Scrap-A-Palooza! Quilt #4 Finish (Part Three)

Here it is the last day of April so it is time to share the finished scrap quilt for this month.  This quilt was so quick and easy, I had a hard time restraining myself from making another one!

 

Before I share pictures, I want to remind everyone that links to this quilt and all the scrap quilts from previous months can be found on the Scrap-A-Palooza quilt gallery tab above.  If you have scraps, I am sure you will find lots of inspiration on how to use them!

In Part One, fabrics were chosen and cut. 


I used some squares I had cut for a project I had abandoned.  I was elated to finally get them off my cutting table and into a quilt.

The squares were laid out on a design wall in Part Two.  First stitched into rows then sewn into a finished top.

This top came together very quickly.  I will definitely be making more of these in the future.

It is now all quilted up and ready for use. 

I should have grabbed my picnic basket for this photo!

For the quilting, I just did some straight line quilting in the ribbons.  This really helped direct the eye to the woven effect.  In the backgrounds, I did a crazy fill I call "Bad Hair Day".


The result is a very fun and playful quilt!

And now for a few statistics:

Small Lap Quilt

Size: 52 x 52"

Fabric: Tone on Tone orange and gray fabrics (a few prints also contained white - which was the color used as the background).  Good contrast on fabrics is crucial so get the woven effect.

Total Pieces: 169 4.5"squares (60 gray, 60 orange, 49 white)

  Background Fabric Used: approx 3/4 yard

 

Sandra over at Musings of a Menopausal Melon is busily cutting her squares to start her quilt. These pinks and green are perfect for spring!

 

 

In the next coming weeks, I will be sharing some of my reader quilts.  I have finishes for the Horizontal Bar Quilt (#1) and the Ripple Quilt (#2).  Be sure and let me know if you have sewn along on any of these quilts - I would love to share them!

Curious what Quilt #4 will be?

  

 

Looks like I have to do something with my black and white 2.5" squares.  My storage container is full so it is time to make a quilt.

Why Scrap-A-Palooza?  Because Quilting is more fun than Housework!

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation, Sew Fresh Quilts, Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Pretty Bobbins, Freshly Pieced, TGIFF, Richard and Tanya Quilts, Scrap Basket Sunday, Fort Worth Fabric Studio and Sew Can She.

If you are sewing along, don't forget to link your Scrap-A-Palooza quilt over at FairyFace Designs for Sarah's Put Your Scraps To Work series.

A Wee Bit of Shopping

I don't often go fabric shopping but when a friend of mine texted me saying she was headed to my favorite quilt store and that my house was on the way if I wanted to ride shotgun, I agreed instantly!

I did have a couple items on my list...

I needed a solid fabric for a project I have planned.  I found this yummy cross weave orange that will work perfectly.

And I wanted a fun fabric to re-cover a sewing machine bench to use in my kitchen nook.  I fell in love with this Chiffon print by Free Spirit.  The colors are perfect!

And that was all I really needed!

But somehow all these navy pieces found their way into my shopping bag. 

I can't seem to get away from this color.  I must have something specific working in my subconscious because I keep picking them up every time I shop.

I can't wait to see what they become!

My biggest purchase were these 3 six yard cuts.  One of the great thing I love about this store is that they sell these large cuts at 50% off.  You just can't beat that!

I usually grab a few when I am there. It sure lowers the cost of a quilt when you can save substantial money on the backing.

It is always a great afternoon when you spend it with a friend in a fabric store.  Especially one who says, "Oh yeah - You really need that one!"

 

Linking up with Stitch by Stitch for Anything Goes Monday!

A Sassy Finish

Hurray!  I finished my Sassy Triangle Quilt with time to spare!  The weather cooperated for a bit so I was able to pop out between showers and take some photos.  I really love how the winter grays work so well with the acid yellows and orchid purples.

I was able to use up the rest of this older fabric on the back.  I don't often piece my backs this much but I certainly didn't want to go buy fabric so this was the best option.

For the quilting, I decided to give Amy's Scroll Flower a try.  It must be really similar to something I have a definite muscle memory of as I always headed out in the wrong direction.  Oh well, my flowers have three rows of petals.  What can I say, it was late and my brain was too tired!  

It still looks great however!

This quilt was so pretty laying next to my succulent garden with all of its spring growth and lime green plants.  I am looking forward to another sunny day so I can go out and dig in the dirt!

 

Paula over at The Sassy Quilter hosted this little Quilt Along.  Wasn't that nice of her!  Final link ups of all finished quilts happens April 25th through May 3rd.  I am really looking forward to seeing all the awesome triangle goodness!

Now on to the next project!  I actually have two empty design walls right now.  

We certainly need to remedy that! 

Linking up with Amy's Free Motion Quilting Adventures, The Sassy Quilter, My Quilt Infatuation, Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF, Sew Fresh Quilts,  Richard and Tanya Quilts, Pretty Bobbins, Fort Worth Fabric Studio and Sew Can She.

Tea Anyone?

With a bit of free time this weekend, I was able to spend a few hours paper piecing my April block for the Sew Kitschy Block of the Month with Quiet Play.  As expected, each month the pieces get smaller and the piecing gets a little more difficult.  With each finished block, I feel more confident with my paper piecing abilities.

April's block was this little teapot.  I decided to make my teapot gray as it is a color I want to bring into this wall hanging.  It works so well with the background and the triangular patterned counter top.

As each blocks gets finished, I have been taping them to a wall in my studio so I can enjoy them.  

Only 5 more blocks to go!

Linking up with Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash, Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times and Stitch by Stitch for Anything Goes Monday!

And of course I am linking up with Kristy at Quiet Play.  If you think my teapot is cute, you should see some of the others!

From a Bag of Scraps

A good friend of mine recently asked me if I would like some of her bags of scraps.  While she is wanting to use her scraps, she was feeling a bit overwhelmed with her current scrap situation.  Over the years, she has saved all of her scraps but simply tossed every thing into bags. So now she has MANY bags.  Many, many bags of scrappy goodness.

She recently dropped off one of those bags on her way to the gym.  I immediately started sorting them for storage in my scrap system and I noticed there were an awful lot of turquoise and gray strings.

Before she got home from the gym, I sent her a picture of my design wall with about 15 blocks finished.  By the end of the day, here is what my design wall looked like.

In that bag of scraps was also those fun orphan blocks (Oh my goodness!)  

I have a plan for those too!

Well, now this little quilt is all quilted and the last of the binding is hand sewn on.  I think scrappy string quilts are some of the best!


I sewed up 10" blocks so the quilt finished out at 50" x 60".










I simply quilted it with some easy swirls.  It was fun to see these fabric scraps and remember the many quilts my friend made with them.

I even had the perfect piece for the backing in my stash.  I had picked up this gray and turquoise hexagon fabric from a sale section when I was rounding out an order a few months back.

After I had sorted all the scraps, I realized some of you may be in the same boat and are not sure how to approach those bags of scraps in your sewing room.  If any of you are interested, I hope to get another bag someday and I can write about the process if some of you are interested.  

Just let me know in the comments.

Have a great weekend!

Linking up with TGIFF, Richard and Tanya Quilts, Fabric Frenzy Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts, Sew Can She and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Check out these blogs for your weekend inspiration!

Scrap-A-Palooza! Quilt #4 Part Two

Spring is finally here in Oregon so I am happy this month's Scrap-A-Palooza quilt is quick and easy so I can spend some time outside (okay, for the most part, all of my scrap quilts are quick and easy!). 

If you read last week's post, you saw I was inspired by a previous quilt I had made and was hoping to get the same woven effect using some simple squares.

 

 

I already had a stack of orange and gray squares cut at 4.5" so I am planning on using these for this project.  Because a woven effect is being created with these blocks, it is important to have a really good contrast in the two colors you choose and in the background fabric.

This quilt does need to be laid out on a design wall.  The layout pattern is fairly simple.  One color will run vertically and the other horizontally. 

There are essentially two layout combinations for the rows and the columns.  Once you get the hang of the pattern, it goes up on the design wall pretty quickly.

I think the ribbon effect you achieve is so darn playful. 


Get prepared for those summer days, I think this would be a perfect picnic quilt!








Once I laid out the colored blocks, I filled in all the background spaces with white 4.5" squares.













I then simply sewed together the rows, pressing the seams on the odd numbered rows to the right and the even numbered rows to the left.

Then it was just a matter of matching up those seams and sewing up the rows.  You can certainly pin at the seams or go rogue and just match the seams as you sew. 

Let's just say I did pin the first two rows together!

 And here is the top all finished up!

My quilt is 52" square but you can make yours any size you desire. 

You can read Part One for more information on how to determine the size of your quilt and the amount of squares needed.

I have used simple squares to create other pattern of scrap quilts.  You can make barn raising and diagonal patterns...really, the sky is the limit. 

Here's an overview of the important stuff to do before the next step!

• Determine a desired size quilt
• Layout all your squares on your design wall
• Decide on a background or sashing material
• Sew into rows and join together.
• And most importantly, get creative and have fun!

 

 

And let's not forget to mention some quilting ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

This quilt would be great to practice a simple quilting like these loops.  The pieced rows will help you keep your quilting fairly straight.

And if you haven't found Amy's Free Motion Quilting Adventures, you might want to check it out.  Every Monday she is sharing a FMQ pattern you can try and then link up. The scroll flower she is currently sharing might be fun to try on this quilt too.

(It is a scrap quilt - so get adventurous!)

 

 

So that's all there is to this simple little quilt.  I will be back before the end of the month to share my finished quilt.  Hope I have inspired you to pull some scraps of your own and join in the fun.
And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Now let's attack those scraps!

 

I will be sharing this with the following linky parties. Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River.   Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts, and WIP Wednesday with Freshly Pieced.  Be sure and check out these blogs for even more quilty inspiration.

Triangle Quilt Top Finish

  Sorry to say, this will be a very short post.  It has been a long busy week and I am beyond exhausted.  One of the last items on my list for today is to pin (yuck!) and sew on the last two rows of my Sassy Triangle Quilt.

So I am putting a check mark next to that task and calling it a night.  

This quilt top is now trimmed and ready to be quilted.  

(Except I do still need to piece the backing.  But that will have to wait until later this week.)

The soft grays in some of these fabrics look so pretty with the orchid purples.  I will get this quilted up in the next week or so and take some good outdoor photos to really show off the true colors.

 

Everyone who is quilting along on the Triangle Quilt are linking up with The Sassy Quilter this week.  Hope you get a chance to hop on over and see what others are doing with this same pattern. 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 

 

True Colors Baby Quilt

The quick story of a fun little quilt!

My postal carrier handed me a package from Julie at Jaybird Quilts filled with these wonderful items.










I instantly cut the charms into 2.5" squares and paired them with some solid white squares.

They were quickly chain pieced....turned into 4 patches and placed on the design wall...

...and before I knew it, a little quilt was born!









I pulled a piece of gray Michael Miller Quarter Dots for the backing and sewed in an inset of text print to make it long enough.

Now it needs to find a home so it can live happily ever after!

Linking up with TGIFF, Richard and Tanya Quilts, Fabric Frenzy Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts, Sew Can She and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.