Category Archives: scrap quilt

Little Jewels

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I found a quilt like this somewhere online, and you know I love improvised scrap quilts, so I just had to make it!  (Sadly, I have lost the link, so if you know where this came from originally, please let me know.)

It’s always a great idea to offset the intersecting seams!

My quilter was able to use Minky Dot for the backing and quilt it with no batting. That makes the quilt nice and cuddly without being too heavy.

I have been informed that the grandchildren prefer the quilts backed with polyester fleece for cuddling. The lighter weight of the quilt without batting also makes it ideal for dragging around the house or building forts and tents.

Polyester fleece can be a challenge to quilt because it stretches in at least one direction. The quilter told me that a midarm or long arm quilting machine does not have feed dogs, so stretching was not a problem, though the tension was a problem at times.  I suppose I could do free motion quilting with the feed dogs down on my domestic machine, but walking foot quilting might stretch the back.

Minky backing with no batting allows the quilt to drape nicely

Quilt stats:

Name: Quilted Jewels

Pattern source: anonymous picture on internet

Finished size: 46″ x 62″

Quilted by: Julia Madison

Recent Donation Quilts

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Having said goodbye to these quilts when I donated them recently, I’m showing them one last time just for fun!

Made from scraps

 

Wonky Log Cabin Remix, from scraps

Orphan Blocks
Orphan Blocks
Rescued Dots from a quilt that went wrong

A quilt made years ago, from actual yardage!
Another scrap quilt!

And to my chagrin, there were three others I never even took pictures of!  Anyway, these were fun and I’m now reminded to take pictures of everything!

Serendipity Quilt

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Due to a series of fortunate events, I made this quilt:

Here’s how it happened.  You may recall that C&T sends me quilt books and products to review, and if I really like them I write about them here.  So a while back I received this book:

Photo Courtesy of C&T

Then a couple of weeks later, I entered a contest sponsored by Pineapple Fabrics and my project was a runner up.  They sent a wonderful box of pre-cuts, including a jelly roll.  So the only question was which quilt to make!  The book had many attractive options, including these:

Photo courtesy of C&%

Photo courtesy of C&T

I eventually chose the lattice quilt because it looked so do-able.  And it was!  The instructions even suggested designing your own spacing for the border, and you know how I like doing my own thing, so that was great.

Here’s a picture of the pretty flowers quilted on it by Julia Madison:

If you are thinking of making this quilt, know that it was fast, easy, and fun.  I did flip some of the seams when joining the pieces so the seams would match up well at the intersections.

Quilt Stats

Name:  Serendipity

Pattern source:  Love Jelly Roll Quilts, pictured above

Finished size:  51″ x 61″

Quilted by:  Julia Madison

The Latest Baby Quilt

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Here’s a quilt made from some blocks for a class I taught,  plus a few 5″ squares that were in the stash.

Look at the very fancy design quilted by Julia Madison!

And here’s a picture of the back.

I liked this quilt so well that I sent it to the newest member of our extended family, since we attended his parents’ wedding and even saw his Mother fairly recently.

Quilt stats:

Name: None; recipient is welcome to name it

Size: 40″ x 40″

Pattern: This is a variation of a block I learned from Barbara Lenox years ago

Fabric: Scraps from many years, as you probably can see!

Quilted by: Julia Madison

A 60 Year UFO!

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My granny made quilts entirely by hand.  I watched her piecing, sitting by the window where the light was best.  I played under the quilt frame in the “front room” when a top was finished.  I never knew her to have friends over to help with the quilting; she did it all herself.  She tried to teach me to piece; the main thing I recall is the idea of loading multiple tiny stitches on the needle before drawing the thread through.  I remember a lot of her fabrics and was surprised to find these identical-appearing reproduction fabrics some years ago:

The darkest blue is an Aunt Grace print; I don’t know about the others

Based on the way her life went, I suspect Granny started quilting in the 1930s.  She would have stopped around 1960.  When Mother closed her house in the 1990s, I inherited Granny’s unfinished final quilt, which would mean Mother had it in storage for about 30 years, and I’ve had it about 30 years now.  In a closet.  In 5 different houses in which we’ve lived during that time.  Yikes.

vintage quilt

Some of the pieces I inherited

I’ve caught up with a LOT of UFOs during quarantine, and decided it was finally time to do something with Granny’s project. By my calculation this is about a 60 year UFO.

My guess from the sections already assembled is that Granny was working on Boston Commons.  I have a Boston Commons quilt she made, and didn’t want to mix reproduction fabrics with her fabrics to complete this one.  Therefore, I checked the size of her pieces and started picking them apart.  Then came the fun.

Granny used a seam allowance of LESS THAN a quarter inch, and finger pressed her seams open

Her stitches were so tiny that they are quite difficult to see and pick out, AND she backstitched at the beginning and end of each seam!  I pressed one seam closed, and when I blew the picture up to show the stitches I discovered holes from a different needle in the yellow fabric–the fabric was from a feed sack!  (Grandpa was a farmer.)

Her stitches were so tiny that they are very difficult to pick out! And she backstitched at the beginning and end of each seam!!!

Granny’s squares measure about 2-3/4 inches unfinished, and, as you may be able to see below, she trimmed off a little corner from each piece after she stitched the seam.  I guess she was determined to decrease bulk when she quilted it by hand!

Once I got a few pieces taken apart, I treated them with Terial Magic in the hope of avoiding further fraying.  I cut the squares down to 2-1/2″ to square them up and get rid of ragged edges, and I’m ready to put some of them together.  The plan is to make them into Arkansas Crossroads:

I tried out two yellows for background and decided on the lighter one, which is on order.

The first block of my Arkansas Crossroads

This may take a while to complete, but that will give me time to look for a “longest UFO” contest in which to enter it 😀

Fiddlesticks!

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I finished this quilt last month, but I’ve been doing a lot of quilting due to quarantine, so I’m behind on showing my work.  This is a scrap quilt, of course.  I’ve been seeing lots of quilts with little strips inserted on Pinterest, and finally got around to developing my own.

First, I got out all my solids, including the Grunge, and cut a 12″ square from each for background.  I planned to trim the blocks to 10.5″ after I finished inserting strips, since I have a 10.5″ square ruler 😀  No point making things difficult; let’s plan for easy!

Then I got out all my scraps and cut them into strips ranging from about 1″ to 2.5″ in width.  I made strip sets and cut them crosswise into strips for the quilt.   The inserted strips were cut in widths varying from 1″ to 2″, which of course means they finished 0.5″ to 1.5″ wide in the blocks.  I made more skinny ones than wide ones.

I just slashed the blocks at random angles.  I did slash and insert only one strip at a time. 

After I’d inserted enough strips to suit me, I trimmed each block to 10.5″ square.

Just look at the fun flower design my quilter used!

And yes, I left 3 blocks unpieced to add interest.

Quilt stats:  Fiddlesticks

Finished size: 49″ x 69″

Designed by me, based on multiple inspirations from Pinterest

Technique: Improvisation

Quilted by Julia Madison

Don’t Try This At Home

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Sometimes I feel that there’s an unspoken rule in quilt-blog world against showing our mistakes or talking about patterns or tools that we didn’t like.  In fact, I often write about patterns or books I love, but skip over the others.  Well, here are a couple of things I won’t do again!

First, a pattern that just did not work for me, though you may have better luck.

 

I’ve had this pattern a long time and really like the quilt on the cover.  However, I found it involved matching all those seams.  I first modified the pattern so the strips were of varying widths, eliminating the need for matching.  However, when I started making the last set of triangles, they just didn’t fit!  At that point I made a few more modifications and completed enough blocks for a donation quilt, and DONE!

It’s entirely possible the problem is with me rather than with the pattern.  I still like the look, so I may design my own version later on.  Alternatively, it appears (on Pinterest) that Zen Chic had an almost-identical design called “Fractured”, but I can’t find it on the Zen Chic website now–perhaps it was too identical and they withdrew it?  Don’t know.

Anyway, if I ever make this again I’ll re-design it completely so it works for me.  I do still love the look.

Has anybody made this quilt from either pattern?  How did it go for you?

Second, a pattern that worked out exactly right, possibly because I did it in a class!  It is beautiful, but it is paper piecing (of a different type, but still).  In this case, the pattern is perfect and the instructor was great.  I just did not care for the process so I won’t make the other 11 gems in the series!  If you want to try it, here’s a link to the site for all the gem patterns and classes.

I do like this, but it finished the size of a large block or a wall quilt–what shall I do with it?  All suggestions that don’t involve paper piecing are cheerfully invited!

And what have you messed up lately? 😀

Swirly Leaves: Support Your Local Quilt Shop

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My friend Lynn Kline developed this pattern to make fall leaves easy and modern by using scraps, low volume fabrics, and points arranged so they come out well.  I took her class last fall to make the quilt, mostly because my friends were taking the class, too.

Photo courtesy of Lynn Klein

Everyone who came to the class brought scraps to share, so we had a lot of variety.  I’m always amazed at how many people can bring scraps and still not have any two fabrics the same.

My version of Lynn’s quilt

This quilt was fun.  I always have more scraps than yardage, so it was good for my scrap collection.  I enjoyed making leaves of several different sizes rather than just one block repeatedly.  And of course it was fun to do it with friends!

As you can see I didn’t do it exactly by the pattern.  I changed the background.  Lynn used a variety of low volume fabrics but I used a blue that made me think of October sky.  Oh, and I changed the layout.  Whatever!  It’s still Lynn’s pattern 🙂

Lynn’s pattern  includes a handy chart for cutting leaves of various sizes and leaves that make it easier not to cut off your points.

The pattern is available from Lynn’s shop, here.  She and her staff are working to make goods and services available during the quarantine, so you can order and do a drive-by pickup or have things mailed to you.

Here’s a detail showing the swirly quilting by Julia Madison:

Quilt Stats:

Name: Swirly

Pattern: Scrappy Modern Maple Leaves, by Lynn Klein

Finished size (for my variation):  51″ x 62″

Quilted by: Julia Madison

As always, the links in this post are for your convenience; they are not affiliate links.

My Quarantine Quilt: Support Your Local Quilt Shop

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It all started when this fabric jumped on me at Studio Stitch.  (I promise I was minding my own business when it jumped on the counter to be cut.)  I love this fabric and my new policy is “Life is short, buy the fabric”.

At the same time, the scrap bin was AGAIN overflowing! I’m suspicious of what goes on in the scrap bin when I’m not looking 😉

I decided to make the scraps into strip blocks for a quilt.

When I finished the quilt, I called Studio Stitch right away and ordered more of the background fabric because it is just perfect.  It has more interest than a solid, but doesn’t fight with the overall design.

I also decided to write up the pattern and give it to Studio Stitch to use as a gift with purchase. They are working to provide things you may need from the shop, and even service for your machine, during the quarantine.  You can email them to order anything either for pickup (they’ll walk it out to your car) or to be mailed.: info@StudioStitchOnline.com.

Here’s a detail of the finished quilt.  I hope it is clear enough to show the nifty leaves Julia Madison quilted into it for me.Quarantine is a great time to get rid of a big pile of scraps!  Contact Studio Stitch if you need fabric or a Tucker Trimmer II, which was useful for this quilt.  And please send me a picture of what you make!

And yes, I’m still making masks, as I’m sure you are, but we need fun and we need to support our favorite shops, too 🙂

Plaidish–Color Gets the Credit, Value Does the Work

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I found this quilt on Pinterest and followed the link to the directions because I thought it was such a great example of “color gets the credit, value does the work”.  Also, it used a lot of scraps!  In particular, I had TWO bins full of 5″ charms from a swap group I used to belong to, and I used an entire bin to make this quilt 🙂

You can find the free pattern here: Kitchen Table Quilting

Yes! There were a lot of little intersections to match–good practice!

If you ask Ms. Google or search on Pinterest, you can see many variations made by other quilters.

QUILT DETAILS

Name: Plaidish

Finished size: 63.5” x 63.5”

Designed by Erica at Kitchen Table Quilting

Made by me

Quilted by Julia Madison