Scrap Attack #3

Continuing on with more scraps! I started this quilt at the end of last year to use up some 2.5 inch squares. The inspiration came from SOTAK, her's was simple and fun. She went crazy on the hand quilting, mine is more basic. I love how the all over hand quilting really added to the project. Now that I have built up my calluses, it's time to do more quilting by hand. 

We are currently getting 3 to 6 inches of fluffy snow in New England. Schools are closed for the day, for me, no work! I did brave the cold and snow to venture out for some photos. This one has been waiting for some good light (hard to find this time of year) for weeks now. 

Friday we close on the house. I am getting so excited. Instead of being able to use my extra day off for sewing I am doing the practical thing, packing and school work. What I am not so excited about is moving, and unpacking. That whole process seems daunting. 

So, Chelsea: Finished

It's done! And ... It's So, Chelsea! 

A while back I shared the start to this "So, Chelsea" quilt. The majority of the fabrics were selected by Amy Garro and my Grandma who both have given me quite the pile of "Chelsea" themed fabrics. These were then matched with some of my stash favorites and it all came together perfectly.

The pattern is Daydream from the book Striking Strip Quilts. 

QUILT DETAILS: 

• Finished Size: 64 inches by 64 inches 

• Pattern: Daydream 

• Fabric: gifted fabric

• Batting: 80/20 blend

• Thread: Connecting Threads - Lavender

• Quilting: straight lines

Sugar Blocks 2016: Finished

Wowzers! This is to date the biggest quilt I have ever made.  Poor Mike didn't even know where to start when holding it up! His extendable arms were out of service.

The project started as the 2016 Sugar Block of the Month Club. Then after a few months of blocks I didn't love it turned into "all my favorite blocks club". Makes perfect sense this has become my favorite quilt!

Earlier Posts: 

Sugar Blocks = Favorite Blocks, July Sugar Blocks, Sugar Block Club: May + June , Sugar Block of the Month Update, February Sugar Block, Sugar Block of the Month 

The color combinations in this quilt makes my heart flutter. I love the aqua, magenta, peach, mustard combination with some chambray. Swoon. 

When finishing this quilt on retreat, I went to a local quilt shop (Thimbleberries on Cape Cod). There I found more of the Kate Spain fabric I used in the quilt for the border. I had been looking with no luck, so that was my lucky day! Not being a border person, I love what it adds to this particular quilt. May need to rethink borders ... 

For the backing, I used the other sheet from my "Today is a Good Day for a Good Day" Quote quilt. They actually match in colors, binding and backing. Oh, and awesomeness! Love this pair.

To find out more about using a sheet for the backing click here. 

It's economical and worked great both times :) 

If only I could snuggle under them both at the same time without looking like a crazy quilt lady! 

School Charity: Finished

This weekend I was able to finish up the school charity quilt. To learn more from an earlier post, click here. Short story, every year our school does a quilt raffle to support families in need for the holidays. 2016 was my year to make the donation! Here is how it came out ... 

When I first started machine binding it was a hot mess, now after many quilts those corners are finally worth smiling about! Plus, it probably holds up so much better than hand stitching. 

Details:

Finished Size: 56 inches x 64 inches, Pattern: Squares and Stripes by Cluck Cluck Sew: Fabric: Stash, Batting: 80/20 blend, Thread: Connecting Threads - Mint, Quilting: Straight Line - 1 inch.

The new batting I purchased is much thicker than what I have used in the past. So thick I actually had to release some of the pressure on my walking foot so it would fit underneath. Needless to say, it's nice and heavy. Now it just needs to find a new home!

Quote Quilt: Finished

While I have been on the hunt for a house, my HGTV viewing has increased ten fold. Including starting from the beginning of Fixer Upper and watching all the shows on Netflix. Talk about a productive summer. 

During this time I fell in love with Joanna's quote, "Today is a Good Day for a Good Day." With all the roller coster ups and downs of putting in offers and searching for that perfect home, this quilt seemed fitting. Leila Boutique had came out with a scrappy quote quilt and I had the brilliant idea to combine the two ideas.

Backing with a Bed Sheet: 

Currently, I plan to keep this quilt, so I backed it with a sheet set from Target in Ballard Blue (not an affiliate link). The 225 thread count worked will with a regular 80/10 needle on a domestic machine. I spray basted the quilt before quilting and had no issues with puckering or the spray baste not holding. To use the fitted sheet, I cut the elastic from around the edge. Once it was ironed flat it worked great, although it was a snug fit!

I did purchase the queen size so I could back two quilts from the same set. My Sugar Block of the Month quilt is going to get the same backing since the fronts are in the same fabrics.

Details:

Finished Size: 68 inches x 78 inches, Pattern: Spell It with Moda Fabric: Stash, Batting: 80/20 blend, Thread: Connecting Threads - Parchment, Quilting: Stipple

Large quilts on a domestic should come with complementary massages! My shoulders didn't like the workout.

Dog Days: Finished

At the beginning of the month, I participated in the Cloud 9 New Block Blog Hop and created the block Dog Days.  At the time of the blocks creation I was in the midst of those dog days of summer. Now with fall in full swing, how I wish to go back to those lazy summer days. 

Instead, I will enjoy pumpkin spice everything! 

Block Tutorial

While visiting my parents last weekend, I got in a quick photo shoot of a couple recent finishes. More on the other one later. The backing from this quilt came in the mail and I spared no time getting the quilt finished! 

Mike and I had drove North to attend my Uncle's auction. He had some cool thread displays for J & P Coats and John Clark from before they became Coats & Clark! Both displays sold way over my budget. So disappointing. Although I did get an old quilt made from feed sack prints, it's in rough shape. I just loved the pattern and colors. Any advice on repairs and washing? 

Details:

Finished Size: 48 inches x 60 inches, Pattern: Dog Days Fabric: Scraps, Batting: 80/20 blend, Thread: Connecting Threads - Sky, Quilting: Swirling Wind

... and just because I love that tractor :) 

Scrap Attack: Finished

Welcome to The Year of the Scraps! 

How many scrap quilts does a girl need to make in order to work through a scrap bin? Clearly, too many! This is my 4th scrap finish and the bin is half full {or half empty}. One of those quilts was twin sized, clearly I though more progress would be made!

Here are all the details about inspiration and progress on this quilt. Also some tidbits on making scraps into cohesive quilt. 

Details:

Finished Size: 47 inches x 51 inches, Pattern: Mock Up by Glass Snail Crawling, Fabric: Scraps, Batting: 80/20 blend, Thread: Connecting Threads - Parchment, Quilting: Diagonal 1.5 inch 

Oh, and don't look to closely.  Two of the blocks are rotated and I didn't realize until after they had been quilted. ARGH.

LINKING: Needle and Thread Thursday

Net: - 3 yards

Year to Date: -83.5 yards

Family Shirts: Finished

Summer is officially in full swing! Every year I think how productive I will become with all my free time for sewing {Not happening}. In between summer school and just being plain lazy, I was able to complete my Family Shirts quilt. 

A tutorial on how to cut dress shirts into squares. 

The quilt is made from shirts of my grandfather, father, and myself. This whole project had an emotional start, but ended up being exactly what I had in mind. Each square finishes at 4 inches, so there are a lot of squares here! 

The objective on this quilt is to love it to death. For this reason, I decided to go with completely machine sewing the binding. Anything to make this sentimental goldmine last longer. As for the application of the binding, practice is makes perfect. The whole process is becoming much easier. 

The quilt finished is twin sized, so it will look great on a guest bed. 

Penny Tiles: Finished

It's officially the first weekend of my summer. And, I am up north hanging with my sister while my parents take off to the ocean. Girls weekend!

This project has been a long time coming, but it's finally done. On my last post about this project I got a lot of questions about the whole "no-batting" approach to quilting. 

So here goes ... 

SUMMER WEIGHT QUILTS: NO BATTING

Final Thoughts 

Bulk at Seams: Knowing I wasn't going to put batting in this quilt, I pressed all my seams open to reduce the bulk. There is still some bulk at the corners, but the hand quilting hides most. You can still feel the seams through the quilt. This doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would. It adds a little character to the hand quilting. 

Hand Quilting: I used Perle cotton #8 in white for all the hand quilting. Something that is easy to find at JoAnn Fabric, or you can spring for a more fancy brand. The hand quilting is chunky and creates a ripple in the fabric to add texture. Here is my tutorial to learn more. 

My Opinion: There is a time and place for no batting. A quilt with big squares would be perfect, the less seams the better! Also something that is hand quilted or tied would give the quilt better drape. I'm not sure machine quilting would look good. My thought is, it would be bad. Having spent many hours under this quilt while hand quilting, I must admit I love the weight. It wasn't too warm and was warm enough. Just perfect. 

This isn't an answer to every quilt, but it is possible with the right conditions. 

Binding: This was also my first attempt as using the backing as the binding. I thought the double bias binding would create too much bulk and mess with how lovely this quilt drapes. It worked out better than expected and was super easy. 

Detail of back.

So, this weekend while antiquing I did find an old sidebar that I am going to convert into a kitchen island.

Exciting.

My father didn't share in my excitement as he had to go pick it up 20 minutes aways. As a reward, he got an old road sign to put on the pole barn.

I think it was a fair compromise. Other than the fact I put another 100 things on his "Daddy Do" list in the course of 3 hours.  I guess he does deserve a weekend away!

P.S. I also found a stack of weathered hardwood up in the attic of this barn. Hello, dining room table!