Some Scrappy Stuff and a Quilt Retreat

I do love a good quilt retreat.  This summer I was able to go to a retreat for the first time in three years.  (Darn that Covid!)  The Farmstead Inn and Conference Center in Shipshewana, Indiana saw almost 40 quilters who had met and become friends over the years in an online quilting forum, and we were happy to be there.  What a beautiful setting!

This group had a good time and got a whole lot of sewing done.

A few weeks before retreat I came across some projects I had forgotten about.  First was a stack of scrappy 16-patch blocks I thought would make a nice donation quilt if I added dark blue alternate blocks.  I had just the thing.  When my middle grandson was about six years old I made curtains for his room, and when the room was re-decorated I deconstructed them and put the fabric in my stash.  Perfect!  Project number one was kitted and ready to pack.

Here's a little bonus pic.  My grandson, Gavin, jumping for joy in front of his curtains.  I just had to throw that in. 

Next I found a ziplock full of scrappy 4" by 8" bricks I had originally cut for a "Bricks and Stepping Stones" quilt (a free pattern from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville site) and some black & white 4-patches I had made last year as leader/enders.    

I got a lot accomplished at retreat (in addition to visiting with friends, checking out what they were working on, and eating way too much!), and then got both tops finished when I got home  as well as using up some stash by making the backings. 

 

Now the challenge will be getting both of these finished and donated before the end of the year so they don't end up on the UFO list!

Linking up with Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

A Hypnotic Finish

Well, this turned out to be a very quilty weekend!  On Friday I made a pieced backing for a 72" x 72" quilt, on Saturday I basted it and started quilting it, on Sunday I finished quilting it and made the binding, and today I finished stitching that binding down.  I made this quilt in about three weeks!  I am a happy girl.

I like the back as much as the front.  You might even say this quilt is reversible.

I made a little dent in my stash on this one, using more than nine yards of fabric. 

I'm really excited about gifting this because the couple receiving it has a special place in my heart.  I didn't decide until the beginning of this month that I was going to make it.  Getting it done this fast just goes to show you what I can accomplish when I put my mind to it (AND don't do any housework!)  

August Goal - Yet Another Baby Quilt!

It's time to set my August goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.  This is an easy one -- another great-nephew will be making his arrival very soon, and his quilt is still not finished.  I made a good start on it and blogged about it in this post.  Now it has the final borders added, and I'm thinking it looks pretty cute.

Piecing the backing was kind of interesting.  As usual I used up the leftover fabrics from the front, and at first I was satisfied. 

I decided it needed a little more yellow so I set about inserting a strip through the middle of the dark blue Batman fabric.  I removed a 5" strip of the Batman fabric and added a 5" strip of blue and yellow fabric.  BUT, when I went to re-sew the seam there was a big gap. And, the left side of the backing was now longer than the right side.   How does that happen?  That is not possible!

It just does not make any sense!  I measured and measured, and the strip I removed is the exact same size as the strip I added.  I just don't get it!  I took the rest of the (now) oversized section apart and removed a piece of the other Batman fabric then restitched it all. I will never figure this one out.  BUT, if it can happen, it will happen to me!

The important thing is that the whole thing is basted and ready to quilt.

My goal for this month is to hand-quilt and bind this quilt and get it to baby when he arrives.  Wish me luck!

I'm linking up to Fiber of All Sorts for their August Goal Setting Party 

Strings Galore!

Like most quilters, I have a difficult time throwing away small scraps and strings of fabric.  I've been tossing mine into a basket for a long time, and I've actually 

managed to make several string quilts and scrap projects.  Recently though, I've noticed that my basket is overflowing.

So I started digging.  Yikes!

Starting out slowly I pulled some pages from a Yellow Pages book and, using a paper foundation, made just one simple yellow string block.

Too ordinary and not enough fun!  I just started sewing strips together.

I had seen several string quilts recently, so I pulled some gray fabric from my stash, and ended up with this cute quilt top for a baby quilt.  I believe the quilt I used as inspiration was actually made with fabric selvedge edges. 

Then I pulled some more stash and made the backing.

When I was cleaning up the scraps and shoving them back into the basket I found something in the middle of all those strings that brought back precious memories from when my grandsons were little enough to play in my sewing room.  They had a blast with my strings basket, played for hours, and the mess only took 10 minutes to clean up.

I highly recommend it.

Oh -- what did I find?  Aidan's little sock.  Awwwwww!   I must have sent him home without it.  I think I'll keep it.

A Huge Finish!

The quilt I told you about in this post, I am happy to report, has finally been completed.  This has been an interesting journey.  And a long one!  I started this Blooming Nine Patch in 2002, then set it aside for about 8 years.  Last year I got it out of the cabinet, determined to finish it.  Once it was put together and basted, it was set aside again for a while.  I was beginning to think this would be my "take-it-to-the-home-with-me" quilt!  After 7 months of working on it nearly every day it's finally ready for the big reveal........

I appliqued one of each of the blocks onto the back to create a design.  

You can see the blocks a little better in this close-up.

I am holding onto this one for a while before I hand it off to Aaron and Leah.  I'm thinking I may enter it in a few quilt shows first.


This one has to be my all time favorite quilt.  (Until I finish the next one, of course.)

One More UFO Checked Off!

A few weeks ago I finished my oldest UFO and checked it off the list, and I'm pretty happy about that.  Braggy, even.  (Yup, it's a word.  I just looked it up!)  In 2001 I participated in a Block Swap with a group of online friends.  I sent a fat-eighth of background fabric to each person on the list and asked them to make any size block they wanted.  I told them I looked forward to the challenge of putting together a top with different sized blocks using interesting sashings and settings.  Innovative group that they were, I received nineteen 12" blocks and three 6" blocks.  Hmmm.  Not much opportunity for creativity in laying out those blocks.  It all got stuffed into the back of a cabinet.

I got it out last month and took another look at it.  I bordered each block with a small strip of black and made the border from the leftover background fabric.

   

And, talk about a pieced backing! I used up a whole lot of leftover muslin scraps (almost 50, actually) to make this backing, and I incorporated the blocks I couldn't fit onto the front.

I decided to have some fun quilting this one, so I experimented a little and did something different in each block.  

I like this quilt a lot.  I have another Christmas quilt to display during the holidays, AND I got another UFO marked off my list.  Can't complain about that!

Another Quilt Front.......and One More in the Works

I need to finish showing you (ahem....that especially includes you, Mimi) the quilt fronts that go with the backings I posted about here.  After all, I need to move on to something more current.  Oh, wait!  These two quilt fronts are current.  

About a year ago I was in a scrap cutting mood, cutting out all kinds of pieces for possible future quilts.  I bagged up a project called Bricks and Stepping Stones, a free project featured on www.quiltville.com.   My friend Jan was headed to Florida for two months last winter, afraid she would not have enough to keep her busy, so I sent this project with her.  I tried to get her to take more of my unfinished projects, but she wasn't really that worried about having things to do!   She put the top together for me, and last week I used the blue scrappy backing and got the job done -- quilted and bound!

That leaves the pink scrappy backing.  The front of that quilt is all cut out and ready to be put together (yes, by me!) at Retreat this week.

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And if Jan says anything about not having enough to do this week,  she may find all this piled up next to her machine.  I have three or four other projects I'm taking with me to work on!

Fun with Quilt Backings

It all started when I didn't have quite enough fabric left to make a backing for my quilt.  It was an ivory tone-on-tone and I didn't want to buy more, so I put a wide strip of gold right across the middle of the backing and called it "done!"  Not real clever, but I kind of liked it.  

The next few times I just wanted to use up scraps and not spend a lot of money on fabric for backings.  Hmmm, a little more interesting this time. 

Okay, now it's getting intriguing!  It's starting to look like a reversible quilt.  This time I played a little more with arranging the scraps.

I just finished piecing two backings for quilts I want to complete at Retreat in a few weeks.  I had fun with these.


The blue backing was another one where I just wanted to get rid of scraps.  You know...fat quarters I don't really like, fabrics people gave to me after they found a sack of material in their attic or basement and thought I could use it, pieces I picked up off the swap table at quilty get togethers even though I didn't need them....that kind of thing.

I'm really liking the pink backing.  I decided to use up some pretty small scraps on this one, and I've been wanting to try my hand at some Crumb Quilts.  It was fun.

Here's a close-up of the crumb part:

One negative to piecing a backing is that it takes a long time, usually an entire day.  So I don't do it a lot, but it is a fun way to use up scraps, make your quilt a little more original, and feel like you're being creative. 

And speaking of being creative, one day soon I'll show you the fronts of these quilts!