Scrap Bagging and a Tumbler

Awhile back on the 15 Minutes Play blog,  I participated in a scrap swap.  I boxed up a bunch of my scraps and sent them off to Chris so she could play with them.  In return, I received a nice large bag of scraps from her.  We were then instructed by Victoria (the owner of the blog) to play and make something using those scraps.  I pulled them out and really enjoyed making this pillow cover with the scraps.  I blogged about it here.  (now off to another subject, but I will get back to this one, eventually.  Just hang in there with me)

 

 

This week I have kind of been in limbo on my quilting.   I know that I really need to make some quilt backs so I can get them ready for the quilter.  I know that I need to finish organizing the studio.  I know that I need to put some binding on some quilts and make their labels so they can go into the "finished" category.  However, I didn't want to do any of that.  I really didn't know where I wanted to go so I took some time and cut up some scraps.  Then I received an order from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I know I told myself I couldn't purchase anymore fabric, but a charm pack for seven cents? { 0.07}   I had to bite and since I can't just get one - what am I going to make with one?  A Schnibble usually takes two.  I of course had to order another one and then some fabric for the back so it would all match - I am working on getting backs made for my quilts and my Schnibbles don't have the same fabric on the back as it has on the front since I never think about the back.  So I am trying to think about that pesky back fabric.  Then of course I found a boo crew layer cake I needed.  I discovered this fabric collection on the recent shop hop and thought it was really cute.  (This picture of the layer cake is off the Missouri Star website.)

 





 

Of course, the last thing I had to have - or so I thought at the time was a little tumbler template.  (again, the picture is from the Missouri Star website.  The reason it looks backwards - well, is because the picture is taken of the back of the template - the front is protected with paper until you get it home and remove the paper yourself.  Jenny's daughter, Natalie Dawn,  designs these templates herself and her signature is on the front)  Anyway, this template is only 2 1/2" square.   The best thing about this template is it already includes the seam allowance so all you have to do is cut and sew. 

 

 Since I was cutting up scraps, I thought it would be fun to make a mini tumbler quilt and began cutting some tumbler blocks.  I thought I would cut about 30 blocks and make a little 5 X 6 setting, but I kept coming up with little bits of fabric where I could cut one or two tumble blocks so I increased my setting to 6 X 7.  Not much larger, but that was more blocks than I had originally planned.  However, I quickly sewed some light and dark blocks together and had a nice center section.  I dug through the 1 1/2" strip box for just the right little border fabric and auditioned several of them, but I didn't have enough of the ones I liked the best.  I could have made the border scrappy, but since the middle is so scrappy, I didn't want to do that.  I pulled out a strip from the box and the light bulb went off .  It was of a fabric I had recently used and not put away.  It was right next to the sewing table so I could easily cut another little strip to complete the border.   Perfect.  That border fabric is a light yellowy/green print that I love and will be sad it is all gone.  However, it will be in wonderful quilts so I can still see it.  Back to the quilt in progress.  I thought it needed a darker outer border since a bunch of the tumblers were dark blue.  So, I looked in the box of fabric that I have been scrounging out of for a couple of weeks and found this perfect fabric.  I cut a 3 1/2" strip for the outer borders and voila!  I now have a finished little quilt top that is ready to be quilted.  Hmm, that means it needs a back. . . .

  



 

So, to avoid having to find the perfect back for this lovely little quilt, I decide it's time to play again with that bag of scraps I received from Chris (see, I told you I would get back to this)  I pull a few fabrics out of the bag, press all of them and begin cutting and sewing, sewing and cutting.  When I like what I have done, I decide it needed some circles appliqued on top.  All of the fabric in this pillow cover are from Chris except for the turquoise and white circles.  That is from a scrap I received while at Quilt Con and I had just trimmed it up for the scrap boxes.  It was the perfect color for this block so it had to be in there.  I quickly appliqued the circles and quilted the top and finished it up to this stage all last night. (well, early, early this morning)  Then tonight I added the back to make it into a pillow cover.  Of course, I added it on wrong the first time and had to remove the back, turn it over the correct way and add it all again so that is all that got done tonight.  I don't even have a pillow form to put in it - well, not without stealing it from the first pillow.  That may be on tomorrow's shopping list of things to do.  well - - - probably not since tomorrow is the last day of my summer.  I have to go back to school on Wednesday. 



 



Scrappy Trip and Strings

I finally completed my scrappy trip around the world quilt.  I am sorry to include a picture of one of my students in this one, I couldn't get it to crop out.  I guess I don't have the right programs to do that on my laptop.  So, just ignore him and the arm of the other student on the other side.  I don't know what the deal is with the two blocks in the second row.  I think they may have been too light or something, but since I didn't put the blocks up on a design wall, but rather just picked them up and sewed them together, I guess that is what I get.  It's kind of interesting and once you get past that, you can see that a few more blocks stand out also.   This was a lot of fun and the majority of the blocks were made while my students were elsewhere taking their state mandated tests.  I probably made half of the blocks at school.  So, I need to come up with a name for this quilt that reflects it's origins. 

 

I think if I do it again, I will make a concentrated effort to make that diagonal line more pronounced.  Instead, I let it be the fabric I liked the most or that stood out the most in that set of 6 fabrics.  So,  it could be a very pale fabric, a bright fabric or a dark one.  Then, I think I would make the two fabrics on either side be a major contrast to the main diagonal fabric.  That would make it stand out even more.  It was a lot of fun, but this quilt is HUGE!!  about 72 X 96.  Okay, not so huge, but still quite a large quilt.  I love seeing all the greens in there along with the pinks and reds.  Fun, fun, fun.  If you haven't tried making a block I highly suggest you make at least one.  The pattern comes from www.quiltville.com and I blogged about making the block way back here.

 

 

I just finished this pillow cover.  This is made from the scraps I received from Chris.  I am working on samples using strips and in the scrap bag were some wonderful strips already cut in various sizes so I just pulled a few out and started sewing them together.  Once I had them sewn up, I had to determine the shortest length and what size I could cut them into squares.  Then I decided I wanted something else, so I sewed on corner triangles.  Well, I sewed one on the wrong corner so I just made those two blocks have double corners so I could get the middle the way I wanted.  With the leftover sewn strips, I cut them into 1 1/2" strips to use around the outside.  I dug through the bag again and found the black and white print and just had enough to go around the outside of my four squares.  However, I wasn't going to have enough of the strips to go all the way around the block so I dug through the bag again and found a large piece in some of the same colors and VOILA!!  I have an almost 16" square (15 3/4" or so) I added some batting and quilted the top in straight line stitching - don't look too close in the center - that was the last little bit I did and I went too fast and it's not straight, but I am not taking it out.  Then, I dug through some of the fabric I took with me to Quilt Con and found enough to use for the backing to make an envelope opening for this pillow.  I can't wait to put a pillow form in there and see what it looks like all "blown-up".  This was a lot of fun and went together really, really fast with very little thinking on my part.  Which makes it so relaxing, I think.  Anyway, now I have one for two - a project from the scrap bag and a strip project for a class on strips I will be teaching in a few weeks.   Now, I need to post this over on 15 minutes Play blog so everyone can see it.