SPARE SQUARES 2024

 

My second SPARE SQUARES quilt from Lori Holt's SCRAPPINESS IS HAPPINESS book.

I guess this is classified as "curated" scrappy since I stuck to pinks, reds, browns and soft neutral low volume backgrounds. 

The stack of pink blocks sat on the shelf  for about a year patiently waiting for the mood to strike.

This backing was bought for another project which didn't pan out, but I really like it with this quilt.  

It wasn't quite wide enough, not a problem, needed to be used anyway.

Machine quilted in a wonky, wavy grid.  

Wow, so fast and easy after the previous hand quilted one!

Binding machine sewn to the front and hand stitched to the back.  Those last few stitches are always a bit sad, silly but true.

Will I do this pattern again?

Maybe.

It's a great one for extra 1.5 and 2.5 inch scraps.

KALEIDOSCOPE

KALEIDOSCOPE is a pattern from LELLA BOUTIQUE by Vanessa Goertzen that I bought well before Covid, so I'm guessing 2017.   I believe the shop was in Kitchener and they were part of the July Shop Hop. Of course they had a beautiful sample on display and I just had to have it. lol..

Seven years later I finally got around to it.

This pattern was a treat to piece, nice and easy, especially with a jelly roll.  So the piecing went quickly, unlike the quilting which took a leisurely 9 months.

Big stitch quilting , Baptist Fan design.  It's fairly dense, the lines only spaced half an inch apart.  It was a pleasure to work on and so worth it.  Now that it's washed it has an amazing cozy feel to it.

Binding machine sewn to the front and hand stitched to the back.

Washed and wrinkly here 😍

70 x 70

Double Double #3

 Another scrappy finish, YAYYYY.  I get so attached to these, so many pieces means so many memories.  I made two similar ones, in 2020 and 2021.  This baby uses 1, 2 and 4 inch finished squares.

The black and white stripe binding is my favourite part of the quilt.  The second favourite part is the feel of the backing which is a new sheet I purchased. It has such a smooth, cool feel to it.

I wish so badly I had more of that stripe!!!!!

Mostly machine quilted with every fourth row being hand quilted.

Voila, a sweet finish.

46" x 62"

Linking up with SOSCRAPPY

BE AN ELF (X2)

 I had the best of intentions to make 4 Elf quilts for all the grandkids this year.  I should have known that even just 2 quilts almost identical would be a stretch.  These adorable guys were pretty easy and fun to make. The pattern is by Jennifer Long at Sewastory.

I followed the pattern for the Elf  both times but changed up the bottom sections

.  For the Red Elf I just put a longer bottom section , wider side borders and some extra snowflakes.

Our Little Green guy has the called for borders I believe, but I swapped out the original lower section for some trees from Lori Holt's Vintage Christmas Book.

He's hand quilted along with the trees .... but his background is free motion quilted with loopy swirls and the border has machine quilted straight lines.

Backed with a cozy Minky. 

The Red Elf is backed in extra border and background material as well as a strip of fabric leftover from the backing on my Vintage Christmas quilt from last year.

No hand quilting on this baby.  I did  all over fairly large loopy swirls...I am still in awe of how easy my Janome 6650 makes fmq feel.  That extra throat space is sooooo worth it!!  I still prefer to handquilt when my hands lets me, but I'm slow at it so it's great to be able to finish the quilts from start to finish myself either way.

I'm pretty sure the kids will love them, the quilts are plenty big to be used for years to come.

started: March 2024

finished:   Oct. 2024

Linking up with Cynthia at OH SCRAP

 

A B C

My first Alphabet quilt, I'm happy with how it looks and feels.  LOL, the feel is just as important as the look, especially for little ones.  I am planning to donate this one. 

Almost all the fabric is by Lori Holt as are the blocks.

I used the pattern for her 6" tall letters and added borders to each block to increase the size to 10" finished.  The letters are not all the same width so some math was needed ...good  practice.

Machine quilting was done in a grid  on both sides of the blocks and hand quilting inside the blocks.  I was trying to keep it as soft and cozy as possible by avoiding dense quilting.

The quilt finished at 50 x 60  and shrunk to 48 x 57.75 after washing and drying.

The backing is a 60 inch wide Robin Hood fabric.

Two other quilts are in the process of being hand quilted.....what was I thinking !??!

My hands and wrists are not happy, but I'm still hoping to finish them eventually.  Next week I have a dr. appointment to get them checked out finally.

 

Feeling a lot like Fall around here. It's been a busy, fun Summer but Fall is always welcome!

 

KALEIDOSCOPE is making slow progress. The border is on, it's layered and pin basted and best of all ... the hand quilting has begun.

I'm big stitching a baptist fan design.  Its 3 inches with half inch spaces.

This is my more portable project.  It's from Bonnie and Camille's Quilt Bee Book.

That yellow star is not working for me.  I'm thinking of changing it to a medium green.

My sewing room is a disaster!!! I really need to get in there and clean it up.  Being in the basement, it's not tempting me to go down there. I'm toying with the idea of moving it to a guest bedroom on the main floor.

St. LOUIS 16 PATCH

 

My St. Louis 16 Patch Quilt was inspired my Sarah from Confessions of a Fabric addict. She gives a free tutorial called Meet me in St Louis .  I believe I made it one row bigger/longer that hers.

I used a fat quarter bundle ... but I can't remember the name of it.   Precuts appeal to me because I really dislike cutting from large pieces  of fabric.  However I'm not always thrilled with the variety in the precuts.

P

Free motion quilted on my Janome 6650....love that machine!

A pretty quick finish,, actually done last year but never got around to posting.

This one will likely go in the donation pile.

64 x 80

Most of today was spent putting these finished blocks into a topper:

So far it's 60 x 60.  It calls for a 5 inch border to make it 70 x 70.   Borders are not my best friend but I'm thinking to donate this one and the larger size will be good for an older child.

The pattern is KALEIDOSCOPE by Vanessa Goertzen for Lella Boutique.  I bought the pattern at least 5 years ago during a July shop hop after seeing it done up as a display.  LOL, can't believe I finally made it!

The main fabric is a Jelly Roll ... Bountiful Blooms by Sherri and Chelsi for Moda Fabrics.

Linking up with Cynthia at Oh Scrap!