Glitter Progress and an Organizational Work Plan

Glitter Quilt Progress and Plan

Ooooh, I like this quilt, and so far so good! This is a fun project to get me actively into my scrap bins, and I love how it allows me to mix those fabrics in novel ways. Our scraps are an amalgamation of everything we've created whether modern, vintage, or traditional, and mine reflect that diverse work. These blocks do too. We can get stuck with thinking a certain fabric can only go with other fabrics in the same line, or ones we've used them with before. It's hard to shake off what goes together. It's like when you wear an outfit. Those jeans go with that shirt and these shoes. This is shaking it all up for me.

Some of the vintage feeling fabrics are truly old, and others are remakes. Some are old shirts. A few were definitely the last bits of favorite prints that I even pieced the very end parts together to get one last square. I'm loving the using-it-up mentality in this work!

How to Piece a 6 Pointed Star from Scraps

Harlequin 
Six Pointed Star Hexie

My last post 60 Degree Shapes talked about experimenting with these blocks, and many of you said this was something on your own bucket lists. It's opened the door to another world of quilts to make, and I thought you might want to join me.

This is a picture heavy post for those of you who need to know before continuing, but you'll know all my tricks from cutting to problem shooting by the end. Shall we do this?

*This tutorial assumes basic sewing techniques of a intermediate sewist.

Scrappy Quilts, Comforters & Free Pattern

The Scrappy Hurricane Quilt

While hurricane Irma hit the southern U.S., I sewed nine patch blocks from my table scraps. There was so much going on in the scrappy hurricane blocks I felt the quilt needed somewhere calm to rest the eye. I laid this up on the wall during a sewing day here in the studio, but have since rearranged several times. I allow layouts to hang, and switch blocks around over many days until I like the feel of it. If time permits this week, I will make the sashing from 3 strips: white, cerulean blue grunge, and white. I am also considering an outer border, but will be happy to just get the blocks assembled at this point.

Reaching the Summit of Scrap Mountain

The Insomnia Block:

Four Patch Scrappy 

Friendship Star

May I introduce to you my friend, Insomnia. She has been visiting quite often this week, and I am ready for her to go home! I need to sleep. The only good thing about being awake at 3 a.m. is the email flying back and forth with my good friend and prolific quilter in Australia. Check out her great scrap ideas (and incredible paper piecing) on Instagram @sewsurprising

Improv Chinese Coins Finish

Ready for a Sleeve...of Some Kind

Almost every picture I use on Pink Doxies is shot with a 5 year old Canon Power Shot Elph 110 HS. It's not a high end camera, and smaller and lighter than my iPhone of the same vintage. It's easy to throw in my purse. But occasionally I like to use iPhone pictures, if only to give an idea of what things look like under less-than-ideal conditions. When we look at our work in real life--in our homes, they are not typically in optimal photo studio lighting. A quilted piece should not be hung in bright daylight especially as textiles are prone to fading. So let's get real and pretend this is going to be something hung in a hallway, which it is. The light will probably be dim most of the time, and look much like above.

Bustin' the Scrap Piles with Easy HST: Day 6

HST the Easy Way

Even after yesterday's Scrappy Trips Around the World quilt, I still had a big pile of 5" squares left over. Sticking with my new theory of dealing with scraps as they happen, I took control. There is a terribly easy, no stress, low attention way to turn them into HST. (I say this because I plowed through the stacks all day while hanging with the dogs, and catching up on some t.v., and still didn't screw it up. I like that kind of sewing!)

January Goals: Charity Quilts

Happy New Year!

Isn't it heavenly to start with a clean slate? 

Are you ready to do a fabric purge in your studio, 

and put it all to good use?

A whole year of new starts, and fresh eyes toward our future is a gift. We stand on this exact spot, but recognize the opportunity less than we would like to admit. Many times it simply becomes routine with the New-Year's-Resolution-Thing. This time is different. I've taken the entire month of December to dream about what I was seeking in 2018. Nope, that's not a typo. How can you plan the year at hand by not looking further down the pike? Do you ever just get in your car and drive around and around? No. We plan destinations, and we determine the best routes. Energy is in limited supply.

Wanted: Other Quilters Seeking Joy

Another Scrap Box Dumped

"The End (of the Year) is coming! The End (of the Year) is coming!" If you heard this, and you only had one quilt to make before the End, what would you make?

Seriously, if you only had one more quilt to make 

EVER, what would you make?

Second Chance Quilts Super Scrap Project

 Made by Irene Krall

Second Chance Quilts Are My True Love!

There comes a time in every avid quilter's life when she or he ask themselves what in the world will they do with the growing heaps of left over fabric. This dilemma hit me last year so I made the quilt below for Hands2Help. It was made entirely from scraps and stash. The beauty above was designed, made, and donated by a friend, The Scrap Queen, Irene Krall. It came to me for quilting, and I fell in love with it!

Made for the 2016 Hands2Help project.

2016 Mini Round Robin

      

Friends, my bucket list has gotten a real workout this year. Yet another adventure begins today as I join a few friends in both the U.S. and Canada for a Round Robin. This idea started as a block swap, turned into a Mini Round Robin, and then I had to ask, "What's THAT?"

Second Chance Quilts

 Quilters Are Passionate About Scraps!

There are dozens of ways to say this. You've all spoken from your hearts. 

When I last presented my dilemma with the awful term scrap vomit, and how much I disliked it, I asked for ideas to give these delicious quilts a better name. You all came through. What a list!

Pink Doxies' Scrappy Quilt

I officially have less of a scrap stash than before, but admittedly could make another of these if not 2. Then there's the bin with the more traditional colors, but that's another story. I needed a finish yesterday--not to post, but for inner satisfaction. I needed to hear the purr of my machine, and I needed some time alone. My husband calls my studio, "Your Happy Place." I spent most of the day there feeding strips through my vintage Pfaff, and was perfectly content.

Taming the Scrap Monster

Can you remember the first time you set aside scraps thinking you would never save enough to make an actual quilt? I used to look at those scrappy creations, and nearly swoon. Many quilters admittedly prefer the look of using one single fabric line, but others like me throw abandon to the wind, and think the more the better. 

Improv Quilt: Gold Rush

Gold Rush

Stripped together from a box of scraps donated by a friend, these outcasts have taken on a new life. Two people said immediately it reminded them of a Gustav Klimt work. I believe this is the piece to which they referred. Stocletfriez

Image: Gustav Klimt, Wikipedia

Many Quiltworks In Progress

Moda's Moxi by Studio M

A few months ago I picked up a mini charm pack of these pretty-little-things at my LQS. I wanted to see if a smaller pre-cut would be more accurately cut than the charms, jelly rolls or layer cakes, and now I can tell you, "Yes!" This Moxi line was used straight out of the package, and I laid out something I thought would make sweet quilt center. A few seams needed tweaking just a bit, but overall they were quite accurate. I paid $4 for this package of 42 pieces. So, figure roughly 10 cents for a 2.5" square.

Patchwork Cushion

For all you scrap lovers, this post is for you. 

Here's the story of a family heirloom that no one wanted to sit on. It was too hard.