Let's Talk about Scraps

I love scraps...well some of them.   I mean, I still don't understand how folks can save the little dog ears cut from triangle squares or the real tiny pieces that are sized an inch or less.  I like scraps that are functional and that are big enough to cut into.  I enjoy making scrappy quilts. Putting one together stretches my imagination.   I am a huge Bonnie Hunter devotee.  I don't always complete her quilts, but I love them all anyway.  I don't really have a scrap stash.  I usually cut from yardage or use the fqs, jelly rolls and charm squares.  So when someone says use your scrap stash, I can't because I don't have one.   And, however much I enjoy scrappy quilts, I am not the dig in the bag and sew together whatever comes out type of scrappy quilter.  I have purchased bags of scraps.  Many of them have nice-sized pieces of fabric in them.  And my generous friends usually gift me with fabric scraps, but most are at least 5 inches or bigger.   So, the little pieces are not for me. They make me crazy!  I catch myself sometimes holding onto them because I feel guilty throwing them away.   But I am not going to do that any more.  On the other hand,  I am a very "controlled-scrappy" quilter.  What does that mean?  Well I like using lots of different fabrics in my quilts.  But I kinda control the color combinations, the placement, and types of fabrics used.  Does that still qualify me as a scrappy quilter?   I hope so...I have used as many as 100 different fabrics in one quilt.  I think that is pretty scrappy.  I like a lot of variation and texture and using multiple fabrics helps me to accomplish that quality and look.  I purchased this of bag scraps at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt show this past February.  Aren't the colors wonderful and the pieces are pretty sizable?

So for the last 3 weeks, I have been piecing a quilt made with four patches.  The four patches are made with African fabrics, batiks and some coordinating fabrics, many of them made with scraps.  It is very scrappy and colourful, but I also made sure the blocks were placed in a recognizable pattern throughout the quilt top. I have 2 more rows to add.  I love how it is coming together and I think I have enough four patch blocks as a result of this block swap, to make another top. This one is not destined to be a flimsy for long.

By the way, I found some scraps in a few bins that are going to a good and loving home.  Linda, they will be on their way soon.  I have photos of a few more "modern" quilt top flimsies to share with you.  I am still trying to work my way through this phenomenon :0). 

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Dare to Dresden Blog Hop

I signed up for this blog hop because I love the Dresden block...It is a first time for me and it was a little bit of a challenge but it was fun.  If you have had the opportunity to stop by the other blogs to see their Dresden entries, they are all absolutely stunning.  Thanks to our cheerleader Christine of Quilt Monster in My Closet for all she has done to make this blog hop a success.  And thanks to Madam Samm at Sew We Quilt for providing us with the opportunity to strut our stuff.  Today, I am debuting my Dresden blocks along with the blogs listed below.  I decided to make a traditional Dresden and I used fabrics from my stash of African fabrics and batiks.  Why lime green...just love it as a background and it really brightens up the black and white.   Grab a cup of tea or whatever is your pleasure and sit back and enjoy!

January 30^th, 2013

Charlotte H @ “that Other Blog”

It Seams to be Sew

Merry Gay in Stitches

Water Penny

Granny Good Stuff

Under the Presser Foot

More Stars in Comanche

Sew Me Something Good

The Day Before This Day

Farm Road

Livin' Blue Quilter

I Piece 2 Mary
Kwilty Pleasures
Espritpatch
Nutz4Redwork

I Love a Challenge...Jennifer's Quilt

Especially when it turns out looking like this!.   If you have been following my blog while I was working on this quilt, you know that I ran up against a few little obstacles...sewed a block upside down...sewed a block together in the wrong direction,,,didn't make enough blocks of one group, stuff like that.  But the top is completed and it will be soon on its way to be quilted.  It is a wedding gift for Jennifer who has been very patient since she got married last October.  Would I make this quilt again...probably, I think.  It really is not that hard to put together except that there is a lot of precutting and sewing and you really, REALLY have to be organized and have your blocks sorted as outlined in the pattern.  All of the blocks are 9 patch blocks in various sizes.  I used 2.5 inch strips (mostly bali pops) and everything came from my stash.  I did purchase the wide backing and it was on sale.  The second time around, I would use smaller strips, maybe 2 inch so that it would not turn out so big, but that is the only change I would make.  Maybe I would not make it so scrappy.  Just 3 or 4 solid colors or prints that read as solid.  Anyway, it was a blast.  Now I can move onto my other long-suffering projects.  We had a sew-in yesterday with my friends and I finished 2 sets of pillow cases that I promised my daughter's college room-mate back in October.  Brynna has also been very patient with me, but that doesn't keep her from asking about the pillow cases every time she speaks with Rayna.  So I can scratch them off as well.  It feels good to complete something and move on!  Thanks for stopping by! and enjoy your week!

HSTM revealed...

Following up on my previous post, I wrote that I would take pictures of a quilt that I started on about 4 years ago.  I saw it in a magazine and absolutely fell in love...knew I had to re-create it, however challenging it might become and sealed the deal on what would become my love affair with everything half-square triangles (hst's).  This quilt has a little bit of everything that I enjoy working with: taupes, batiks,  black, and of course lots of hst's.  It is a variation on the ocean waves quilt pattern and I finally counted the hst's.  There are 120 (480) in each border and approximately 1200 in the quilt top.  It will finish at about 80 x 80. They are all 2.5 inches.  I used the Tada fusible triangle product to make them and it was a breeze somewhat...I can't believe I am admitting to this, but I stopped working on this quilt because I became overwhelmed by so many of the hst's.  And then I miscalculated the border triangles and they did not fit and I had to take them apart. Sheesh... It just made me crazy.  One of my coworkers named it half-square triangle madness (HSTM). Mariah is not a quilter, but she didn't realize how right she was. The name stuck and I folded it, not so neatly, along with unsewn borders, bias edges and all and stuffed it in a tote bag.  From time to time, my friends would ask about it and I would claim ignorance on its whereabouts.  But I knew...it was thrown up in the back of the closet in the tote bag. :0)   Up until this weekend, I didn't even have a picture of it.  So feeling guilty about the number of WIPs, I moved it to the top of my to do list,  I pulled it out of the bag, my girlfriend Wendy (thanks again Wendy) pressed it a little for me and I am back to work on it.  I have one more border to construct and put on and then I will have it quilted and decide on a home for it.  I may keep it for myself, but I haven't reached that decision yet.  So, here it is ... revealed at last.   I will post a pic of the completed top very soon.



Olivia's Quilt

I was able to finally concentrate in this awful heat and get Olivia's quilt completed.  I remembered to put a label on it and to take pictures.  That is a major accomplishment.  It has been carefully wrapped and is on its way to Olivia.  I had fun making this quilt and picking out all of the different fabrics.  I probably used about 50 to 60 different fabrics including the borders and the backing.  I can cross this one off of my never-ending list.  I think I am now going to finish my ocean waves quilt from way back when.  Let's see how far I get in a week and that will determine if I put it aside for something else.  Think Fall!!!

A Shot in the Arm...

That was what I received from spending 4 glorious days and 3 nights at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA this past weekend. My energy for my craft was waning a little because of family and work obligations. Not to mention that the extreme weather conditions just wore me out…but I think I am back.  The quilt festival was wonderful. I saw lots of friends that I do not get to see often, friends that I correspond with online and my girlfriends who are just the best. It amazes me how you can not see someone that lives within a 25 mile radius of you for months and then you travel 150 miles away and there they are. It’s funny. So, I am sending a shout out to Carrie, Wendy, Stacey, Michelle and Robin. Thanks for a wonderful weekend. And Linda, if you are reading this blog entry, it was good to finally meet you.
The quilts at this show are always something to behold. This year did not disappoint. There was a quilt to satisfy everyone’s palette, traditional, contemporary, art, insightful, inspirational, thought-provoking and controversial as well. I am continuously amazed by the level of talent that quilters possess. And every time I think that I have witnessed the best of the best, a fellow quilter achieves a higher level of genius.  The quilt that won Best of Show is below.



And what is a quilt show without vendors…too many to mention. I had been on a no-buy fabric challenge since early last December. However, the challenge ended for me this past weekend. My goal was to buy one of those over-sized ironing boards, but the vendor sold out before I could get to the booth. So….I used my ironing board money plus some for these new additions to my stash. It’s a bit much, but oh well…I’m loving every bit of it.

I am off to complete some works in progress and start on something new.



Another Quilt Top to Check off the WIPs List

I worked on this one until I finished it.  It is a gift...can't say who it will be a gift for as I think they read my blog.  It was a great pattern and all of the batik fabrics are from my stash. I think there are over 50 different fabrics.  There are lots of greens, harvest browns and tans.  Pictures show the top without borders and with borders.  Now to find the perfect backing.  I thought I had it but it was about 2 inches short. 

Now I will spend the rest of my sewing time this week finishing up the nine patch pineapple quilt.

The 800 Four-patch Block Swap

Late last summer, two friends and I agreed to do a swap among ourselves after seeing some blocks made for a postage stamp block swap club.  We are still not sure whose bright idea this was (Wendy:0) - but after much discussion, we agreed that we would make 800 4-patch blocks each.  That's right 800 blocks each.  We would all do something different with our blocks to make the swap more interesting...Carrie's blocks are made with batiks and African fabrics; Wendy's blocks are made with various textured fabrics in the mustard color way and African fabrics; and my blocks are made with many African fabrics and a solid black fabric.  The  one constant would be the African fabrics.  We all have a lot from years of collecting, so while we expected some duplication, there wouldn't be much.  After several false starts, late starts, hair-pulling and much discussion (you get the idea)  we attempted to swap the blocks.  We all went to a retreat in Smithville, VA last weekend to take classes with Bonnie Hunter among others and thought this would be a great time to swap out our blocks.  We agreed to swap 200 blocks each, so I would have 200 of Carrie's; 200 of Wendy's and they would each have 200 of my blocks. We were really busy at the retreat and didn't quite complete the swap.  I had my blocks with me but forgot to separate them...so, they will get their blocks this weekend.  But I did get blocks from my friends.  For a simple block, these are some of the most beautiful blocks that I have ever seen.  Both friends took great care to make sure that the fabrics in each block complemented each other.  Mine were so much easier with just the accent of black.  African fabrics can be hard to work with because of color, value and the scale of the prints,  but can you imagine finding batiks to go with African fabrics for 800 4-patch blocks, let alone finding so many colors of golden mustard to work with so many different African fabrics.  Simply Amazing...!  Now we  have to each find the perfect postage stamp quilt pattern.  I have no idea what I am going to do.  We will get together soon for a sew-in and hopefully I will have visualized a quilt by then.