"Quilt as You Go" Fun! Really, Really Scrappy!

Well, sitting there with bags of strips and leftover smaller squares, I decided to again attempt a "Quilt as you go" quilt.  I had found the last one I did to not be too much fun but thought I would try again.  I had a large bag filled with scraps of batting that were too narrow to even sew together for a larger quilt so took it all and cut it into 10 in squares.  I really utilized it as if I didn't have 10 inches, I pieced batting together to make it 10 x 10.  I chose 10 x 10 as that was the size of those random 10 in squares I had cut out as referenced in my last blog!  I had about a 6 inch high pile of them!  The strips were the leftovers from cutting those 5 and 10 in squares.  They include hand dyes as well as failed marbling fabrics where there was not enough to really do anything with.  They were all different size strips and the ends were chunks from another bag of small pieces. 

Here it is done and measures 40 x 60.  I had originally intended as a baby quilt but it didn't feel babyish enough for me.  Of course, it will be donated to one of the charity groups in which  I participate. 

And here is the back!  There was no way I could keep the front and back organized the way I wanted at the same time so there are a few blocks I would move around on the back if I had been able to figure out a way to do it!

I must say this second time went a lot more smoothly than the first and it is probably because I learned some things doing the first like making the back sashing strips 1 5/8 inches wide instead of the one inch wide in the front.  I also stitched that second block to the first with the sashing side on top which seems obvious but don't think I realized it before.  There were a few "gotchas" but went pretty smoothly.  I think the whole quilt only took a week of my afternoon 2 hour sewing sessions.

I discovered that I had a lot more scrappy 2 inch strips in bags on my sewing table which is pretty much a mess at this point!  So I decided to do another QAYG using just the 2 in strips.  

I also have designed another block which will use my 5 inch squares and will be QAYG but that will have to wait until I get this second quilt done.  

I spent a good deal of this afternoon piecing together batting to make 10 in squares.  Where I don't have enough, I cut 7 in squares which I use to make pot holders!  Only had a few of those.

Here is the beginning of that quilt.  To be continued...

 

Been Doing Lots and Lots of Cutting!!

Well, I finished this one block wonder and then decided it was time to "unstash" some of my fabrics that were in various and sundry places and not big enough to really do anything with.  I decided on 5 in squares and 10 in squares.  If the pattern was really pretty and largish, I would make 10 in squares and then cut 5 inch squares from the remainder.  Occasionally I had enough for some 2 1/2 or 2 inch strips.  I rarely threw out anything more than 3/4 in wide but filled a waste paper basket!

This is a 12 inch by about 18 inch plastic box which contains all the 5 in squares which are standing up so  you can easily see everything.  I noticed there really weren't any greens, blues or yellows to speak of.  I use a lot of these colors and must have most of them down south or in larger yardage.  This was mostly cut from fat quarters or quarter yard pieces.  Lots of hand dyes and a few marbled pieces that were not good enough to keep whole.

While going through the miscelaneous boxes, pulling out the small pieces, I came across several (what I thought) were really nice pieces of hand dyed fabrics from a long time ago.  I didn't want to cut into them as they were fat half quarters so decided to put them up on my design wall for inspiration.  Immediately I thought of jackets or large totes.  I really don't need another jacket, but one may find its way into one when I get back to the south where my favorite pattern is!

This was my favorite and most likely to be a jacket back in the future.

 

This will find its way into a tote I think.  So will the next one.  They are fat quarters.  

 

This is also one of my favorites and is tied with that other one for a jacket favorite!

It's Been a While!

Even though I haven't posted, I have been sewing.  This 4 patch posie was created from one of the fabrics from the previous two quilts.  I wasn't crazy about the fabric and I had enough to do this one.  I have been gathering fabrics to border each one of the blocks in a variety of colors.  I may need to take this one to the beach to finish as I have a larger selection of hand dyes down there.  I am relatively pleased but still trying to decide whether i will do one in a another colorway that I had.  I finally discovered the quilt in which I had used many of those brown Kaffe fabrics -- it was an art quilt I did many years ago and which is hanging on one of my walls!

I then delved into some of the black and whites I had up here -- again not as great a collection as down south.  I had some of the half rectangles cut  out and a HUGE pile of four patches I made from some random scraps so went with this very old pattern.  The half rectangles are 9 3/8 in x 4 5/8 in.  They all have to be facing up when you cut them.  The four patches are made from 2 12 in squares.

I got bored so didn't cut any more rectangles but still have a ton of four patches!

After finishing the above tops, I went through boxes in my sewing room as well as the basement to see what patterned fabric I could find to cut up into 5 inch squares and 10 inch squares.  I started with the leftover Kaffe fabric.  Any fabric that read as a solid substitute, I cut into 2 1/2 in strips to be used as borders or binding.  I always do these in groups of six.  In doing this, I found this fabric which I didn't like well enough to cut into large pieces.  However, I did like the colors and I had enough for six repeats so I decided to do a stack and whack.  It was time to do a little sewing again!

So I ended up with the makings of 55 hexagons and started putting them up on the wall.  I think there are 35 here and this isn't the final configuration as I want to move some around.  The hexies are still in two 3 triangle pieces.  I decided to do this one as a "one-block wonder" rather than inserting any triangles as I do like the colors and there is enough variation so you can group colorings in hopefully a pleasing manner!  I have enough of the fabric leftover for an outer border for sure.  There will be a white inner border as well as probably a thin green one.  I'm not sure whether I will give this one away or not as I do like the colors!

Not pictured but I have huge piles of 10 in squares and 5 inch squares and I have been collecting patterns on Pinterest to make use of these!