home again

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Yesterday I arrived home from a 10 day teaching trip to Florida. I visited 4 different guilds while I was there and it was a fabulous trip, but I am so happy to be home! I haven't sewn anything in about 2 weeks, so today I'm going to highlight some of the work of my wonderful students and a few things that people brought for show and tell. I hope you enjoy the inspiration!

All of these are photos of the students' work. Each one of these projects is based on quilt patterns from my book No Scrap Left Behind:

 Rene's start to a black and white subtle quilt. It's going to be a beauty!

Mary's blocks for a scrap happy rails quilt made with Minnesota fabrics. (The pattern is charm pack or layer cake friendly, so if you don't have scraps, you can still make the quilt!)

 Alissa's oversized ring me quilt made from mini charm packs. Another great use of pre-cuts!

Jenny's slopes quilt blocks made from Kaffe scraps. This is going to be stunning!

Jodie's teeny tiny (and oh so cute!) ring me blocks.

Linda's mash up two different quilts: hot & cold blocks using the ring me pattern. I love that she is mixing two ideas in one!

Pat's calm colored remainders quilt. I tried to talk her into making the pieces bigger, but she was smitten with the tiny ones. She definitely made the right choice!

Alejandrina's chain of diamonds blocks using leftover scraps from making quilts for Pulse. This quilt will have such a special meaning for her and I love that!

Joey's bright and cheery scraps that will be a part of a scrap happy rails quilt. I love how her fabrics match her cutting mat. :) I could share about 25 more photos, but I don't have time to edit them all!

I also wanted to share some quilts or quilt tops that people brought for show and tell. It's such a treat to see people sewing up patterns from the books!

Here is Betty's Nap Like an Egyptian quilt top. (Pattern in Sunday Morning Quilts.) This was part of a block exchange among friends. I love that idea and I think the colors are fabulous together!

Donna's Missing U quilt. (Pattern in Sunday Morning Quilts.) This was a group project among friends. Several ladies made blocks and Donna won them, so she turned the blocks into a quilt. Her quilting was wonderful, too.

Dee's checkerboard quilt, made mostly (if not all?) from Bonnie and Camille fabrics. (Pattern in Sunday Morning Quilts.) I really wanted to wrap up in this one! It's absolutely wonderful!

Jane's chain of diamonds quilt top in blues. (Pattern in No Scrap Left Behind.) It reminds me of a comfy and perfectly broken in pair of jeans. I love seeing this quilt sewn up using just one color family. So good!

This one blows my mind! Selina's version of the remainders quilt from No Scrap Left Behind. I love it sewn up in brights and whites. I totally want to copy this, since I wasn't going to steal it. Ha!

This is Karen's absolutely stunning version of the All sizes quilt from No Scrap Left Behind. Rather than setting the triangle blocks all in one direction, as the pattern shows, she turned them into chevrons. It's so soo good!

This is Linda's scrap vortex quilt from the quilt along I did a few summers ago. I've seen photos of her quilt, but there is nothing like seeing it in person! The quilt is huge and stunning! (All of the instructions for the scrap vortex quilt along can be found at the bottom of this page, if you care to make one of your own!)

Many thanks to each and every one who came to either my lectures, classes or both. I appreciate it more than I can say!

My puppies were pretty excited to see me yesterday, too! They are growing up too fast!

 

Well, that's it for me today! It's time to get reacquainted with my sewing machine!!!! It's been too long.

 

(A small disclaimer: I did my absolute best to keep the projects that people were sewing straight, but it is entirely possible that I have mis-labeled some. I apologize in advance if there are any errors or if I spelled any names wrong.)

 

Now, it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks for joining me for finish it up Friday! Have a great weekend!

scrapalicious quilt top

Welcome to finish it up Friday! Thanks for all the wonderful comments on my epic quilt top! I appreciate each and every one!

Once again, I'm thankful for the deadline that each Friday brings. Without that push, this quilt top would not be complete! At least not this soon.

This is my second scrap vortex quilt. (You can see the first one here. If you would like to make one of your own, the links to the scrap vortex QAL are on my quilt along page.) I was thinking about my quilting habits this week...and my compulsion to make multiples of each quilt. I think I could have a scrap vortex quilt going at all times! Seriously, I'm resisting the urge to start a third one. I really don't know why I feel compelled to make multiples of the same quilt, but I'm doing some serious thinking about it. I want to make another pineapple quilt, and yet another (it would be my third!) bright birch trees quilt. I think I need to force myself out of my comfort zone and branch out! Who knows what good things would happen! :)

Last night, as I was working on the last corner of this quilt, my younger son came into my sewing room and said, "wow, that looks easy....all you have to do is sew a bunch of scraps together, right?" I kind of chuckled. I think the answer is: yes and no! I think these types of quilts are easy in some ways. There are no points to match, there really is no rhyme or reason, so in that respect, pretty easy! But, there are a million and one design decisions along the way. That gets tiresome. And, I learned once again, even in all the randomness, editing can not be ignored. I had some severely ugly spots in the quilt, so I chopped things up (which was not easy to do!) and sewed them back together in a different order. That really helped!

There were times when I was so irritated by this quilt that I seriously thought about putting the parts up for adoption. (Isn't that terrible?) If quilting has taught me one thing, it is that perseverance is key. I'm happy I stuck with it and saw it through. I love looking at just one section of the quilt and seeing all the details. Looking at the variety of fabric never gets old!

After I finished the quilt, I sewed a quick stay stitch around the perimeter of the quilt to prevent the patchwork pieces from separating during handling. I know that the quilt top will be secure while I'm taking photos and while I am basting it, etc. It's especially important on a quilt like this that has about ten thousand seams! (Don't worry, that's only a guess. I didn't count the seams. ha!)

The quilt top measures about 68" x 88". It will definitely be counted toward my 101 scrap projects, but not until it's complete. For now, I'm just so happy that the top is done!!!

 

It's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thank you for joining me for finish it up Friday! Happy April!

 

June quilt QAL-week 1

Welcome to week 1 of the June quilt Quilt-A-Long! This will be very informal...I will share instructions here on the blog each week and you can sew along with me at whatever pace you wish. Feel free to share your progress on social media. If you would like to post your progress on Instagram or Facebook, use the hashtag #JunequiltQAL (I realize that it is a little bit redundant, but I'm going with it anyway!)

Here's a quick rundown of what each week will entail:

Week 1: sort scraps // choose a color scheme // gather materials

Week 2: start sewing the string blocks

Week 3: cut the background fabrics // finish sewing the string blocks

Week 4: assemble the quilt top // quilting ideas

Scrap Sorting

The first step in the making of any scrap quilt is to sort your scraps and assess what you have to work with. My string box is FULL! I have to be honest, the string scrap category is my least favorite. It's a constant challenge to keep up with them, probably because they aren't very inspiring to me. (It's true!) All that to say, this QAL will be a good challenge for me. :)

I dumped out all the strings from the box and started sorting.

In this photo, the top pile is strings to give away. They are fabrics that I've used over and over again or ones that I just don't care for or I don't see myself using. I plan to pass them along to someone who will be excited to use them! The center pile of strings are ones I plan to cut into squares. (They are all wider than 2 1/2", so I will cut them into 2 1/2" squares.) The bottom pile is the multi-colored pile...fabrics that don't have a predominant color. I also took out any odd bits and any very short strings. (Scraps take a lot of maintenance. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!)

The remaining strings are sorted in color order. Man, that is so satisfying!

Choose a color scheme

The next step in the QAL is to choose a color scheme. When I made my June quilt for the book, I started sewing the string sets together first, then I chose a background color. It worked out alright, but this time I am recommending that you choose your background color first. The main reason for doing this is so that you can avoid using the background color IN your string blocks. If you were to use a red background fabric, and you used a lot of red in the string squares, there will be a lack of distinction in colors and the pattern of the quilt would get lost. If you use a red background fabric, you can still use red fabrics in the strings, but I would recommend doing so sparingly. Or, at the very least, make sure that there is a value difference between the two.

Here are some ideas for background fabrics:

Small scale polka dots with a light background would be a fun option. Here's an example of a quilt with various red and white polka dot backgrounds. I used a black and white polka dot fabric in the quilt that I made for my craftsy class. It's hard to go wrong with dots!

Solids are a safe bet for a background fabric, but they don't have to be boring. If you use a linen or chambray, it will add a textural element to your quilt. The fabrics shown in this photo are Essex Linen (in natural, perhaps?) by Robert Kaufman, Chambray by Andover, Shadow (Kona cotton) and a lovely bright pink Essex Linen.

I'm a big fan of red and white polka dots, too! It's a bold choice, but it would make a super fun quilt.

Gather materials

I'll be giving instructions on how to make a baby quilt, which will measure 51" x 51" and a lap size quilt, which will measure 51" x 68". (I realize that is a little large for a baby quilt, but it is the best size option I could get with an on point setting.) If you want to make an 85" square quilt, as shown in the book, by all means, please do! :)

For the background fabric you will need:

1.3333 yards for a baby size quilt (there will be about 2"-3" extra)

2 yards for a the lap size quilt (there will be about 5" extra)

I recommend buying a little bit extra yardage than listed above, but I'll leave just how much extra up to you. That is why I specified how much wiggle room there is in the yardage listed above. (I hope that isn't too confusing!)

For the cornerstone fabric you will need:

1/3 yard for a baby quilt (there will be only 1/2" extra)

1/2 yard for the lap quilt (there will be 2" extra)

Again, buy the additional amount of fabric that you feel comfortable with. I'll leave how much up to you.

For the quilt in the book, I used two different fabrics for the cornerstones, but for the lap and baby sizes, I am assuming that you only will use one fabric for the cornerstones. Feel free to substitute in a second fabric if you wish.

Of course you will need plenty of string scraps, too! Select scraps that are at least 1" wide and 2" wide or less. Scraps should be at least 4 1/2" long. If you don't have a lot of variety of string scraps, you could chop up a bunch of charm squares into 1 1/2" or 2" widths. That would give you a lot variety without spending a lot of money.

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I'm undecided about what kind of quilt to make myself, but I have two options that I came up with...

I have an awful lot of low volume scraps and I know that they would be lovely paired with this red and white polka dot. I have more than enough fabric to make a lap size quilt.

This is the second color option that I came up with: all the colors of scraps except reds and black & whites, paired with Essex linen. (Ironically, I have the most red scraps! Ha!) I have just enough background fabric to make a baby size quilt.

Unless I come up with another brilliant option, probably will make both options listed above. Because if it isn't ridiculous, it isn't worth doing, right? Ha!

If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments and I will do my best to answer them. I'm excited to see what you come up with for your quilt! 

my top 10 tips for successful scrap quilting

If you've read my blog for more than a week, you know that my love for scraps runs deep! I enjoy using my scraps and I want you to be excited about using your scraps as well. If you sew or make quilts, there will be scraps to deal with....like it or not! Might as well embrace them, right?

Everyone is going define the term "scrap" differently. I consider anything that is less than a fat quarter a scrap. It's a very big scrap for me, but for sake of ease, that is my cut off line when I sort. (The size shown above is more my speed, to be honest.) How you define a scrap is up to you!

Here are my top 10 tips for successful scrap quilting:

1. Admit that you have a problem. (Isn't that always the first step?) If you are overwhelmed by your scraps, this may be extremely easy! Do you want to create order and tame the chaos? Admitting that you have a problem (and wanting to fix it!) is a great first step.

Personally, I have a problem with saving everything. Well, almost everything! I save scraps smaller than 1" square, especially when they are this cute! It's crazy...I'll be the first to admit it. I do use them, however, so I continue to save them. I use them for bright birch tree quilts, needle books and ticker tape canvases, just to name a few things.

 

(Rather than admitting your problem, maybe you just need to get really good at justifying your actions, like I did here. Ha!)

2. Assess your scraps. This goes hand in hand with step one. What do you think you will realistically use? If you don't think you will use it, pass it along to someone who will!

Some days are much better for this than others. If you are in a cleaning or purging mood, this is a good time to assess your scraps. Clear them out, pass them along and don't look back!

3. Clean them up. If you have fabric that was previously sewn together (like strips leftover from a quilt backing), cut them apart and remove the sewn seams. If you have odd cuts, whether you've cut out one circle or a complete garment, cut the remainders into usable pieces, like squares, rectangles, strips or triangles.

Let's illustrate this...just for fun.

Here's a random scrap that I pulled out of my bin of scraps that need to be cleaned up. In this shape, this scrap is very uninspiring and maybe even a little bit intimidating.

 I gave it a good press....

...and then I chopped it into usable pieces. These pieces include: selvages (that I save to knit rag rugs), triangles, strings, a larger piece that will go into my color boxes and the tiny pieces for my ticker tape drawer. On the bottom right are the scraps that I will throw away. Now, these remaining scraps are user friendly! The chances of these scraps getting sewn up has dramatically increased.

 

4. Sort your scraps. For scraps that are less than a fat quarter but larger than a charm square, I sort primarily by color. (The quilted storage boxes pattern can be found in Sunday Morning Quilts.)

For the pieces smaller than a charm square, I place like sizes/shapes together, and mix all the colors together. Strings are one of my categories where all of the colors are stored together.

I have a blog post about my extensive sorting system here, if you care to read it.

5. Come up with a storage plan that works for you and your space. It should mimic the way YOU work and your storage limitations. This has to be extremely personal, because everyone has different scrap tolerances. :)

My storage plan is extensive, and it continues to grow, but scraps are my main focus. I have to room to store them, so it works for me. (At least half of the bins pictured here are holding scraps!) My scrap storage methods are in a constant state of flux, depending upon what quilts I'm working on at the time. That is actually a very good thing! The addition and deletion of categories as I begin and end projects helps me maintain good organization.

6. Work on a few long term projects at a time. Scrap quilts aren't quick and I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise. One can only look at a single project for so long. Mixing up a few different long-term projects is a very good thing! I'm not one to do leaders and enders projects (oh boy, I wish I was!) but I find that doing some prep cutting and getting things sorted and organized ahead of time helps. That way, if I have about 20 minutes to sew, I can sit down with a bin or basket of scraps and get a little bit done. Little bits of sewing time add up to finished quilts, eventually.

7. Edit. This may be the most important step! Just because you are making a scrappy quilt, doesn't mean that you have to put every scrap that you have into one quilt. Make good fabric choices along the way. Edit until the very last block is sewn up.

Even on my scrap vortex quilts, where it looks like I just threw everything together, a whole lot of editing (and careful arranging) was done along the way.

8. Cut a fresh edge. Strings (which are generally 2 1/2" wide or less and vary in length) are the hardest category for me to get excited about. One of the major reasons why is because they get stringy!

It drives me crazy, but there is a simple way to fix it. Press the scrap flat, then cut a fresh edge, on one side or both.

 Isn't that so much better? Cutting a fresh edge will make sewing strings together easier and the back of your quilt will be nice and tidy. Cut right before you sew, for best results. Once the string goes back into the bin and gets tumbled around, it will stringy again.

9. Keep the scrap door revolving. This is a bit of an overlap with tip # 2, but I think it deserves a closer look. I have plenty of friends that pass along their scraps to me. I love that, and my quilts are better because of it! Because lets face it...when it comes to scrap quilts, variety is key. The flip side of that is, I have an awful lot of scraps... more than I can ever use in my lifetime. I continually pass scraps along to others, too. I try to put a bag or two of scraps on the free table every month at my quilt guild meetings. This keeps me from getting bogged down with scraps.

10. Make small projects, not just quilts! Pincushions, cards, and pillows are some of my favorite small projects to make with scraps. These projects are quick to finish and give you a feeling of accomplishment that you may need to carry you through until you can complete a larger scrap quilt.

None of these steps are a "one and done" type of thing. Scrap management takes routine maintenance, much like cleaning a house. I hate to say it, but it's true! However, if you take steps toward organization, it will be easier to maintain your scraps. If you have a spot for everything, you will know where to put things away. Getting organized means you will also know where to look when you need that perfect scrap for your project.

I hope that helps! If you have a favorite scrap tip to share with me, I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Happy Monday to you!

chain of diamonds

Welcome to day 8 of the No Scrap Left Behind blog tour! Cheryl, my good friend (and co-author of Sunday Morning Quilts!) is showing her version of the chain of diamonds quilt today. She made her quilt top two weeks! That's pretty intense, considering that there are 1709 seams in the quilt. (She counted them, not me. Ha!) I love that she used some of her Tag fabric in her quilt and that she put her own twist on the pattern. That's the way it should be! Her post made me teary-eyed in the best way. Please be sure to visit Cheryl and check out her amazing quilt! Of course, she is giving away a copy of the book, too.

This is one of the more intense quilts from the book, but I have to say that it was totally worth it! This is also the smallest quilt in the book, finishing at 50" x 60", which is still an appropriate lap size quilt. I wanted ALL of these quilts to be something that I could snuggle under!

This quilt utilizes the binding triangles... you know, the triangles that are cut off after mitering strips of binding together. (You can go ahead and groan.... I'm used to it!) I used a variety of whites and creams from the scrap basket for the background pieces, because I wanted this to be a true scrap quilt.

I pieced this quilt a little bit at a time. After pressing the blocks, I piled them in a basket and trimmed them in the evenings or whenever I had a spare moment. It helped to break down the tasks into little, bite-sized pieces. As the blocks were completed, I put them up on a design wall so I could see my progress. As the quilt grew, the motivation to keep going increased. (That is a very good thing!) It also helped me to see what colors or values that I needed to add.



If the quilt is a little too intense for your liking, this pattern would make a great throw pillow. The blocks finish at 2", so you wouldn't even need to scale down the pattern at all. Bonus!

Abby's sunset quilt-complete

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

Abby's sunset quilt is complete! I LOVE the simplicity of this quilt. It's made of just plain squares and just solid fabrics, but it's anything but boring. Hurray!

This is a variation of my Hot and Cold quilt. (The original pattern can be found in my book No Scrap Left Behind.) I loved playing with the contrast of warm and cool colors again, but this time I wanted to let the colors mingle a bit more than the original, yet still be separate. (I talked about the construction of the quilt top in this post, if you care to read more about it.) I can only guess how many different colors are represented in this quilt top. (It's a LOT!) As with any scrap quilt, the more the better!

For the backing I used some of my good neighbor's yardage in this lovely lime green. I love how it looks like a field of flowers. A row of patchwork squares breaks up the repeat, so no fancy piecing is needed to match up the print exactly. (I did think about trying, but then I came to my senses. Phew!)

I quilted it on my Janome Horizon with a walking foot. Normally when I machine quilt, I use the same colored thread in the top and the bobbin. Why invite unnecessary trouble? Well, this time I decided to use two different colors of thread: green in the bobbin and silvery gray in the top. It's not perfect, but it's not an eye sore, either. In the end, I'm glad that I made that choice. The straight line quilting, however.....it's. not. easy. In fact, when I started quilting this on Saturday, I got soooooooo spun up and frustrated at how poorly I was quilting it. Thankfully I had enough good sense to walk away and take a break. (I normally don't!) The next day I assessed the situation again. When I showed my husband where I was going to pick out some stitches, he scolded me....and he even used my middle name!!! I guess I was being a little bit unreasonable. (what??!?!) Let me tell you, I have a perfectionist streak that runs DEEP and I got to stare it right in the face. (It wasn't pretty....sigh.) Anyway, I carried on and finished the quilting. It's definitely not perfect. I did go back and pick out some slightly crooked lines...and then I tried to let go of the rest. Again, not. easy. I know that some people say that if you can't see it from a galloping horse 10 feet away, then it's good enough. (That one always drives me crazy!) I certainly don't agree. Somewhere in the middle there has to be a happy medium, right?

I used two different colors of Kona cotton for the binding: cerise and dark violet. I used cerise for the top section, in the warm area, and the dark violet in the cool area. I was pleased that I could come up with a decent solution from the stash. I did all the hand binding in a marathon session...less than 4 hours. (I love to savor the binding process, but yesterday it was a race against the clock, and the sunset!)

When my daughter and I were taking photos it was CRAZY windy. Here are some of the outtakes...just for fun.

 

I LOVE how the front and the back look together!!!

At the end of the photoshoot, my daughter was holding the quilt and I thought it would be fun to add a quick snapshot of her, since the quilt IS named after her and all. I love this photo so much! She posed like that all on her own. :) I also love the fish house in the background and the little bit of sunset, too. It sure sums up a Minnesota winter!

The quilt measures 62" x 74" and it's scrap project #197. This is also my first completed quilt for my "salute to solids" challenge. (You can read more about that here.) It feels good to have one done!

 

Here's a few sunsets from the past few months, taken right outside my patio door. Of course a camera doesn't capture half of the awesomeness of the sunsets....but you have to try, right?

Alright! Now it's your turn! Please link up your finished projects for the week. Thank you, as always for reading, commenting and joining me for finish it up Friday! I sure appreciate it! Have a great and safe weekend. xo