More Than 50 Days

Back in December, I fully intended to start the year with another 50 Days of Scraps. Things in real life went a little awry since then, but between and through it all, I've managed to continue to sew with scraps when I could; and though we're actually like 84 days into the year - way more than 50 - I'm pretty happy with what I've been able to accomplish.

1. Abstract Piecing Scrap Play - a scrappy slab made during Sherri Lynn Wood's Abstract Piecing Scrap Play workshop. I'm not sure yet if or when this will become something more. But at the time, it was all it needed to be.

2. Two sets of Bee Sewcial blocks....

Circles and Chevrons

Windows Aglow

3. Inside Out Patchwork Hearts - a baby quilt made during Emily Dennis' Patchwork Hearts QAL.

4. Lineplay - my submission to the latest Quilt Improv Studio Primary Challenge.

5. The Heart Block potholder - a quick fun make using Louise/@imfeelincrafty's pattern.

6. Yarrow Wristlet - Made from Anna Graham/Noodlehead's pattern.

7. Hour by Hour - a scrappy hourglass quilt that definitely evolved as it went.

8. Workaday - my response to the latest Curated Quilts mini challenge.

9. AND 15 Scrappy Potholders.

Obviously, some stashed yardage went into the making of a few of these projects; but they all were, indeed, made primarily of scraps. So why is my scrap basket still overflowing? That's a very good question, and I'm off now to see what I can do about that.

The Heart Block

A week ago, my friend Louise/@imfeelincrafty was texting me photos as she created her scrappy little heart blocks, and at some point, just sent me the pattern to try. I jumped right on it, pulling scraps and starting in on paper-piecing. It's such fun working on a little project like this, and when it's scrappy, even better!

I had actually printed the pattern one night and began piecing the next morning, and somehow in that span, I guess I forgot that not only was Louise's heart strip-pieced, but so was the background - duh! Which is why the background for my heart block is pieced with chunks of fabric, rather than strips. Still scraps but not quite the same. Not to say I don't like it!!

Once the block was done, it came to me it would be a fun potholder! So I layered with batt and insul-bright, and rummaged for a variety of threads.

I did some dense organic straight-line quilting (so fun!), cut it into a circle, and bound it in orange so it didn't seem toooo seasonal. Then I sent it right off to Louise to use and enjoy. Perfect, amiright?

Click here for Louise's free pattern, in case you'd like to make your own scrappy heart block. 

Flashback

The countdown on my 50 Days of Scraps is nearing its end, but don't be surprised if I pick it up again after QuiltCon, as I've really enjoyed it. After another dive into the scrap basket, I salvaged a handful of remnants from Vista Toscana, that I made last fall. All pieced from a grouping of Cotton Couture solids from Michael Miller, I decided to keep them together and see what else I could come up with

As sometimes happens, especially with improv, I wasn't happy at all with my first try at piecing a mini quilt. So obviously, I sliced it up and tried again.

And the second time, I was much happier. Plus I was able to find some scrap strips very similar if not actually left over from the previous project. Not really sure, and of course it doesn't matter. But they helped me frame up the arrangement I'd come up with, and I was good with that.

For the backing, I grabbed three lone tree blocks left from Uncommon Forest made a few years ago, also from the scrap basket. They were  Modern Christmas Trees from the tutorial by Amy/Diary of a Quilter. Sadly two of them got trimmed pretty drastically after quilting, but it still felt good to use them.

I used a mix of matchstick-quilting and organic straight-line quilting using a variegated Sulky 30wt thread #4021 [Truly Teal], and then a periodically matched-binding. The piece ended up being pretty little - just 9.5" x 13", but it was fun once I got going, and most importantly, I used up more scraps!

Though I unfortunately did not have a new big quilt to photograph during our recent snowstorm, I at least had a tiny quilt ready for the day of the big melt. I'll take it. 

Little Gems

Well this was very fun! For our Bee Sewcial prompt this month, Stephanie/
@spontaneousthreads chose Little Gems: "small studies of happy improv (45 to be exact::: each 2.5” square:: [which] adds up to just under 12.5” x 24.5”). Background a mix of black/very dark grays and off white/white. Pops of color as the focal point of each block. Color to background percentage no more than 30ish % but can be as little as 5%."

How perfect was this for my own personal 50 Days of Scraps??  My modus operandi was to make several blocks, then trim them to size and see what I could make with the trimmings. I came up with some of my favorite blocks that way.

AND though I counted these little guys over and over as I created, I somehow ended up with a couple of extra blocks, which is fine because one or two might be slightly over Stephanie's requested maximum of 30% color. It was hard to judge!

Anyway, these were great fun, and I was actually kind of sad to be done. But no worries, moving right along to a new scrap project!

Pie Time

Soooo. I'm still sewing from the scrap basket, and not complaining one bit. This latest project began with a pile of Alison Glass Kaleidoscope scraps left from a set of napkins I'd made last fall. And surprise, surprise, I was in the mood for more improv stripes. One thing I love about them is that precision is not a requisite. In fact they're even better when they wobble a bit.

I had in mind to make a new version of a Bee Sewcial bee block I'd once made for Leanne/@shecanquilt. But I wanted to mix things up a bit, so where I sliced the strip segment into eighths for that block (and hint hint, this is where the name of the finish came from), I sliced this one into sixths.... just like I used to do with pies when I worked in a bakery.

And then I rearranged things....

and sewed them back together again. To emphasize the 'pie' theme, I outlined one lone 'slice.' In fact I'd intended to trim the pieced stripe slab into more of a 'circle,' but I couldn't bear to trim those stripes too much. So it's more of an octagon-shaped 'pie,' and I'm ok with that.

So in the midst of framing the piece, grandgirl came for virtual school, and on her lunch break, started playing around on the design wall. I told her I needed a quilt back for the piece I was working on, and she said she'd be happy to design one for me. Yay! I'll tell you a little more about that at the end of the post.

Anyway, thanks to grandgirl, I was soon on my way to quilting!

I started with some straight lines 1/4" apart, creating a blue-edged 'slice' coming from the left side using Aurifil 50wt #2535 [Magenta]. Then I moved to the upper section of the quilt, where I matchstick-quilted 1/8" lines using 50wt Cotton+Steel thread in Turquoise. And lastly, the bottom section was straight-line quilted 1/2" apart in Aurifil 50wt #1125 [Medium Teal]

I finished off with a faced binding for a change. 

And about that quilt back... some got trimmed off after quilting, but here's what shows.

One thing grandgirl was happy about was that with her personally designed backing, this would be an 'interchangeable' (her word), aka two-sided quilt. Love that she thought that. AND she also loved that tiny speck of green that unfortunately got trimmed off after the quilt was quilted, so I just had to sew it into the facing. The little quilt finished at 14 1/2" x 22 1/2." 

So just one more week of my 50 Days of Scraps. I'm working on some bee blocks and then I think I might have time for one more smallish project. Now what could that be?

L

So when I finished with my Personal Flag Bee Sewcial block last week, I got alot of comments on how much folks liked the color palette, and honestly, I did too. And considering I was barely halfway into my 50 Days of Scraps, the obvious thing to do was to take the 'flag' scraps and see what I could do with them.

I had a few pieced segments in each colorway left over, and a small pile of larger fabric pieces... a good start. I pulled just a few more solid scraps - a single piece of red and some orange. I also gathered some black and white scraps I'd set aside a few days ago when I was rummaging through the basket. They felt like a good fit. And then I just started piecing.

I assembled maybe 8 or 9 green blocks, thinking I'd scatter them around and fill in with the warm strips. But though I spent a bit of time arranging them this way and that, nothing really struck me. And then it dawned on me that the block this project had been birthed from consisted of letters ("I" and "H", remember?). And suddenly, this one needed to be "L"s for leftovers. Then everything fell into place.

Luckily one little block was left from the front, and a pieced back came together in about 10 minutes. Love that!

For quilting, I gathered the rich mix of four Aurifil 50wt threads - #2250 [Red], #1103 [Burgundy], #2535 [Magenta], and #4030 [Plum]. (If those threads look familiar together, you may be remembering my Tuscan Pom.)

Matchstick quilting it was. I hadn't done it in a while, so it was a fun change of pace. There's nothing quite like it, and I'm especially fond of it when several different threads are used.

A little one, "L" measures just 14" x 17", finished off with a length of scrap black & white striped binding.

The functionality of this little quilt may be in question, but I love that it evolved and was finished so quickly. Every once in a while, it's great to just get carried away by the fabric, the thread, the process. When that's able to happen, I just drink it in.

#aqt50daysofscraps #quiltingthecountdown

Linking up with Meadow Mist Designs' Favorite Finish Monthly Linkup.

Liberated Wedding Rings

Of course, once The Tumbler Dilemma was settled, I was mulling over what my next scrap project might be. I randomly pulled Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston's Freddy & Gwen Collaborate Again: Freewheeling Twists on Traditional Quilt Designs off the shelf and didn't even thumb to the end before I settled on what I wanted to try - the liberated wedding ring blocks.

Debating on a palette, I pulled a long strip of an Anna Maria Horner print, and there I had it - green, blue, rust, pink. That morphed into including gold and a bit of purple. The palette has been growing the more I dig through the scraps to make more blocks.

Though Gwen and Freddy suggest piecing the oblong shape on paper, I've just been piecing strips together, angling edges here and there as I go. Then I spritz them good with flatter spray before cutting with my paper template. It's working well enough!

Four smaller blocks will be put together to create a larger block that measures 14" finished. The size of the quilt will depend on the scraps I have (and my interest level, ahem), so that remains to be seen. 

Anyway, the project is growing, so for now I'll just keep plugging away at it.

#quiltingthecountdown #aqt50daysofscraps

The Tumbler Dilemma

By the time I'd decided to make my colorful tumbler blocks into a 'back,' I was pretty psyched to figure out what the 'front' would be. 

I'd already thrown the last three tumbler blocks in the trash, but went and retrieved one and decided to see what an improv courthouse steps would be like with the little block as a non-traditional center. Let's just say I was immediately in my groove, grabbing scraps from the pile on the floor to add in as I sewed along. THIS was fun.

I settled on a chunky angled grid for the quilting using Aurifil 50wt #2314 (Beige), a color that would work well enough for both sides of the quilt. (I still felt some loyalty to the side with all the tumblers, since so many folks on Instagram liked them - ha!) I actually quilted from the front, checking now and then that things were looking just as good on the back, and thankfully, they were.

So all ended well enough. The Tumbler Dilemma finished at about 18" square-ish and I'm happy with my decision to use the tumbler blocks, even though figuring out how took some twists and turns. 

So I'm already well into my next scrap project, still pretty motivated in my attempt at 50 Days of Scraps.

Check out #quiltingthecountdown and #aqt50daysofscraps to see more.