Scrap Attack!

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict has put forth a Scrap Attack challenge for 2018.  Here's how it works.  I have chosen twelve scrap projects for the coming year, written them on slips of paper, and put the  strips in a little gift bag in my sewing room. At the beginning of each month I'll pull a slip from the bag and that will be my scrap goal for the month along with whatever else I'm working on at the time.

Here are my twelve.

1.  Make something using some of these 2.5" batik strips.

2.  Make a string quilt from my strings basket.

3.  Use up all the strings in these large containers, then recycle the containers. 

4.  Make at least one baby quilt from these Tom and Jerry prints.  (I cut out pajamas for my grandsons about 9 or 10 years ago and never made them!)

5.  Make at least one quilt from my overflowing supply of novelty prints.  (Yes, there are stacks behind the stacks!)

6.  Use these leftovers from Savannah and Sahara's baby quilts in a project.  (You can see their quilts HERE.)

7.  Use strips to make a quilt like this one on Carmen Geddes Quilts Facebook page.

8.  Make something with these fat quarters given to me by a friend.

9.  Cut up green scraps into squares.

10.  Cut up blue scraps into squares.

11.  Cut up pink scraps into squares.

12.  Cut up yellow scraps into squares.

All this is in addition to my plan to finish Josh's T-shirt quilt, finish Debbie's batik quilt, make Aaron a rag quilt, and make A.J. a black quilt.

Whew!  I think I should probably ask you to wish me luck. Looks like I'm going to need it!

I'm linking up with Sarah's Scrap Attack 2018.

The Quilts of Christmas Past

I can't believe I haven't blogged in almost three weeks. Well, I guess I can, really.  This has been a crazy-busy December!  I have barely been in my sewing room at all. Since I don't have anything new to share I thought I'd show some of the Christmas quilts I made in the past.  

This one is probably my favorite.  I made it in 2007 from blocks I received in a quilt guild row-robin.  Each person in the group made a row using the Christmas fabric I had provided.  When I got it back I didn't love it.  Naturally, there was only one thing to do - take it apart and put it back together in a different layout.  It took a lot of imagination to come up with this plan, and I had to add the piano key border make it more balanced.  It's about 47" by 57".  I call it "Christmas Hodge-Podge" and it's the perfect snuggle quilt!

In 2004 some friends and I exchanged 5" squares of Christmas fabrics and I used mine to make this 33" by 34" Tumblers quilt.  (There I go again - adding appliquéd holly and stars in the border to make it my own!) 

I love how it looks draped over the chair next to the chair with my snuggle quilt!

I started this one at a retreat in 2001.  I had to spruce up the negative space with some appliquéd and embroidered poinsettias. You know I can't just make a pattern the way someone else says I should!  This quilt is about 44" square.....

..... and makes a great table topper!

When my son was setting up his own home in 2002 I made a tree skirt using a pattern from American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine for him.  

I also made him this little snowman wall-hanging from a McCalls Quilting Magazine pattern.  It was one of the few times I worked with homespuns, and I really like how it turned out. 

The third thing I made for him is this 28"  by 43" wall-hanging called "Cranberry Township" from Quiltmaker Magazine.  Like all the quilts above it's hand-quilted! 

About the time he was turning 5 years old our grandson, Gavin, asked me to make a quilt for his stuffed kitty.  He specifically asked for candy cane fabric.  Lo and behold I had some in my stash!  This little quilt is only 14" square .....

..... and just the right size!

In 2008 when our grandson, Aidan, needed a Christmas stocking, I found the perfect pattern in the 2002 issue of Quilt It For Christmas. I used some lame' fabrics in Christmas colors along with a few cotton prints and appliquéd his name and some gold stars to make it extra special.

I really hope you've enjoyed this Christmas Show and Tell.  I sure had fun putting it together!

A Pillowcase Bonanza

On occasion, my online quilting group likes to make pillowcases for a worthy cause, so when we were looking for a new group to sew for, Lonnie suggested her niece. Not just her niece.  Her niece, Elise, and the other brave soldiers serving with her in Kabul, Afghanistan.  In order to include everyone we needed to make a total of 66.  We got right to work and had them in the mail in no time.  

Part of the fun for me was seeing how many combinations I could put together using just my stash.  The challenging part was finding three coordinating fabrics for each pillowcase.  Here's what I ended up making.

Needless to say they were very happy with our gifts.  We got these photos today.


































Just in case you're curious Elise is in the front row in the first photo, third from the left, holding the light green pillowcase.  

I think I can speak for the rest of our group when I say that gifting the things we make is always fun, but seeing those smiling faces makes it even better!

Linking up with "Sew Some Love" and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

A "Simple Stripes" Finish

I came across a cute pattern from Diary of a Quilter (by Amy Smart) called "Simple Stripes" and decided it would be perfect for my 10th quilt donation to Choose Life of North Alabama, my 14th finish for this year.  The tutorial is free on her site or as a PDF if you want to print and save it for later.  I decided on blues, greens, and yellows (brights, of course!) so into the stash I went.  I cut enough for way more than one quilt, mainly because I got caught up with all the fun fabrics and forgot to keep track of what I was cutting.

The blocks went together fast.  It took me longer to decide which fabrics to put together into blocks than it did to sew them!

After the first few blocks were up on the design wall, though, I wasn't loving it.

Quilty friends recommended that I throw in a few blocks using large prints.  That was a great idea except that this is pretty much the extent of my "large" prints!  Not so many, and not what anyone would call large.

 I used the yellow with curly ribbons, and it worked.

My stash came in handy again.  I had the perfect thing for backing and binding.

Because it was such a pretty day outside I had a good time with the photo shoot in my courtyard.

This was a fun quilt to make - really simple, really quick, and all from stash.  Gotta love it.

I'm linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Sew Some Love.

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