Tag Archives: scrap quilt

Some Scrappy Fun

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When you’ve been quilting as long as I have, you own an endless supply of scraps (and sometimes not much yardage). Therefore, here are a few more recent scrap quilts, all for donation to various places.

This first one was made from blocks I used as leaders and enders. I took a bag of single-color scraps and joined them randomly, sometimes inserting a spark of another color just for fun. The background is a navy fabric with fun gold swirls that I’ve had for some time and needed to use!

Happy Scrappy, 61″ x 69″; this one will go to Flying Horse Farm

This next quilt was made from a free pattern called Wickedly Easy Quilts, available at byannie.com. However, be aware that the format on the site has changed since I got the pattern. It used to be just a free pattern; now it’s part of a free course. Whatever.

As I’ve mentioned before, I cut my scraps into standard widths and store them that way. This quilt was made by pulling blues, greens, and orange accent strips from those storage drawers.

Wickedly Easy quilt, 49″ x 49″; this is a lap quilt for the senior center

Finally, here is another Circle of Nine quilt using improvisational blocks made from a combination of orphan blocks and scraps.

Circle of 9 quilt, 54″ x 54″, a lap quilt for the senior center

Do you have a favorite scrap quilt pattern or method?

Flying Horse Farm Quilts

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Please note if you live in Central North Carolina: One of the guilds I belong to is having a quilt show soon!2024 card.JPEG

One of my other quilt groups makes quilts for Flying Horse Farm, a camp for children with serious illnesses. Here are my contributions for this spring.

This quilt was inspired by Maryline Collioud-Robert’s Carnival Quilt, in which she mixed many striped fabrics with her scraps. I didn’t use her pattern, just her idea of including lots of striped fabric. However, here’s the link to her pattern if you’re interested.

Quilt Stats

Name: Strips with Stripes

Finished size: 60″ x 72″

Designed by: me, with inspiration from Maryline Collioud-Robert

Made by: me

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

 

Here is the second Flying Horse Farm quilt:

This quilt is inspired by the Bento Box pattern I had years ago and made several quilts from. The pattern has been re-issued and I bought it, but I do not like the new instructions at all! Therefore I completely re-designed the construction process and made this my way.

And here’s a peek at the back of the quilt–more scraps used!

Quilt Stats

Name: Bento Box Revised

Finished size: 60″ x 72″

Designed by: me, with inspiration from the original Bento Box pattern

Made by: me

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

These were both fun, easy (as revised by me) quilts. I used the scrappy one at the top as leaders-and-enders and it came together quickly.

 

Finally, here is a scrap quilt called “Blue Sky and Sunshine”–my husband says the name is corny but I like it 😀

Quilt Stats

Name: Blue Sky and Sunshine

Finished size: 61″ x 73″

Designed by: me, using up orphan blocks

Made by: me

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

 

Happy quilting!

Pattern Review: Strip Search

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I found this pattern at Five Little Monkeys and it turned out to be as much fun as it appeared to be! The pattern said that, if you followed the instructions exactly, none of the strips would try to line up, and that was right! This means the only thing to “match” is the corners where the blocks come together, but really, the blocks are big so that was easy. Easy and fun–that’s what we like!

Here’s the first quilt I made from the pattern. I thought at first that the blocks needed sashing. However, that was not an improvement, so I removed the sashing and just added a border. The blocks are about 15″ square, so this was a good size quilt.

The second quilt is for Quilts of Valor and will be just the right size without a border. This is just a picture of part of it so the pattern of the strips shows. It isn’t finished yet.

And finally, here is a quilt I made to be used on one of our twin beds with a pillow sham.

This is an excellent pattern for using 2.5″ strips, either from scraps or a jelly roll. The instructions are clear and work well if they’re followed carefully. I recommend it!  

These folks developed the Stripology ruler so they recommend it, but it isn’t necessary for this pattern. Here’s a source for the pattern if you can’t get it at your LQS.

 

Another Batch for Ronald McDonald House

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When the quilt closet gets too full, it’s time to send some to various organizations that use them as comfort quilts. Ronald McDonald House of Cincinnati has been a favorite over the years, in part because they are so appreciative when the lady from our group brings the quilts to them. Therefore, these 8 are going to them.

This first quilt was made in 2009. It hasn’t been given away yet in part because I love all those floral fabrics and in part because it was pulled a bit out of shape by an inexperienced quilter who will remain nameless. The pattern is called Crumbs, notwithstanding that the name has been used for a very different quilt since that time.

Second is this quilt made last year and entitled Bright Scraps. No pattern; I made it up as I went along.

Bright Scraps, one of many scrap quilts made last year. And no, the scrap pile has NOT diminished!

Splendid Stars, 2021, is one of several quilts I’ve made from star blocks left from other projects.

Splendid Stars, 51″ x 53″, was made from orphan blocks left from numerous projects

And here is another quilt made in 2022 from my sizeable stash of floral fabrics.

This quilt, called Summer Night, was made in 2005 and includes fabrics with stars that glow in the dark!

The quilt below is one of my favorite “rescue” quilts. The circles were cut from blocks that had failed two or three other arrangements. I cut them out and sewed them onto a background I had already quilted.

 

The following quilt was made from a free pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew. Thanks to my friend Gwen, the “Textile Ranger”, who identified the source.

And finally, this quilt is called Candy Cubes. It was made in 2020 from the book New Patchwork and Quilting Basics by Jo Avery.

And if this seems like a lot of quilts to donate, consider that I’ve now made over 500 and they need to go to folks who can use them. As some other quilters have noted, I don’t want to leave a lot of “stuff” for my daughter to have to dispose of–when I die many  years from now!

 

Off to Ronald McDonald House

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If you’ve been wondering what I DO with all the quilts I make, you’re not alone!

Made from the “Tilted Tiles” pattern by Charles Cameron for the MQG

I’ve been holding a number of quilts for some programs I did on scrap quilting, but those are finished now so these quilts are off to Ronald McDonald House. The larger ones are for patients and families at the house; the smaller ones are sent to the NICU to put over incubators.

Made from Tula scraps because I always wanted to make a quilt that looked like the squares overlapped

Modification of the “Turning Twenty Again” pattern made crib size

Modification of a pattern by Sherry Shish

My arrangement of the “disappearing 9 patch” blocks

From a pattern by Sherry Shish

Quilt I designed to use a layer cake. No pattern available.

My arrangement of scrappy HSTs

scrap quilt

Scrap quilt made with strips that finish 1″ wide; no pattern available

Modification of something I saw online; no pattern available

My original design for a crib-size quilt; no pattern available

Modification of a design in “Jump Into Patchwork and Quilting” by Sarah Ashford

My husband said, “Those are some really nice quilts you’re giving away”. Yes, they are; I do not make quick versions of quilts for donation, nor do any of the people with whom I work on donation quilts.

Consider the quilts that have come to light recently after having been sent to the UK during World War II. I think they were valued for their usefulness, but also for their beauty in a difficult time.

Will our donation quilt be worth saving that long? I do want them to be used, but I hope they are beautiful enough to be cared for as well.

Wild Geese: Another Finish

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It may seem like I’m finishing a quilt every 15 minutes, but the truth is that I’ve gotten waaaay behind on binding. Since I don’t count a quilt as finished until I bind it, catching up on binding makes me look very productive 😀

This quilt is from a pattern, Wild Geese by Natalie Barnes. It’s available on Etsy here, though I’m sure there are other sources as well.

I’m not entirely sure how I came across this pattern, but I was so impressed with all the interesting angles and bright colors that I bought the pattern and made it immediately. I enjoyed pulling out all the bright scraps!

The pattern was quick and easy to follow. This was a fun quilt to make and I think it’s fun to look at, too.

And BTW, I’ve just learned from Laura, a fellow blogger, that a project that jumps ahead of other things in the queue is called a squirrel! Am I the last to learn that term? Anyway, it’s a good one because most quilters I know have studios full of squirrels, as do I.

Here’s a picture showing the backing and binding.

OK, that backing fabric. I bought it with the idea of cutting it up for an easy kaleidoscope quilt, where the MJ wouldn’t have been quite so obvious! Oh, well.

Quilt Stats

Name: Wild Geese

Designed by: Natalie Barnes of Beyond the Reef

Finished size: 52″ x 71″

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

 

Did Someone Say Scrap Quilt?

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I modified this from multiple quilts I have seen because I liked the idea of turning squares into those elongated hexagons as well as the idea of pointing everything toward the center.

Not incidentally, it also used some more of my (many, many) 5″ squares.

It’s sometimes important for Elvis to make an appearance 🙂

I wasn’t sure about this binding, but I think it worked out OK. That’s not my usual type of backing, but it was available on short notice!

Quilt Stats

Name: Really? Another Scrap Quilt?

Finished size: 65″ x 65″

Designed and made by: me, with inspiration from multiple other quilts I’ve seen

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

A Scrappy Finish

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When the scrap bins get too full (or more too-full than usual!), I make a scrap quilt. This one was inspired by the wonderful Tim Holtz fabric shown in the center below, so was a green and gold quilt with some purple accents.

Yes, there were plenty of scraps in each of those colors! The back includes a few leftover blocks, since I am trying not to add to the orphan block collection.

And the wonderful quilting pattern is one of the “Aboriginal” designs from Nancy Haacke of Wasatch Quilting. The quilting was done by Linda Nichols, who is patient and helpful when I want to select particular quilting designs.

Quilt Stats

Name: Strips and Squares

Finished size: 60″ x 72″

Pattern: If this was a pattern, I can’t find it now! Perhaps I just got the idea on Pinterest. They’re surely all traditional blocks in any case.

Made by: me

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

 

2023 In Quilts

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I’ve finished 32 quilts so far this year, and 8 additional non-quilt sewing projects. The good news is that I’m not going to show you all of that here. Rather, here are my 10 favorites in no particular order.

Dynamic Dresdens, made in class with Susan Cleveland

Bright Scraps, one of many scrap quilts made this year. And no, the scrap pile has NOT diminished!

It Takes A Village to Can Watermelon, started during the pandemic and finished this year. If only the pandemic were finished, too!

Wild Geese, from a pattern by Beyond the Reef

Arkansas Crossroads, a traditional pattern made from scraps 

Superfans, made from many scraps. Inspired by several quilts I saw on Pinterest, but no pattern

A Girl’s Best Friend–another scrap quilt!

I liked this pattern by Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic so much that I made it twice

“Susan’s Head Explodes”, 12″ x 12″, a tribute to Susan Cleveland, made for the SAQA auction

My first bowl made with The Mountain Thread Company cord

What’s your favorite?

Scraps Galore

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For a couple of years I made scrap blocks whenever I was between projects. The method was to combine any bright scraps of whatever size/shape, then trim the block to 6.5″ unfinished. When I had 88 blocks I decided it was time to quit playing around and make them into a quilt, so here it is.

Quilt Stats

Name: 616 Scraps

Designed and made by: me

Finished size; 48″ x 66″

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

Of course the scrap pile has only grown larger, so I’m off to start another round of scrap blocks.