Scraps & Leftovers

I've been trying to use up fabrics in my stash.......some large scraps and some strings......the "Girly" quilts shown below were made from fabrics left from a quilt I made for my granddaughter for Christmas a couple of years ago, and I don't think I'm ever going to finish up with it.  Every time I pull these fabrics out and piece a quilt top, I still have more left over.  The backings for these two quilts are made up of leftover blocks and pieces from previous quilts also.

The star quilt shown here is made from star blocks left over after making a queen-size String Star quilt.

 



For the following quilt, I got out my box of 2" strips that I had cut from scraps and sewed together strip sets of 5 fabrics, beginning with a dark fabric and ending with a light fabric.  Thought I might make a Rail Fence quilt top, but decided instead to alternate the strip blocks with solid squares. Since I was using scraps, my strip sets all finished at different lengths, so after cutting my 8" squares from them, I had leftovers.  That is what I used for the middle scrappy border. 

I think my next scrappy project will be from 8" string pieced blocks.  Haven't even started the blocks yet, but that's what I have in mind.  Will keep you posted.

Split Decision

Found a new pattern called Split Decision that uses a jelly roll for the blocks.  I had one on hand called Audra's Iris Garden, so decided to go with it.  Prints are a little busy and some blocks don't have quite enough contrast, but it turned out okay.  Was very quick and easy to put together.

Treva's Sampler

I recently went with a friend to look at a Gracie Quilting Frame and Janome 1600 that a lady had for sale.  Treva had purchased it several years ago, with the intention of quilting her own quilt tops but because of health problems of her parents and herself, she was never able to use it.  While we were there and finding out that I have a Gammill longarm, she asked me if I would quilt one of her tops for her.  She pulled out this pretty sampler that she had put together in 2003.  It was so much fun to quilt it and look at all the beautiful blocks she had put together when she was still able to do it.  Here is a picture of Treva's quilt and close-ups of a couple of the blocks:

 

Thank you, Treva, for giving me the opportunity to quilt this for you!!

Brittany's Quilt

Brittany, the 15-year old niece of a friend wanted me to help her piece a quilt.  So we went shopping and she picked out her fabrics.  Using the Turning Twenty pattern, I helped with the cutting, then she matched fabrics for her blocks and did a GREAT job sewing them together.  She was a little uncertain about trying to add borders, so I did that for her, quilted it and hemmed it for her.  Made some valances out of one of the coordinating fabrics and she was able to re-decorate her bedroom.  She was so excited!  Here's  Brittany and her quilt:

 





GREAT JOB, BRITTANY!!

Lazy Sunday Mystery

Have finished the pieces for Part 1 of Bonnie Hunter's Lazy Sunday mystery:  48 Red & Cream 4-patches; 24 red & purple 4-patches; 96 large green/cream half-square triangle units; 148 small green/cream half-square triangle units; and only 8 purple/cream half-square triangle units.  I used my new Easy Angle ruler for the half-square triangle units and was very pleased with that technique......

Now I just have to wait another month for the next issue of Quiltmaker and Part 2 of  the mystery.

Easy Street Finished

Finally got the border on, got it quilted and just finished hemming it. Ready to take for Show and Tell at our Guild meeting tomorrow evening.  Now I can get started on Lazy Sunday, Bonnie's mystery quilt in "Quiltmaker" magazine.

 

 

 

Grand-dogs!

I have company this weekend so I haven't been spending much time in my sewing room.  My two daughters, granddaughter and some friends are spending the weekend in Destin, Florida, in a huge, gorgeous, amazing condo right on the beach, which belongs to my youngest daughter's boss (and she gets to use it for FREE!!).  Anyway, my granddaughter turned 18 last week and this has been a weekend of celebration for her with some of her friends.  She has a dog, Braylee, and my youngest daughter has two dogs, Abby and Nilla.........they all love to come to Marsha's house.......so I was the dogsitter for the celebration weekend.  For those of you who have dogs, isn't it amazing how much like children they can be?  They have followed my every footstep.......laid under my cutting table, if I was there; under my ironing board, under my sewing machine table, under my Gammill table, etc. etc.  I finally decided that it was a good weekend to get some hemming done, which is something I tend to procrastinate, so I relaxed in my recliner (with Braylee on the foot rest, Nilla laying next to me and the other two resting on the floor), found a good TV movie, and finished hemming a quilt.  Oops!  Something just caught my attention...Braylee and Ginger furiously pulling all the stuffing and noisemakers out of one of the toys.....they have it scattered all over my den!

"Princess" Braylee Grace

Abby

Nilla (top) and Ginger (my baby)



 

And lest I forget, here's Oliver.........he spends most of his day in the sewing room with me, laying on top of a chest of drawers, unless, of course, he sees me working on something that he has to "check out."  He was patiently waiting for me to finish unpacking a box, so he could get in it.  He usually goes next door to stay with my nephew and family when I have my grand-dogs........he and Ginger get along very well, but he's not too fond of that big black lab and others!

Enough about all the animals in my life.......I'm going to relax with them this afternoon and join Bonnie Hunter on her quilt cam, if they are still here.  They may be going home soon after lunch, though.