Scrappy Quilting with Squares

I had a big pile of squares I wanted to use up, so I assembled a couple of scrappy quilts.  It was the perfect easy, no brain-required exercise,  and I cleared out my stock of squares.  I attempted an alternate light and dark layout, added some semi-solid borders, and I was done.  This top is waiting for me to pin it to a piece of fleece and quilt it up.

I sashed the squares in this second quilt, which is a smaller kid quilt that I've donated.  I like the way the sashing  (in one of my favorite colors) sets off each square.  
 

 

I had some leftover backing fabric from a large quilt I finished last year.  It felt good to get this one finished and sent off. 

If you look in the left bottom corner of this picture, you can see that I put my work table on table leg extensions.  It's made cutting so much more comfortable, I wish I'd done it sooner.  I got mine on Amazon, but I'm sure big hardware stores must carry them

Snake in the Hollow Quilt

 

One thing I've been doing lately in finishing up some old WIPS.  This one is a hand-pieced quilt I started more than 10 years ago.  I remember working on this once while Alex played paintball, so he was in high school then, and he's now almost 28.  

 

I once had grand ideas of a full-sized hand-pieced quilt, but when I revisited this project, I said, better finished than perfect, let's get this one done.  It's perfect for a small table runner.  I sewed up the blocks by machine and machine quilted it along the undulating lines.  Bob the cat approves so much, he decided to take his nap next to it.  

 

It's fun to look at all the small prints I included.  One WIP down, I've got a few more to go.  

Knitting Project Bags

My hankering for new project bags started when a friend and her two daughters asked me to teach them some sewing basics.  Our first project was this cute tote bag.  The pattern and tutorial are free from Craftsy and the you only need a fat quarter of the feature fabric.  I found a remnant of this donut fabric at JoAnn's, and I love how my bag turned out.  My sewing students made theirs from fat quarters of batiks, and they came out beautifully.  I really liked their choices of complimentary lining and handle fabrics. 
 

 

Because I have a number of knitting projects going at any one time, I decided I wanted a couple of more of these Japanese knot bags.  These bags take about a half yard each of two fabrics, and they can be assembled from fat quarters, which is what I did with these two directional feature fabrics.  I made these before, and you can see my original post for details. 

 

How about that lining?  I've filled this bag with the materials for my next shawl project.

 

Here's the second bag I made.  I lined it with some really cute flannel that Debra gave me when I visited her a few years ago.

 

These projects are really quick to finish, which is a nice break from my slow-sewing project: the king sized quilt.