A Finish from the Back of the Closet

First, I hope all of you from the states had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I was thankful for all my great friends and that I didn't have to drive anywhere!

I don't think I have ever shared any in-process photos of this triangle quilt I finished this week.  This was a project one of my clients asked me to adopt.  She had all of the triangles cut but didn't find sewing together all those triangles together was very much fun.  It has been stored in the back of the closet for months.  I thought I would get it out and finish it this year.

I think her plan was a bit different for this quilt.  But I didn't like how it was looking so I simply laid these triangles in the above random layout.  The fabrics are neon bright and were fun to work on.  

I took my quilting inspiration from the black fabric - I simply quilted in a traveling loop horizontally across the quilt.

She gave me all of the fabric she had purchased for this quilt - so I used all the leftover pieces on the backing and the binding.  

Next time I see her, I will offer it back to her all finished up.  This is a nice napping sized quilt and she has a houseful of teenagers!

A big Thanks to all of you who follow along on my quilting journey.  

I really am very grateful!

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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)

Alycia Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

...and if you are going to be making any purchases from any of my affiliates, I would appreciate using the below links.  There are some great deals to be found!

Connecting Threads is a great place to pick up fabric for backings, thread, batting, books and notions.

The Fat Quarter Shop is having a sitewide sale!

Lots of great deals at Accuquilt - whether you buy a new system or purchase more dies for your machine.

***This post contains affiliate links.  I appreciate the support!

Triangle Quilt Finish

A couple months ago, I decided to start going through all of the project boxes and bags I had stuffed away on shelves and in cupboards.  I either needed to work on the project, make the decision to pass it on or break down and put the fabric in my stash.  One of the boxes I came across was filled with blue and brown yardage that had been passed on to me.

Thanks to my AccuQuilt Triangle Die, I quickly cut up enough pieces to put together a quilt.  I love that the dies have the notches for alignment right in the dies.  It makes assembly so fast and precise.

I was able to get it quilted up and the binding sewn this week.  It is not in colors I like but it is a pretty quilt so I hope I can sell it.  The fabric was pretty much free to me so I should be able to make someone a nice deal. (Email me if you are interested!)

I quilted the quilt with a pantograph called Ebb and Flow in a light blue thread.  I really like the soft curves with the triangle shape of the piecing.

I cut the rest of the yardage up into strips and made a string quilt.  I hope to get the top quilted up soon so I can share this finish too.  

Now I have to deal with the next project box I unearth.  I know there are a number of WIPs that I have completely forgotten about.  So stay tuned....who knows what it will be!

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Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

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

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or not Friday)

Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish it up Friday)

***This post contains affiliate links.  I appreciate the support!

Oh Scrap! : String Cleaning

On the night before Christmas....

I hope to be doing a little more string cleaning!

When I do find time around the holiday bustle to sew, I have been working on piecing the rows on this triangle quilt.  Four rows are completed with six more to go.

And because I can't seem to work on just one project at a time, I am also sewing the leftover fabrics into a stack of these blocks.  A little bit of "String Cleaning" you could say!

I hope all of you are celebrating the holidays with lots of family and friends and making cherished memories.  May there be Peace and Love for all!

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Now it is time for you to share your scrap projects.  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!

<a href="http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54Z8EyMCoCg0j1sBoz_APBotiRQveh32vQoL2dCSO4nQFAi8du60IuUCQp3Hb18vGD8IrM0W6_vmuufImGcr4Pf2Ve2dNIWd5LbQJfyDTRjtcekT6coT7c2nSCOG_9dvjiKGVAnuTN70/s1600/Oh+Scrap+Button.jpg" alt="Quilting is more fun than Housework" width="125" height="125" /></a>

So if you love scrappy projects, feel free to grab my button for your sidebar or posts and get ready to share all your wonderful projects from scraps.  And if you have a great idea for using scraps and would like to be featured, feel free to contact me!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts (Design Wall Monday)
Cooking Up Quilts (Main Crush Mondays)
Em's ScrapBag (Moving it Forward) 

Tip for Balancing Color

I have finally finished cutting all of my triangles for one of my "stash busting" quilts.  As I was getting ready to lay it out on my design wall, I thought I would take a few photos to share one of the tricks I use to help balance out color/fabrics in my quilt layouts.

These 8" triangles were cut using my AccuQuilt die cutter from a bunch of stash gifted to me.  They were leftovers and no longer wanted.  The fabrics all coordinate nicely so I have always kept them together.  Once I cut up all the larger chunks of fabric, I was left with a pile of triangles that needed balancing throughout the quilt.

First, I sorted each fabric into its own pile.  Some of the fabrics I only have a few pieces, while others the stack is quite large.  The next step is to determine how I want to "section" my quilt layout.  This really depends on the block or the quilt design.  A triangle quilt is done in rows so I decided I would break it up into 3 sections.  I planned a 10 row quilt so each section would be just over 3 rows.

So I grabbed each stack of alike fabric, and like dealing cards, I created three identical piles of triangles.  For fabrics where there were fewer triangles, maybe each stack were only "dealt" a piece or two.  While the large stacks left each pile with a number of the same fabrics.  Any triangle that could not be evenly dealt, I placed aside.  You can see them below my three stacks.  At the end of the sorting, I will sort these onto the stacks by similar color, this will help to keep your layout looking even. 

Now all I have to do is take one of the stacks of triangles and layout my first three rows.  I then can grab the second stack to lay out the next section.  The final stack will finish out the layout.  Using this method will help ensure that your colors and your fabrics are balanced throughout the layout and you don't end up with a fabric or color only in one section of your quilt.

I think using this little trick lessens the time you spend moving blocks around and has you sewing rows quickly!  Hope you give it a try!!

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Linking Up:

Freemotion by the River (Linky Tuesday)

Sew Fresh Quilts (Bee Social)

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

The countdown to Christmas is going on at the Fat Quarter Shop right now.  Every day, there are great deals on various items.  You have been working hard and deserve to buy yourself a little gift!

*This post contains affiliate links.  I appreciate the support!

Nested Dies

After my last post on cutting triangles, I had a number of comments as to how the nested dies work on my AccuQuilt fabric cutter.  I thought I would try and explain that a bit better today.

Nested dies come with two "nested" sets.  There is a set with cutting blades (top left) and one with "blanks" (bottom right).  They are called nested because in each triangle die, there are 4 to 5 pieces nested together.

So once you know what size you want to cut, you pull out that triangle from the blade set and drop it into the blank die.  

So when it all together, this is what it looks like with the 8" triangle die chosen.  You can faintly see the blade tucked down in the foam.

The blank dies help to keep the fabric flat against the die so you get accurate cuts.  I love that all the registration notches and clipped corners are precisely cut into each piece.

But the really great thing about having various sizes in one die, is I can take smaller scraps of fabric and cut them with the 4" triangle die (by swapping out the dies) and then piece them together to make the same size triangle I am using in my quilt.  These nested dies are also cheaper than buying individual triangle dies.  

Having all these options allow me to use the appropriate cut size for the scraps I have - which means I get a great yield from my scraps!

Hope that clears up any questions you have.  I look forward to getting this up onto a design wall soon and get to sewing.  I think I have everything cut and just need time to sew!

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Linking Up:

Freemotion by the River (Linky Tuesday)

Sew Fresh Quilts (Bee Social)

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)

The countdown to Christmas is going on at the Fat Quarter Shop right now.  Every day, there are great deals on various items.  You have been working hard and deserve to buy yourself a little gift!

*This post contains affiliate links.  I appreciate the support!

Oh Scrap! : Empty Bin

As I continue to go through and organize my sewing room, I have been coming across a number of project boxes filled with WIPs/fabric.  With each new discovery, I am making a decision to adopt out the project (next March), or finish the project.

One box I came across last week was filled with blue and brown fabrics that had been gifted to me.  I decided to get out my AccuQuilt fabric cutter and use up these fabrics.

I started with my nested Triangle die.  This one is the even set so I can cut from 2" to 8" triangles.  I had some big chunks of fabric so I went as large as I could!

 Soon I had quite a stack of perfectly cut 8" triangles.  I still have a few more to cut to have enough for a large lap quilt.

The bin also contains a bunch of scraps.  After cutting all the triangles, I will throw the leftovers in with these scraps and turn them into a string quilt.  If there is anything left, I will toss them into my color bins.  

I could have just tossed the fabric in my stash but brown and blue are not really to my taste.  I know they would have sat there for years.  This way, I can get them together into a couple nice quilts and if they don't sell, they will be great donation quilts.

And I have an empty project box!

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Please share your scrap projects.  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!

<a href="http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54Z8EyMCoCg0j1sBoz_APBotiRQveh32vQoL2dCSO4nQFAi8du60IuUCQp3Hb18vGD8IrM0W6_vmuufImGcr4Pf2Ve2dNIWd5LbQJfyDTRjtcekT6coT7c2nSCOG_9dvjiKGVAnuTN70/s1600/Oh+Scrap+Button.jpg" alt="Quilting is more fun than Housework" width="125" height="125" /></a>

So if you love scrappy projects, feel free to grab my button for your sidebar or posts and get ready to share all your wonderful projects from scraps.  And if you have a great idea for using scraps and would like to be featured, feel free to contact me!

An InLinkz Link-up

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


Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt (Monday Making)
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts (Design Wall Monday)
Cooking Up Quilts (Main Crush Mondays)
Em's ScrapBag (Moving it Forward)

*This post contains affiliate links.  Thanks for the support!