Oh Scrap! : Brown

When I saw that the color brown was chosen for So Scrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge for the month of October, my initial reaction was "I'm not putting brown in my quilt!"  But after thinking about it for a few days, I decided to open my mind a bit and see what happens.  I know it would certainly be nice to use up some of my brown scraps!

Even though I finished up one quilt using this block, I have been sewing more and have just about enough for a second quilt.  I picked out some warm browns and made a few to put in the quilt.  I don't think they are going to look too bad either!

I have been using and loving my AccuQuilt Studio 2 Fabric Cutter - especially the 2 1/2" square die.  I can just pile on scrappy chunks and with a few cranks on the machine, I can have a big stack of perfect squares.  It worked great for this block.

 One thing I did do on this die was to mark some lines where the blades are to help guide me where to lay the fabric.  I used a silver gel pen and it worked beautifully.  I find I don't have as many miscuts now due to poor fabric alignment.

What about you - Have you been sewing with scraps this week?

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Now it is time to link up and share what scrappy projects you have worked on this week.  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

 

Linking Up:

Love Laugh Quilt

Patchwork Times

Cooking Up Quilts
SoScrappy

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Playing with Leftovers...Again

Leftover scraps and orphan blocks are like little treats for me.  I get a lot of satisfaction making something pretty from fabric that would normally find its way to the trash.    In fact, my friends know to ask before presenting me with these treasures because I will usually drop everything and start playing right away.

Here is an in-process shot taken with my phone late at night as I played around with some pieces.  I just start putting the pieces up on my design wall and let the quilt make itself.

Here is the finished quilt a few days later...all quilted and bound!

I am happy to say I found a place for almost all of those pieces.  I even used those odd shaped triangle pieces for a border detail.  All of the other fabric came out of my stash.

A pretty Kaffe Fasset rose print and some berry colored shot cotton worked beautifully for the backing.

It was fun to puzzle out putting all the pieces into a lovely quilt with just the items I had on hand!

 If you feel like this quilt is a bit of a deja-vu, it is very similar to a quilt I finished back in May.  

Same friend, same fabrics.  

Hey...I just realized my friend is doling out my treats!

Linking Up:

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Richard and Tanya Quilts

Crazy Mom Quilts
WIPS be Gone
Sew can she

Scrap-A-Palooza! Sampler Progress

On last Sunday's Oh Scrap!, I shared a photo of a few of the blocks I made for my Scrap-A-Palooza scrap sampler.  I thought I would share some additional photos today along with some thoughts on my process as I choose blocks for this project.

I want my sampler to have the feel of an irish chain quilt.  So each of the blocks I will be choosing need to have the look of an X.  And the scrap colors I decided on are blue, turquoise, lime green and purple.

 So, of course the very first block I chose broke all the rules!

 This little Rosebud block was too tempting however.  I did use a print in the center square rather than a background fabric to give the illusion of an X.  But in doing so, I brought in a bit of pink.

I have already decided to make my quilt 5 x 5 blocks so there will be a center square.  So if I use this block for the center, not being like all the other squares won't matter.

See...where there is a will, there is a way!

 In my mind, I envisioned my center square framed in by very dark blue chains.  So I went about finding simple chain blocks and sewing them up.

I also wanted the colors to fade on each block from a dark black/blue to a medium blue.  For the first block, I chose this simple block with a larger center square.

The next one is made from a bunch of squares except I replaced the outside corners with 4 patches.

For the third block, I went with 4 patches in the corner again but in a 9 patch grid.  The larger center will balance the first block I made.

 For the last blue chain block, I used the same layout as the second block but just changed the placement of the 4 patches.  This simple change really changes the look of the block.

Here they are all laid out on the floor.  In this photo, you can see the color change in the blocks and the nice dark framing around the center block.  

I am now working on the next four blocks.  They will fill out the corners in the photo above.  I will be looking for designs that fill the blocks a bit more and I am thinking I will pull the turquoise color from the center blocks into those spaces.

I hope to have more to share soon!

Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation