Scrappy Batiks

 Several recent finishes made good use of batik scraps and I am pleased that my batik box is no long overflowing.

This quilt used 3" x 6" bricks arranged into twelve 12" blocks. Nothing fancy, but I like the look of all the batik colors scattered across the quilt. I quilted it with a freehand feather swirl. This 47" x 58" quilt will be donated through my guild.

This "Diamond Magic" pattern (Willow Brook Quilts) has been on my list for awhile. I bought the pattern at a cute quilt shop several years ago while visiting my father. I pieced the top last April to keep busy when all my usual activities were canceled. The pattern is illustrated with ombre fabrics, which look fantastic, but I decided to use some Anthology Batik sample fabrics with a black background. I quilted and finished the binding during my push to finish-lots-of-tops in December and January.

The extra pieces make a nice accent for the back. This 50" square quilt will be donated through my guild.

Linking up with Oh Scrap where I always find lots of inspiration!

January Pink Report

 I have been doing lots of sewing but not much blogging. I am joining in again with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge to focus on using up some of my color-sorted scraps. I made some good pink progress in January.

First up are 9" churn dash blocks in pink. I was going to make a few each month in the rainbow colors, but once I got going, I realized I had enough blocks which included at least a little pink for a full top. I purchased an Accuquilt cutter this summer, and have made good use of the churn dash die. I will donate this 45" x 54" quilt through my guild.

The back used up some pretty border print strips left over from a long-ago project.

Next up are quarter log cabin blocks which made a pretty good dent in my pink strings. I was inspired by Sarah's scrappy blue blocks and found this top worked up quickly.

I had fun quilting with hearts and loops, and finished up some partial spools of pink variegated thread. This 45" x 63" quilt will also be donated through my guild.

I dug deep in my "random pieces of fabric" pile to choose those with a little bit of pink to put together this scrappy backing. I'm glad to have these fabrics used up.

To finish off my pink month, I made a decent dent in my drawer full of 2.5" strips. I made some pink scrappy trip around the world blocks (from Bonnie Hunter's instructions).

I also started some blocks for a rainbow Rickrack quilt using this Missouri Star Quilt tutorial. I will use the light yellow flower fabric for the background for all of the blocks.

Linking up with Whoop Whoop Friday and Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Seminole Patchwork Samples

I am leading a virtual Seminole Patchwork workshop for my quilt guild early next year. So, of course, I needed to make some samples for the class. I found great instruction and designs in the book Basic Seminole Patchwork by Cheryl Greider Bradkin.

First I made this 20" x 24" wall hanging.

I had a lot of fun pulling strips from my solid bins, and did simple quilting in matching colors. However, when I showed it to some guild friends, they thought the tiny pieces looked a little too intimidating. So I did three of the designs at twice the size.

This 20" x 20" piece would be good for a wall hanging, tote bag or center of a medallion quilt. Hopefully, not as intimidating.

Our guild is still ironing out the kinks with zoom meetings and workshops, so I'm not sure how much we can accomplish in one day. I will demonstrate the three larger designs, and then if people are inspired, they can add more and/or smaller designs.

Our guild had a very productive Quilts of Valor virtual Sew Day in October. Many members participated, some making one or two star blocks, others making complete quilt tops and still others finished quilts. I'm doing most of the quilting, but others are assembling tops and adding binding. Here are the first seven we have completed. We have ten more in the works! People are mailing pieces and parts to one another, as well as meeting in parking lots and outdoor space to pass things off. Great to see how we're making it work.

It was great to have a nice sunny day to spread out the quilts for a picture!

Linking up with Oh Scrap!

Around The Block

I started making house blocks in March as we all started to quarantine at home. I made one each day, and put 68 into a wall hanging when our state started to re-open. However, I was still enjoying making the little blocks (3" x 5" finished), and kept making one daily. I now have a pile of little houses in my sewing room and am playing with different ways to use them. My guild decided to have a virtual challenge this year with houses as the theme. I used some of my house blocks to make a bright wall hanging to share at our virtual guild meeting next week.

The wall hanging measures 38" x 38". My corner houses were inspired by the Dresden Neighborhood pattern by Kim Lapacek.

The house fabrics remind me of past projects and what I was working on that day.

I found just enough of a pink and orange stripe for the bias binding.

I had fun using lots of bright fabrics and quilted clouds and wind swirls in the outer purple border. Everything came from my stash except for one yard of Kona purple. 

Linking up with Oh Scrap!

On The Diagonal

 Back when I made a bunch of 12" Split 9-Patch blocks, I arranged the second pile into a furrows layout (I posted about my first top here.) Lots of fun scrappy fabrics in big blocks. Sometimes I like the immediate gratification of using my stash in a comfort quilt! The top was finished a few months ago, but now it is quilted, bound and ready for donation.

Quilted with a square spiral across the blocks and elongated loops around the border, it finished at 47" x 59".

I found a perfect bright fabric for the backing. Given to me by a friend when she moved away, it made me remember fun times we sewed together when I pulled it out of my stash.

I also recently quilted this Quilt of Valor, pieced together volunteer topper. A simple design with big blocks, but I think the bold graphics of the star fabric and the stripe fabric are terrific! The fabrics do all the talking.

Fun Finishes

In between quilting for others and a commission quilt or two, I sometimes like to quilt and finish something quick and fun, usually a donation quilt. I have several finished tops hanging near my machine, ready when inspiration strikes.

I picked up a small piece of this cute owl fabric from our guild's comfort quilt fabric stash. I cut as many owl squares as possible, then found other bright fabrics to coordinate.

Too much sun so the photo is a little washed out, but it is bright and cheery and I had fun quilting hearts and loops. Finished at 50" x 64".

Another top I finished several months ago was inspired by a Covered in Love block drive. The block drive had finished, but I made a pile of blocks and put them together into two donation quilts. A great scrap buster, and it's always fun to try various layouts with asymmetrical blocks.

Quilted this week with squiggles and swirls, this donation quilt finished at 48" x 60".

I cleaned out lots of red prints for the scrappy back.

Linking up with Sarah at Whoop Whoop Friday!

Waiting for Power

Due to tropical storm Isaias, we have been without power and internet since Tuesday, and I miss my sewing machine! We are fortunate to have a backup solar system which provides about 30% power to our house (fridge, water, microwave, some lights and outlets) and it refills each day in the sun. And it hasn't been terribly hot. I wish I had prepared more bindings to hand sew, and I really should consider starting the wool hand applique project I purchased supplies for in December! However, I'm mostly taking walks and reading.

I did photograph a couple of finishes, tops I've blogged about earlier. I've seen suggestions lately to use fishing magnets to hang quits on the garage door for photos - that is genius!

Here is my quilted and bound "Twirla" quilt. I did simple double loop quilting on this donation quilt.

I also quilted and bound one of my scrappy plus quilts. Made with 3" squares and 3"x 9" rectangles. Simple wavy lines and occasional loops finished it off nicely. Another donation quilt for my growing pile. I hope my guild will be able to make some quilt distributions this fall even if we can't meet in person. I want my quilts to be snuggled and used!

Linking up with Finished or Not Friday and Whoop Whoop Friday.