Economy Block and Large-Scale Fabrics

Recenlty I decided to take out and use the stash of Asian-themed fabrics I'd set aside.  Many of them are large scale, so I wanted to feature them in a large-scale block.

I'm really happy with how the blocks have turned out.  I've used up almost all of my fabrics, and this will be a throw for Michael.

I'm doing hand work these days, so I haven't sewn the blocks together yet, but they're ready for me to get the itch to sew by machine.

I paper pieced this block, which may seem silly to some, but I like the precision of paper piecing, and I enjoy the process.  I used these Lori Holt foundation papers, which come in various sizes--I've previously used smaller scale paper foundations of the same Economy Block.  I recommend them, they're easy to use and the 12" foundations offer the option to make more or fewer rounds.  And you can't beat a 12" block for a quick-to-finish block for large scale fabrics.
 

A Row Quilt, and a Non-Row Quilt

I whipped up this row quilt from some coordinating leftovers.  It was so quick and easy, I tried to group another batch of leftover strips to do a second one.

But these strips made for a more lackluster grouping, so I decided to make blocks instead.

Star blocks are so cheerful, especially for a baby quilt.  I press my squares in half on the diagonal en lieu of marking them with a pencil, and add them to squares for the star points.

I mixed up the yellow background fabrics, and even went further into stash to find enough for the blocks for this small quilt.

 

 

Another top is done!  I love the yellow and aqua combo.  This one will get quilted and go into my donation pile.

 

Crumb Quilt

Crumb quilts are one of my favorite kinds of scrap quilts, and I keep a drawer of small pieces and wait for the inspiration to strike.

For this one I especially liked using up triangle bits to add some interest to the squares and rectangles.

I pieced this quilt in 12" blocks, which I think kept me on-task.

 

The finished top is 36 x48.  I may decide to add a  border later.  I had a lot of pink scraps, which I think makes this quilt especially cheerful.

 The bits drawer is almost empty.  For now.

Mother and Child Quilt (66 x 90)

One thing I've been doing since I retired is to sew up projects I had bundled supplies for in my stash.  Most of the fabric in this twin-sized quilt top has been around for awhile.  The central Mother and Child panels came to me from Debra, (I'm pretty sure, though she doesn't remember).  I found the earth toned squares in a long-gone thrift store in the early 2000s.  They had been roughly cut, some looked to be from a garment, so I trimmed them to a uniform size at some point.  The half square triangles were mostly made up of a charm pack of Hoffman Challenge fabrics from 2007.  The fabric has history.

 

I'm very pleased with how this long-delayed project has turned out.  It will go to Debra for quilting and donation.  I feel like I got this one out of my system (and out of my fabric drawers) and that it will go out to do its good in the world.  

Note: that's blue painter's tape on the sewing machine desk.  I used it to quilt a small quilt, and now it's waiting for the next project.

Baby Quilts Galore

  

I've been having fun making baby quilts.  Most of these will be donated, but I'm going to keep one for myself, and one will be a gift.

 

 

One of the beauties of these small projects is I can try patterns or use up materials that I've been saving without starting a quilt that will take many months to finish.  I had this children's panel in my stash for years.

 

 

 

I did go out and buy this bee fabric for the back, since I didn't have anything that seemed quite right.

 

 

This little spiderweb quilt will probably stay with me.  I started it years ago, thinking I'd make a bed-sized quilt, but I guess I lost enthusiasm.  I backed it with this special vintage fabric Debra passed on to me.  I love the print with the little girl eating donuts.

 

I used up some random fabrics for this little quilt.  The back is a from a large piece of vintage calico I thrifted many moons ago.  It's the perfect color for baby quilts.

I often see YouTube videos and want to try a pattern, the quilt below came out of one of those inspirations.

And I'd long wanted to sew an Irish Chain quilt, so this little quilt let me scratch that itch.  The back is from home dec fabric I also got from Debra.  Since the top didn't scream "baby," I thought it should have an appropriate backing.

So I've sewn up a nice tidy pile of quilts, and I used stash and played with patterns.  It's a win all the way around in my book.

Pillow and Blanket

I acquired some lovely needlepoint pieces from Debra, including this one, which is a vintage pillow cover stitched from the back on velvet.  The pillow inside is a thrifted feather pillow, which Debra also tipped me off to.  There are almost always feather pillows in the thrift stores, she explained.  They usually have removable covers, and although they might say dry clean only, I've washed my feather duvet for years, so these go through the wash too.

The stitchery was a little smaller than the pillow, so I pieced scraps of upholstery fabric in dark colors for the border and backing. 

 I love the way this looks in my living room.

My niece Maria gave me pieces of pink fabrics she'd bought to make cloth masks, back when we were all making them.  I thought I'd make a baby quilt for her sister Nina's now-arrived baby girl.  I'd been admiring this cross pattern online, and there are multiple ways to execute it, but I picked the one that fit the fabric pieces I was working with.

For each block of this quilt I cut 4-4.5" and 2-2.5" squares of background fabric and 2-2.5" and 1-6.5" pieces from the feature fabric.  The pieces go together very easily, with minimal seams to match.

 Another baby quilt in the world warms a new baby.  I'm definitely in the baby quilt groove these days.

Even Bigger Scrappy (70 x80)

I finished my scrappy quilt top.  I decided to add another round of borders, and I used some smaller scraps to make paper pieced 4.5" blocks.

 

Before I retired I used the office paper cutter to cut an old professional journal into 4.5" pieces.  It seemed fitting to use them in this project.

 

 Now it's done, and the top will rest for awhile until I either get up the gumption to quilt it myself, or send it to be quilted.

 

I have to decide on the backing and batting options.  I'm kind of interested in attaching it to a piece of fleece, so it can be used as a casual utility quilt, but I'm still thinking on this.

 

Big Scrappy ( 62 x 73")

 

After a really busy 2021, I'm back in the sewing room in a new house and a new town.  Michael and I relocated to be nearer to family, and while there are still projects going on here at the the new house, I was inspired to use up a drawer of scraps to make my favorite kind of big scrappy quilt.

 

 

This kind of quilt really appeals to me.  It's visually busy, and there are few places to rest the eye.  I used more white than I typically do in this one, and this gives the shapes some definition.

 

When sorting this drawer full of scrappy goodness, I cut the fabrics into 2 x 3.5" rectangles, and made 4" half-square triangles, in addition to the main string pieced blocks.  These have been versatile units to work with,

 

I got pretty close to the bottom of this drawer, and I'm thinking of adding a row of small string-pieced blocks to the composition.  As you can see, I've got lots to work with still, but I'm letting the project rest while I consider my options. 

Here's to a happy and creative 2022!

English Paper Piecing

 

 

 When I retired I had visions of myself relaxing with some hand stitching, so I treated myself to a kit for Tula Nova by Tula Pink, who designs English Paper Piecing patterns.  Tula Pink also designs fabric, and one can see many versions of her patterns using her fabrics on Instagram.  I however, decided to use this pattern as a way to feature my collection of Mexican themed fabrics that I've collected over the years.

 

Several rounds in, I'm enjoying this project.  The last time I did English Paper Piecing, I made my own papers and stitch basted the fabric.  Now, kits come with die-cut papers, and each piece is glue basted, so it goes much faster.  Getting a thin thread makes one's stitches almost invisible.  Check out the vintage juicer I use to hold my threads, it makes me smile every time I look at it.

EPP is not very complicated, and I got a lot of tips from Tula Pink's YouTube videos.  When I want to feel especially retired, I sit in my armchair and stitch a few seams.
 

A finished scrap quilt (78 x 82)

 I recently finished a large-ish scrappy quilt.  It's hard to photograph in its present state, but you can see the design clearly in this older picture.

The machine quilting on this project is complete, and it's now labeled and ready to be mailed to its recipient.

Dang, it's hard to photograph a large quilt without getting too much cat hair on it.  I'm glad it's going to a household with a resident cat.

 I used a black and white backing from various flannel fabrics.  The foundation piecing made the quilt heavy enough to skip adding batting.  

It's been a really fun stash buster, and I hope its new owner will get a lot of pleasure from it.

In the Scrap Pile

 

 

I've been making more baby and children's quilts for donation.  I was cleaning up some scraps and started cutting odds and ends into 2 x 3.5" pieces, which make nice leaders and enders when you're sewing up other projects.  Just pair these pieces randomly and soon you have a nice pile that can be made into a quilt.

It's the perfect mindless sewing: very meditative.

This next quilt began as a test block.  The big 20" stars are made from 5" half-square triangles, and squares were culled from the scrap drawer.  A friend gave me several yards of the navy border fabric, which has come in handy for unifying scrappy quilts.

You can't get any simpler than strip piecing.  I culled  primary-colored fabrics from my stash, cut them into width-of-fabric strips, and sewed them together with the same navy border.  This one sewed up in a flash.

Some of these quilts will be quilted using flannel for the batting and/or backing, and some will be quilted to fleece remnants, which makes them extra-cuddly.

  

As an alternative to sitting at the sewing machine, I crocheted this baby blanket from bright yarn left over from another project.  

 This knitted baby blanket was the result of my effort to use up some dusty pink yarn that the same friend gave me who gave me the navy fabric.  It's not my favorite color to work with, but combining it with a darker color made a nice blanket I think.

My box of baby blankets is now stuffed to bursting and will be sent off soon to Pine Ridge.  I feel the seasons beginning to change here in my area, so they'll arrive in good time.