cheery & colourful scrap basket treasures

I'm finding all sorts of treasures in my scrap basket,

colourful scraps all pulled from my stash.

All waiting patiently just for this moment ... for me to pick them & start sewing

- and a little 9-patch action

lots of leftovers 

sorted into a nice combo and jammed into my scrap basket ...

- loving the contrast of this itty-bitty Denyse Schmidt print with an early Laura Ashley floral

- and that's the last of this OOP pretty pink delicate Kaffe stripe :(

 

I've had this fabric for a few years now & it was screaming "pick me pick me"

and so I did!

- my pick of the bunch

- and here's how it's all looking so far down on the design floor

Hope you've enjoyed this little peek into the treasures I'm rediscovering in my scrap basket

It's a real mix, including early Laura Ashley florals, a delightful kokka blue & white, OOP Kaffe, Heather Ross, AMH, Liberty, & Denyse Schmidt 

... oh, and some recent RSS blenders.

Linda

scrap basket stars & 9-patches

I'm off to a super scrappy start with inspiration from Jolene’s @blueelephantstitches latest book, Scrap Quilt Diary! I finally decided to make a bunch of (wonky) star hollow & 9-patch blocks using fabrics all from the scrap basket! 

My plan is to use a mix of pinks, orange/tangerine, bright blues & teal, and brown - and the gold shades would be an accent only, to keep things interesting. I'll also add in a little black and gingham somewhere along the way. Sew, a bit of everything really (wink wink). 

While being totally inspired by Jolene, I'm not setting out to make exact matches of her delightful vintage looking quilts. My focus is more to try and capture some of that ‘vibe’ and yet still be reflective of my stash here.  My blocks will be a combo of bright fabrics teamed up with a few more muted tones, it's great how a little contrast can add such a depth.

I do seem to have accumulated lots of multi-coloured florals, old & new, and it's a super fun challenge trying to dial it back just a bit with my choices! 

lots of leftovers 

sorted into a nice combo and jammed into my scrap basket ...

and a few more ...

Until next time, Linda

taking time

and hello 2025 

Looking forward to another year of colour & creativity

- and a big thanks goes out to all of you who inspire me so much

Time, I think, to start something new, yes? We all know there is no way I will ever use up my scraps & stash, but I am definitely going to start out my year ‘shopping from home’ and make some pretty pieces with some of my re-discovered treasures. I'm thinking a series of scrappy, smallish, lap size quilts, but we shall see. 

The inspiration for all this, of course, came from Jolene @blueelephantstitches. I have both her quilting books now (thanks Santa!) and have been a long-time follower of her blog & insta, love all her little quilts and how she mixes her fabric. 

And so onto some behind the seams action here ...

I began this week with some fabric re-discovery & sorting. Everyone's stash is different, I tend to have a lot of multi-coloured florals, but last year I added in a few more basic blenders and doubled up on some personal favourites.

I pulled out everything in a similar 'Jolene' vintage vibe from my stash and scrap baskets, and had a wonderful couple of hours ... taking time to be inspired by my fabric. 

first up, a basketful of scraps ...

next, a lovely little combo,

it could be the start of something, maybe ...

Then, a fabric pull I thought could work for me & my stash too,

 similar to one of Jolene's last year, 

one I loved💕

...

This one, I'm on the fence about. 

It's got that muted vintage look✅, but it needs more consideration, I think.

We shall see if it changes over time ...

And finally, 

I used a few of my 10" squares of RSS 'firefly' as a starting point and added from my stash ...

All I need to do now is choose which quilt I want to make first.

Anyone else tend to waste time take time to create little fabric bundles, then leave them to percolate, 

waiting patiently until inspiration strikes? 

Linda

countdown to Christmas

a little last-minute sewing as we countdown to Christmas

🔔🎶🔔🎶🔔

- closeup of binding fabric

and my positivities & *pas de deux quilts together ...

A couple of years ago I made Rachel's 'pas de deux' quilt, a modern BOM sampler, see above *pic. And as many of you know, I joined in with the 'positivities' sew-a-long this year, another similar modern quilt designed by Rachel @stitchedincolor. I love how Rachel creates these sampler quilts with so much negative space. It allows the blocks to flow and our individual colour choices tie the whole thing together. 

Yesterday I spent a very pleasant couple of hours out on the deck sewing the binding down on my 'positivities' quilt. 

Quilt stats:

Fabrics: I opted to use a constant soft minty-green solid as my background and I used a selection of scraps from my stash. 
Backing: it was a great way to use up some mixed size, leftover vintage sheet pieces.
Quilting: simply quilted in edge-to-edge straight lines by Leeanne @quiltmekiwi who by now knows my taste so well!
Binding: After some indecision, I chose 'visitation' from the Bright Eyes collection by AMH. The soft lavender with its large-scale floral design breaks up nicely along the narrow segments of the binding. And I love how those intermittent floral clusters seem to draw out the warm colours in the quilt.
Finished quilt measurements: 63" x 76". 

10th quilt finish for 2024.

🎄🎅🎄🤶🎄

Wishing you all a wonderful festive season with family and friends.

Taking a break from posting now, see you next year!

Linda

party in the quilt back

Most of the time I really prefer piecing to quilting…just want to make tops forever! But a month or so ago, I pulled out a few recently finished quilt tops and began working on backings. 

I tend to make my backing decisions after my quilt top is finished. And this year my focus has been on using up mainly what I have here on hand really ... any larger pieces neglected in my stash, a group of leftover fabrics or blocks from the front, maybe a vintage sheet or two.

I love a scrappy look, and I'm finding that the back of a quilt is the perfect way to use up more scraps & leftovers and perhaps add an extra little surprise. 

It took me a few days to sort my backings out and then I sent everything off to Leeanne from quiltmekiwi for some quilting goodness. My quilts have come back home now, and they all have that 'party in the quilt back' vibe happening. 

*Warning: photo overload!

'checkered garden #2' - the flower power version!

Backing: I pulled out a small log cabin quilt top (see back here) in pink, brown & green leftovers, and then just started building around the log cabin center with my chunky strips to bring it up to size. Hm-m-m - this one has a real two-sided appeal thingy happening!

and a few other details about the quilt front:
Fabrics: Definitely channeling my vintage granny chic with modern twist vibe here! I selected blending florals in light - medium values from my stash, in a variety of old & new prints, in peachy pinks, rosy pinks, primrose yellow, green, & teal/aqua. Add in a little contrast from the darker teals & bright pink, et voilà!

Quilting: edge-to-edge 'coneflower' panto, a favourite of mine at present!

'Margorie' 

Backing: I used two vintage sheet strips and inserted three leftover blocks. I think the back complements the front of the quilt nicely with those extra blocks tucked in there. Best of all, it's a little surprise when the quilt is turned over!

and a few other details about the quilt front:

Quilt pattern: #Marjoriequilt by Penelope Handmade

Fabric: various pink/peach/lilac/blues from my stash.

Quilting: My 'Margorie' quilt is finished with 'peeling good' quilting. 

This is my 'Positivities' quilt

It's certainly a happy day when you make good progress on a yearlong project. 

 

Backing: a great way to use up some mixed size, leftover vintage sheet pieces. 

and a few other details about the quilt front:

I joined in with the sew-a-long this year with Rachel of @stitchedincolor.  

Fabrics: I opted to use a constant soft minty-green solid as my background and I used a selection of scraps from my stash. I appreciate how Rachel creates these sampler quilts with so much negative space. It allows the blocks to flow and our individual colour choices tie the whole thing together.

Quilting: simply quilted in edge-to-edge straight lines by Leeanne who by now knows my taste so well!

And finally, 'Le Moyne Star

Backing: I had one leftover block, so I used that as my starting point. Next, I added a pink & orange mishmash from my stash, strips & chunks set in an improv log cabin style until it all came up to size. 

and a few other quilt front details:

Fabrics: It was fun making these fussy cut blocks. I decided the Anna Maria Horner peach/pink 'Cathedral' print would be my unifying element, and I used it for the sashing & borders. I also repeated a couple of other fabrics in different colourways, to help with a calmer & more cohesive look. 

Quilting: edge-to-edge 'coneflower' panto, it works so well with all those AMH fabrics! The bulk caused by the piecing of the stars, added to the bulk of a pieced back, meant that this was going to be best handled by long arm quilting.  Leeanne from quiltmekiwi outdid herself on this one. 

A little pile of happiness💕

Thank you, Leeanne for quilting my quilt tops and turning them into quilts, they have come up a treat.

If anyone needs me, I'll be busy binding! 

Linking up my "finishes" with Michelle here 

I'm curious, what’s your take on making pieced backings? hate them or love them?

Linda

checkered rose

These blocks began as a bit of a side project to use up my somewhat limited stash of solids. Yes, it's another 'checkered garden' quilt. I know the pattern (from Ashley @ filminthefridge) so well now that I figured I could really focus on getting a nice flow happening with my colours. 

I'm playing with multiple pretty soft colours from my stash and adding in a mix of shadowy greys for the background corners.  Oh, and despite starting out thinking this would be an all-solids project, I ended up slipping in some prints along the way. 

Super happy with the contrast of the pretty shades against the grey tones, have a peek at my 'checkered rose' quilt top so far ... 

9 blocks done✅

Until next time, Linda

summer strings project

I've been slowly adding to my string blocks this week, loving these small simple 8" blocks.

A string quilt is such a simple sew and is often made from a scrappy dive into your scraps, using a mix of leftovers from bindings, offcut strips, and those trimmings from the edges of larger pieces of fabric.

This time though, I'm mainly using larger fabric pieces from my stash rather than just from my scrappy strips & strings basket. I want it to feel scrappy without using scraps and I had a particular colour combo I was bursting to try.

Here's a few progress photos ...

And for those curious, here's a few details of my colour story ... 

I'm going for a mixed palette in peach/caramel/purples/blue, repeating many fabrics.

I decided to use a peach print as my center strip in each block, hopefully it will connect everything up and give the eye a place to rest on my busy blocks. 

My strips will be inconsistent widths throughout, to give that organic look. 

And I'm aiming for wonky diamond centers in soft mauves. 

With this latest batch, I've also added a few 'lighter' blocks into the mix, and it's all looking so good. 

 

Oh, and for a change, I'm using tissue paper squares as my foundation, but - and here's a tip from then came June - I'm only sewing through the paper once. I sew that first seam through the fabric and paper, then fold the paper back out of the way. Finish one half then flip and sew the oppersite side. 

Once both sides of the block are sewn, I'm trimming to size using the paper square for guidance, then ripping out the paper. Easy peasy! 

Here's how my design wall is looking now ...

This one is growing fast, I've made 22 blocks now

(for the moment, ignore the trial HST blocks on the right!)

… I was thinking I'd make it at least up to a cute cuddle quilt size, but then there was slight hiccough in the production line - I've run out of my peach center strip fabric :(

I'm so used to sewing scrappy, like if I run out of one fabric, I simply substitute with another! Always a risk when one starts out not having a clear picture in mind of the finished size & checking if supplies will stretch 🤣 Hopefully it doesn't take too long for more fabric to arrive. 

Happy weekending wherever you are,

Linda