple blocks and I have plans for a few brown and gray items.

I actually love the process of putting all these odd sized blocks all together.  My plan is to just use low volume scraps for the background.  I am trying to decide if I want to fill some of those negative spaces with colorful scrap bits.  I guess I will know the answer once I start sewing.

This should keep me out of trouble for a few afternoons :)

Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

Linking Up:

Sew Fresh Quilts (Bee Social)

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

Oh Scrap! : A New Color

I was so hoping that the new RSC color for August was going to be purple.  But the color for this month is another shade of blue.  Many of my projects have more than enough blue blocks but thankfully I recently started some new RSC quilts so I do have a few blocks to make this month.

I made ten of my Bright Hopes blocks.  These are very quick to make because they are made with 2.5" strips - which I usually have in my scrap bins so all I need to do is cut the pieces to length.

I added them to the ten pink blocks I finished last month.

This quilt is going to be a lot more chaotic than my usual scrap quilt.  I haven't decided on a layout yet but I am hoping once I have all 80 blocks completed, I will find a way to tame it down a bit.

...or it may just stay a ton of scrappy goodness!

*********************************************

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

Follow Me on Bloglovin'          Follow me thru Email          Follow me on Feedly

Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)

Cooking Up Quilts (Main Crush Mondays)

Em's ScrapBag (Moving it Forward)

So Scrappy for RSC19