Last year after making the quilt for the wedding photographer, I saved the scraps together in a bag. I really liked the colors in that quilt and wanted to make another project with the same palette. I cleared off my design wall so that I could focus a little better.
I started sewing pieces together and had quickly sewn five strips of liberated triangles. I added sashing between them and voila, a quick little quilt top.
I'm hand quilting this one and am enjoying the cooler temperatures stitching on it outside this week.
Every Last Piece - feature quilt - Beach Balls
On this cold, dark, and rainy day, I'm sharing the colorful and sunny quilt, Beach Balls.
The background is string pieced with sandy colored neutrals.The beach balls are string pieced using color coordinating scraps.
I had fun digging through my scraps and building the color wedges.
The binding is pieced from a variety of the background fabrics.
This quilt is the perfect size for a child's play quilt.Fun fact - this was the first quilt I quilted on my longarm.
Finished size: 42'' by 48''. The directions for Beach Ball are in Chapter 1 of my book.You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.
Framed
Do you remember my new custom Sizzix die? I used some of the little one inch squares I cut with it and made a mini version of Don't Fence Me In.
I love this design; even small scale it is a great way to showcase quilting motifs.
Rather than loading it on the longarm, I quilted it on my domestic Bernina. I stitched in the ditch around each of the little 1/2 inch half square triangles.
The tiny stippling around the wreath helps give the feathers and triangles a bit more definition.
After cleaning up in the barn I think I have located another quilt photography location! What do you think? I'll try some larger quilts there and see how they turn out.
The finished quilt is 12" by 12".Quilted with Aurifil #2021.The Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild is participating in a mini quilt swap with the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild. This quilt is for my secret partner in the swap. I hope she likes it.
WIP Wednesday
I really enjoyed making these string pieced melons throughout last year. It was fun sewing and I was able to make some of them with the handcrank machine on the back porch last summer. I took them on a couple of retreat weekends too. Putting the melon units together with the background fabric requires a bit more concentration than building the string units. The curves are gentle enough that they are not a problem. The challenge is in getting all of the points to line up nicely where they come together. For a flatter finish I am sewing just up to the point where the seams intersect so that the seam allowances will twirl on the back side. I have them sewn into rows and am now taking my time sewing the rows together as that is the trickiest part.I am eager to have this together and start the quilting on it. I am also itching to start a new project but I will wait at least until this top is sewn together.
Fat Quarterly - issue 16 - SCRAPS
The latest issue of Fat Quarterly is available today!Go get yours, it has lots of great scrappy projects in it, including this one of mine! I am SO glad I can finally share it with you! I worked on this quilt most of last fall.
It's called The Whole Nine Yards because it uses nine yards of background fabric!
It took a long time to make but I really enjoyed the process. There are loads of little half square triangles in there and I got to dig DEEP in the scrap bin.
Crushed
Here they are. All 130 string pieced blocks needed for a twin size quilt. I am smitten with this block on top. That row of tiny scraps gets me . I don't remember who gave me that skeleton fabric scrap but that is the last bit of that fabric that I have.
Really, it slays me. I know that if I had started with yardage of that fabric I wouldn't feel the same way. It was precious and I had to include it in this quilt.Are you like that? Do some fabrics make you emotional? Is it just me? I got a little teary feeling this morning cutting a center for a tiny star out of the very last scrap of fabric left from a dress I made myself in 1975. Sigh.Look, they are crushed under their own weight.
This little stack is making me very happy. I think I'll just keep it and pet it for awhile before moving to the next step.edited to add:My method for making string pieced quilts is shown in detail in chapter one of my book, Every Last Piece. There are directions for several string quilts as well as photos and ideas for more string quilts included. You can purchase an autographed copy of the Every Last Piece from me here.
