Last week I had a wonderful visit with a friend and mentor. There was a lot of quilt talk.
Every Last Piece - feature quilt - Bow Ties
Bow Ties is a quilt I finished in 1993. It is a true scrap quilt and is made with the scraps from many of my old 4-H sewing projects.
I was inspired by an antique bow ties quilt I had seen in a magazine. I love the way the placement of light and dark fabrics varied in each block and wanted to create the same energy in my own quilt.
I am glad that I took the time to make the block the traditional way with the set in seams. The square set on an angle in the center of the block really looks like a knot in the bow, especially with stripe, plaid, or checked fabrics.
This quilt is a real trip down memory lane for me. I'm having a bit of a 1970s flashback here.
My grandmother hand quilted this quilt and I gave it to my oldest son for Christmas back in 1993. I'm secretly glad that he hasn't taken it to his apartment.
Finished size 71'' by 100''.Bow Ties can be found in the gallery section of my book.You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.
Every Last Piece - featured quilt - Bar Scene
Bar Scene, a quilt in chapter three of Every Last Piece, features a strip of hourglass blocks made from some of my favorite scraps. The column of color is set of by the surrounding solid paprika fabric.
I had fun with the wavy, loopy quilting.
Finished size 51'' by 68''.The directions for Bar Scene along with some suggestions for other variations of this design are in chapter 3 of my book.You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.
Every Last Piece
I have been waiting on pins and needles for the day that I could share this news with you!
Here it is, all of that frantic and late night sewing last year was for this. A BOOK! I can hardly believe this is really almost a reality. My love of using scraps led me to write a whole book on scrap quilting!A huge thank you to all of you who encourage me to do what I love and try to use Every Last Piece of fabric in my scrap pile. There are scrap quilt designs in the book that you can use no matter how big your scrap pile is. The first quilts in the book are full on all scrap quilts. As you work your way through the book, the designs use fewer scraps the idea being that if you make all of the quilts in the book you can actually use up your scraps.The book, Every Last Piece: 12 Beautiful Design Inspirations Using Scraps, Strings, and Applique
Tealorange! - for the love of orange
Here she is, Tealorange! She's finished!
You may remember that this quilt grew from two years worth of bee blocks. I asked my bee members to make 6 inch finished blocks that were teal, orange, and cream.
I could never have made this quilt by myself. I love that the blocks are a mix of measured and liberated piecing. I love the mix of fabrics. I love everything about it.I quilted it with parallel straight lines about 3/8 of an inch apart. It took a while to get it quilted but I think it was well worth the effort.
The binding is made of scraps of fabrics that I used in the star blocks that I made.
And the back uses some fabrics that have been in my stash for quite a long time, along with some Thomas Knauer jelly beans.
The finished quilt measures 60 by 73 inches.
This quilt is headed to someone who is a HUGE fan of orange.
Rossie Made Me Do It
I've really been busy sewing since school started. It's a great feeling to be able to sit and get things done! Here's another finished quilt top to show for my hard work!
This quilt, Rossie Made Me Do It, was made using my swiss chard blogger bundle for Pink Castle Fabrics. I got a half yard bundle and used two thirds of it. The pattern is Honey from Elizabeth Hartman's Modern Patchwork
I think this quilt would also look great as a real scrap quilt. It would be a bit more tedious to make, though. For this quilt, you sew the white to other fabrics together in strips and then cut them into triangles. For a scrappy quilt you would have cut the triangles and then sew them individually to the white "grout" strips.
I started this quilt while at a retreat with the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild in August. I brought the bundle to work on but didn't have a plan yet. Rossie suggested that I make the quilt on the cover of Elizabeth's book. I think it was a good suggestion. Thanks Rossie.
Now, back to sewing. Today I'm putting together a king size Point Me commission quilt using Denyse Scmidt's pattern. I'm on a roll!
My unquilted tops pile is really growing though. I feel a big quilting session in the near future.
