One Use for Quilty Leftovers

If you're like me, you have a drawer or container full of leftover, random quilt blocks or otherwise abandoned projects. There's something guilt-inducing about all the work and money they represent, just sitting there, unfinished, even if they are out of sight! I'm going to share how I'm turning mine into a project for the year to benefit a local charity.

I've taken blocks like this lovely thing I made on a whim to use part of a scrap pack of screen printed fabrics from Karen Lewis (back before she had her own fabric line), and transformed it into a quilted place mats. Really placemats are the perfect use for leftover blocks. A quick border can fill them out to the needed size as I've done with a couple strips of mustard solid.

Or, combine leftover strips like these extras leftover from making a custom Scattered Colors Table Runner. The small size of placemats is perfect for trying out new quilting designs too. I went to town with my walking foot, and I love the resulting texture and interest it adds to the simple piecing. 

I'm taking thriftiness and the urge to recycle up a notch too by using scrap batting (frankenbatting if needed), the last bits of low spools of thread, scraps of binding pieced as needed, and even odd fat quarters I realize I'll never actually use for the backing. Mine are about 14 x 18, but since they will be given to individuals, the placemats don't need to match or be identical in size.

If I make a couple of place mats a month I will have a nice stack to donate to Meals on Wheels by December. It makes me pretty happy to think of someone getting not only a meal but a handmade gift, and my drawer of abandoned blocks will hopefully be emptier. If you want to join in, donate to your local chapter and hashtag #placemats4MOW to share pictures online.

What's your favorite way to use quilty leftovers?

Introducing the Chromascope Quilt

I'm excited to share a new quilt design and pattern with you today. The Chromascope Quilt is a modern variation on a kaleidoscope block, featuring a rainbow of stars set against a trellised grey and white background. Careful color placement creates a diagonal gradation of color and value. The best part about this quilt, aside from the opportunity for color play and use of scraps, is that it can be pieced from a single foundation template.

The eight page, full color, pattern includes fabric requirements, cutting instructions, piecing directions, foundation template, construction diagram, and coloring page. You can find the pattern for the 50" x 60" Chromascope Quilt for sale in my Craftsy shop.

Nervous about paper piecing or creating all those points? I've created a detailed tutorial for piecing the 10" Chromascope block, with step by step photos. You can find the free tutorial over on one of my favorite sewing sites, Sew Mama Sew. I walk you through the process, give you rough cut sizes for each fabric piece, and share tips for precision piecing.

 

The design is such a fun opportunity to play with scraps and think about color. I used some of my favorite prints. I'd love to see your Chromascope blocks and quilts. Tag your photos #chromascopequilt or #chromascopeblock to share yours with the online sewing community.

The gorgeous cover and pattern layout were put together by my friend and fellow quilter, Trish Koch, a photographer and graphic designer. Local peeps, she's a genius at portrait photography, and fellow quilters, she's available for graphic design work.



The Secrets of Free Motion Quilting

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen some sneak peeks of a free motion quilting project I have been working on this past week.  I've been trying out some completely new-to-me designs that I learned in a Craftsy class by Christina Cameli called The Secrets of Free Motion Quilting.  I made a set of placemats for my family using Essex linen, matching Aurifil thread, and Kona solids bindings.

Christina generously offered to let me take the class and share a review with you (and a discount code you can find at the end of the post), and I jumped at the chance because I've been an admirer of hers since I found her blog A Few Scraps.  What strikes me about her free motion work is the freshness of her designs.  I think it is easy to get stuck in a quilting rut and use the same few designs over and over, and she uses some really unique shapes and patterns I've never seen before.

a Follow Along Design

 

a Climbing Design

First Steps to Free Motion Quilting is Christina's book, which is a wonderful resource.  Even if you own this or other books on the topic, I encourage you to try out the Craftsy class.  It offers so much that expands on what a book can do.  This was my first time taking an online quilting class, as well as my first with Craftsy in particular.  I loved the experience!  Not only do you get to see Christina's instruction, but you can post questions (which she answers super quickly!), see classmates' projects, print out an index of the designs, and insert your own notes to return to specific points in the video later.  The class is broken up into seven segments, each about 20-30 minutes long. As a mom of young kids I loved that I didn't need to leave home to take the class and could watch whenever I had a spare moment. You can go back and watch it as many times as you like too, and you can pause the video or put it on a 30 second repeat to practice a particular shape or really focus on particular movement.

Christina is a wonderful teacher.  I enjoyed her warm, encouraging demeanor.  She definitely makes free motion quilting approachable and clear.  I liked that she didn't edit out little mistakes but instead showed how to avoid them or overlook them.  It's true that so many small inconsistencies disappear when you look at the quilt as a whole, and if she has bloopers as an experienced quilter, I feel better about my own quilting. 

Beads on a String

 

a Beads on a String variation

In the class Christina quilts on solids with contrasting thread, so it's very easy to see just what she's doing.  She also sketches designs on a tablet, so you can see how the designs are made.  Sometimes it can be hard to figure out how free motion designs are made, so Christina also shows you how to decode designs you like and figure out how to reproduce them yourself.  I really can't recommend the class enough!

And right now, all Craftsy classes are on sale!  For those of you reading this post later, Christina has generously offered a discount code of $20 off the class price (although for now I think the sale is the less expensive option, so jump on it).

Free Book Excerpt and Download

I'm so pleased to share another project from Improvising Tradition Improvising Tradition with you today.  This project, the Jewel Box Coasters, is from the strata section of the book.  It pairs miniature strata piecing with quilt-as-you-go to create these functional and beautiful coasters.  I love how the quilting and Essex linen frame the improv center.

The exciting news is that you can read an excerpt from the book and download the project for free over on Sew Mama Sew today! 

Autumnal Improv Remix

The minute I wrapped up the Improv Table Runner for my friend, I started thinking about making another one.  While I didn't have enough Oakshott scraps leftover to make another runner, I did have just enough to make a quilted pillow.

 

The pillows is made with the same techniques and materials as the runner.  I even quilted it the same way.   I just made each piece a bit smaller, of course, and I backed it with a self lining envelope closure and added brown binding.

 

The quilted pillow cover is about 15 x 27, and I found a down pillow form at a home furnishings store that makes it super squishy and cozy.  We're really enjoying our autumnal décor this month.

Autumnal Table Runner

I made this improv table runner as a wedding gift for a good friend.  I wanted to use some gorgeous Oakshott scraps in fall colors, and that inspired me to divide the runner with a strip of brown, evoking a tree branch.

 

The improv technique I used is a variation on slice and insert, and it creates some wonderful abstract shapes.  My younger son informs me that "Abstract is when you get to make whatever you want - kind of like scribbles, but it is artwork." That's not too far off, and I'm a fan.

The blocks of color made it fun to quilt. I emphasized the divide between the colors by quilting the cream in swirls and the tan in elongated meandering ripples.  I did a simple rectangular spiral in each of the colored inserts.

I made a pieced binding to continue the background colors in the runner. It makes the binding sort of disappear, leaving the focus on the fall colors.

I was very tempted to keep the runner for myself, which I'm told is the sign of a good gift.  I hope it will see many happy years in my friend's home.

Scrappy Improv Strip Quilt

If you've been reading my blog for a while, or know me at all as a quilter, you know I love scraps.  I also love improv quilting.  Put them together, and I am in my favorite sewing place.  This scrappy, improv strip quilt was sewn up just for fun.  I had the idea to play with value and strips again, but in a different way from Partly Cloudy.  Instead of short strips used in strip sets, I sewed the strips end to end to create long, narrow columns.  And instead of concentrating the darkest values in the center, I put them at the top and the bottom of the quilt.  The lighter strips in the middle become the focus of the quilt. The varying lengths of the lighter strips makes the design dynamic.

I like how the quilt moves from pink to orange to yellow as well.  These bright, warm colors just scream summer to me. 

 

While I was playing with my scrappy strips, I sewed up a few improv log cabin blocks.  They never get old!  I used three of my favorite on the back of the quilt.

 

The quilt finishes at 58" x 71" and it just the right size for napping or picnicking or napping at a picnic.  I think it would be sweet in a girl's room at the end of a bed too.  The quilt is listed in my etsy shop. SOLD

Pink Cross Quilt

After a stretch of making exclusively improv quilts, sometimes I crave a simple, traditional project.  My pink and neutral scraps bins have also been getting rather full, so I started searching for a single block I could make, using just two fabrics in each block, featuring the pinks as the primary shape.

 

I settled on this cross block, a simple variation of the nine patch. My blocks finish at 9 inches.  The pieces are quite small, making them perfect for using scraps! If you are looking for a pattern, you can find a similar block in issue one of Love Patchwork and Quilting designed and made by Holly DeGroot of Bijou Lovely.

I had a lot of fun pairing each pink scrap with the neutrals, and the blocks are very quick to piece.  I chain-pieced about four at a time.

 

I quilted figure eights across each row.  Three inches was a very easy size to create, and the rows make for a clear horizontal guideline.  I definitely recommend this free motion quilting design, particularly if you have seams to guide you.  Very speedy!

The backing is a very popular print from Ikea which is particularly useful because it is about 60 inches wide.  Sadly, I believe it has been discontinued.

 

The binding is one of my favorite prints from the Botanics line by Carolyn Friedlander. I really want a bolt of it.  I think it would be fantastic as a background, in the place of a white solid.  

 

 

This 36 x 45 baby quilt is destined for my etsy shop.

 

 

Purple and Gray Strata Quilt

This quilt began as a pile of monochromatic strata.  I often sit down and create strata (improv, crazy pieced units) out of scraps when I need a bit of mindless sewing.  I added dark pink units around the lighter pink center rectangle, log cabin fashion.  The unit grew to include a final round of purple.
I decided to make a quilt, as the unit was too large for a pillow.  A large amount of negative space, using peppered shot cotton in charcoal, provided a nice space for some interesting quilting. I used matching aurifil thread and my walking foot to create a spiral from the center of the strata unit, outward.

I absolutely love the hand of the peppered shot cotton.  You can see a bit from the photos, how the warp and weft vary slightly from one another, since I cut the side and top borders the same way.  The warp and weft show slightly differently.  If this bothers you, pay attention to keeping the warp and weft oriented consistently in your border strips.

Shot cottons have a looser weave, in most cases, than quilting cottons, and in my experience can shift more when quilting.  As you may know, spiral quilting using a small home sewing machine requires a great deal of pushing and pulling through the machine throat and can result in a bit of distortion in a loosely woven fabric, especially if the quilt back is a quilting cotton which does not shift quite as much.

Even with some re-basting and unpicking, I ended up with some small tucks on the back of the quilt.  I have done spiral quilting on largish quilts, like the Tiny Log Cabin quilt, with no problem, so I surmise it the shot cotton made the difference.  I think straight-line in a single direction or free motion quilting would have gone over much better, but the manipulation required by spiral quilting a large quilt (60 x70) was not the best choice for the peppered shot cotton fabric.

Lesson learned, and hopefully someone will benefit from my experience.  The upside is that I get to keep this quilt!  I hope to use is as a sample for future classes on monochromatic strata piecing.

I'm linking to the Blogger's Quilt Festival for the first time.  Check out the link for so much inspiration.