Tag Archives: modern

Improvising with Scraps

It certainly has been quite a while, but I finally have time to post again! Back in March I brought my improvised scrappy blocks to the Boston Modern Quilt Guild Retreat and put a quilt top together.

I finished this quilt a couple of months ago on my long arm.

The back of the quilt has a few of the blocks, too.

I am still saving my scraps and sorting them by color, but maybe I should throw them all in together and try a different approach next time! No matter what, it is a great way to be thrifty and also environmentally green. Reuse, recycle, and don’t waste any of your precious fabric!

What’s Going On With Jane

I have been fitting a Jane Block in here and there, so I thought I would post pictures of them.

Jane’s Oak has been done a bit differently. I machine pieced the bottom instead of appliquéing it, so the white on the sides is missing.

I had a dreadful time with the Parcheesi block after trying to hand piece it and came up with a rebellious melon free solution!

The block is really very similar to its neighbor Deanie’s Daisies when approached this way. I may still do it the correct way in a year or two!

I was happy with the rest of the blocks and I found the melons in Dad’s Plaids to be very cooperative. I sprayed the heck out of the fabric with Best Press and then used the needle turn method for both the appliqué and reverse appliqué. I also used Jenny Haskins Template Magic as a guide for turning the fabric. That stuff is great because it sticks to the fabric and can be reused a few times.

I did not cut the back out of Poof because the seems for the piecing were not secured so I am afraid they will rip out. Maybe some fabric glue? Not sure so I am leaving it as is for now.

I now have 59 blocks done, but am way behind in the group I am doing this with. I must be about 8 months behind now. But, I am still getting them done and am pleased with the results, so I am not giving up on this!

Scrappy Monochromatic Blocks

The Boston Modern Quilt Guild is making charity quilts this year and members have been asked to donate blocks made with fabrics that are from the same color family. The quilts will then be made with a rainbow of the different color grouped blocks.

I came up with a strategy for my blocks which involved sorting all of my fabric scraps by color and then selecting strips from each pile and sewing them together.

After sorting the strips I trimmed them so they were all about the same length and so that each strip was a uniform width, but the strips are various widths!

Then I sewed them together.

For the blocks that I decided to make I made sure that the pieced strips panel was 38″ long and about 15″ wide. This is enough to make several blocks. You do need a 38″ long strip for the log cabin block featured in this article.

Trim the uneven edge and don’t forget to save your scraps that are too small to sew with. These will be the stuffing for a pillow!

I cut my pieced strips 3 1/2″ wide and some are 2″ wide.

One of the block designs is a log cabin block. This block uses one of the 3 1/2″ wide strips with other fabric scraps. The center is a 3 1/2″ square bordered with 2″ strips.

Sew the strips and then trim them to the correct size. Use a square ruler to make sure your cuts are correct. The center block will be 6 1/2″ square.

Then continue adding the 3 1/2″ wide pieced strips. Sew then trim to the correct size as you go. Once the block was larger than 6 1/2″ I got out my 12 1/2″ ruler to trim the block.

The block will be 12 1/2″ square when completed. These are two of the blocks:

Here are some made with purple and green strips.

Of course I got carried away and will be making a lot of these blocks, so I will make my own quilt with these blocks. Usually I would use all different colors, but I really love the idea of using strips that are in the same color group. The finished blocks are sublimely wonderful.

Janette’s Bird Quilt

I wanted to thank Janette for sharing a photo of her bird quilt with me. You can see that she was inspired by my bird quilt to create her own quilt with her bird fabrics.

Because Janette had an idea of how she wanted to put her quilt together before she prepared the blocks she did not end up with Y seams like I did! Sometimes a little planning makes sense even if you are improvising.

I am so happy that I was able to inspire someone with my bird quilt and would love to hear from anyone who has been inspired by my blog!

Back to Jane

I did manage to get a couple of months behind on Jane, but I got five blocks done for the March meeting. Five more and I will have 50 blocks. The group at Quilter’s Common has been meeting for one year now. Three more years and I might have a quilt top! I don’t think I will catch up for awhile, but I hope I don’t get further behind!