Rainbow Galaxy Finish and NTT

Welcome to Needle and Thread Thursday, friends!  In case you can't remember (because it's been awhile), I started the process of sorting and sewing my scraps for this quilt waaayyy back in May.  Needless to say, I'm thrilled to finally wrap this one up, and I could not be happier with the way it turned out.

Part of the reason this one took me as long as it did was because I didn't have a clear plan when I started sewing my scraps, and also because summer is SO busy that I'm usually not able to sew quite as much.  I had several different designs rolling around in my head, and I wanted to be sure I chose the one that maximized the scraps.  This spiral layout fit the bill, and it provided a great canvas for quilting.

The quilting follows the shape of each color section with echoing lines spaced between 1/4-1/2" apart.  I quilted these with free motion (and no marking), so they are organic, which I like.  Each color section is quilted with matching thread, but because the sections are curved, there are places where the color migrates into the gray sections just a little bit.  The result is one giant cluster of swirling lines that adds so much movement and texture!

At 64" x 80" this quilt is about a twin size, and because I knew I would be wrestling it during quilting, I didn't want it any bigger.  Alas, even after putting together a quilt this large, some improv pieces of each color remained, so of course, on the back they went.  This quilt is really double-sided (and the quilting design shows up so well on the back)!

The low volume prints that finish out the back came straight out of my stash, and used them for binding as well.  The scrappy, low volume binding sort of disappears, which is exactly what I wanted.  I briefly considered trying to match the color sections in the binding, but that would've just been insanity, ha!

This Rainbow Galaxy quilt has certainly been a long journey, but worth it!  My scrap jars are completely empty, other than the very few low volume scraps from the backing.  The last time my jars were empty was when I made my Strata Squared quilt, and that's been a couple of years.  I've certainly made scrap projects since then, but not any that completely cleared out the jars.  It makes me feel so good to empty them every now and then!

If you have a mountain of scraps and you don't know how to tackle them, check out my book, Scrappy Improv Quilting (Landauer, 2021).  You can find it in my Etsy shop (link at the top left of the screen), Amazon, or in your favorite quilt shop.  The book walks you through sorting and piecing your scraps, and then there are 22 mini quilt projects to help you get started.  As this quilt shows though, once you learn the scrappy improv technique, there's no limit to what you can create!

Last week's party didn't disappoint (they never do!).  Look at this lovely quilt by Julie's Quilts and Crafts-

This sweet, simple little baby quilt is from Anne-Marie at Stories From the Sewing Room-

And finally, even though it's not technically a fall quilt, the warm colors in this quilt from Sew Preeti Quilts have me longing for cooler weather (that will stay!)-

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