Scrap quilt tutorial using long, skinny strips to make a quilt from scrappy asterisk blocks.

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I realize that this is NOT a news flash, but I've been playing with scraps again. Ha! It's messy work, but someone has to do it! I made these banner blocks for the Minneapolis Modern Quilt Guild. The only requirements were to use brights and white fabrics and they needed to be 6.5" square. I had a lot of fun making them. This one is my favorite! It's a mini version of my bright birch trees quilt. The block is made up of 31 teeny tiny scraps....and one big white scrap. I love it so very much! I like this one, too, although not quite as much. It also uses 31 scraps...that must be the magic number or something. After making these teeny tiny ones, the pinwheel pieces felt absolutely huge! I could have kept going and made scrappy blocks all day long, but I kind of ran out of time. I'm counting these blocks as scrap project #58/101. These name tags are for some of my friends at the MMQG. (Can you tell that it's meeting night?) Also made from scraps. I love making these because they use small scraps of batting, too. There is never a shortage of those floating around the craft room. These are scrap project #59. This is an orphan block-turned-pot holder. Each square finishes at 1"! I used Insulbrite AND batting, so the quilting got a little bit funky....but it will just get used and stained...so, to quote my daughter, "it don't matter!" This is scrap project #60! Woo-hoo! And these are still waiting to be sewn up into something, someday! I wonder what they will become...

Scatter Sunshine Quilt by Brown Paper Packages Do you have too many scraps in your scrap bin? Here's a little tutorial to make yourself a quilt to use up lots of those little scraps. A little bit tricky to sew up the strips, but uses up some of those strange shaped pieces. Here's the how-to. Materials Needed: 1 yard backing fabric 1/2 yard binding fabric approx. 1/2 yard of white quilting fabric batting (approx. 40" x 40") LOTS of scraps! For this baby sized quilt (approximately 34"x34"), you will need about 28 yards of sewn up strips. Takes a little time and patience to get the funky, patchwork strips, but worth it in the end. Cutting: The only cutting you will do to start, is cut 8 strips of white as follows: 1" x11.5", 1.25" x 24", 1.5" x 36.5", 1.5" x 43", 1.75" x 41", 1.25" x 28.5", 1.25" x 13", 1.5" x 6". Sewing: Grab your scrap bin (or dump it out on the floor, by your feet and baby) and start grabbing some pieces. You want pieces that are at least 2.5" in one direction or another. They can be as long or short as you want going the other way. Now, the tricky part is sewing angles. I wanted mine nice and funky with lots of angles. It takes a little practice to get it right. This is what I found works best for the slightly off of straight angle (if you have a better way to do it, PLEASE share with the rest of the class!). Take your starting piece and lay it flat. Then add the next piece on top, at a slight angle, sewing straight along the edge of the second piece, like so: Then lay the two pieces out flat. If you are an iron-aholic you will probably want to iron the seam. I don't until I finish an entire 18" strip, then iron all of the seams. The trick is to be able to cut a single 2.5" strip out of your sewn pieces. Each time I sew a piece on, I put my see-through ruler thingy on it to make sure I can get my strip out of it. After checking your first two pieces, add a third. I generally would sew every other piece on at a right angle, to make sure that I was getting my strips in a fairly straight line, like so: Another way to make some funky angles is to make a seam just like you do when sewing up your binding strip. This will give you a sharp angle, or even a little triangle piece. Here is the general idea: Keep adding your pieces until you have at least an 18" strip (this is approximate-- just somewhere in the vicinity). You will need 56 strips. I used many different lengths of pieces. Some were 1" long, some were 18" long. I found that the wider the pieces (more than 2.5"), the easier it was to keep it fairly straight while getting some good angles. Trimming: Once you get your 56 strips, it is time to trim. We are going to take those crazy strips that look like this: and trim them to look like this: Of course, your see-through ruler thingy is going to be your best friend in this. And your iron. First you need to iron very thoroughly. Then trim your seams down to about 1/4 inch seam allowance. (You will have lots of cute little triangular shaped scraps. Any good ideas for triangle scraps?) Next, lay it flat on your cutting mat. Make sure it is FLAT-FLAT and not mooshed in one direction to make your line straight. If it is not straight, you can always cut it where it veers off and add some new pieces-- hopefully in a straighter line. Then, trim away! Cut each strip 2.5" wide. And now you have a NEW set of scraps, ready to be used. . . Now, we are going to sew all of our strips together in a straight piece. This piece will be cut into smaller strips. (I found that sewing shorter strips, about 18" was much easier than longer ones-- kept them straighter!) Here are the lengths of strips you will need to cut from the long piece-- make two sets: Set 1: 48", 45.5", 41.5", 39", 34", 31.5", 29", 26.5", 21.5", 19", 16.5", 14", 9", 6.5" and 4". Also add the following white strips to this set: 1" x11.5", 1.25" x 24", 1.5" x 36.5", 1.5" x 43". Set 2: 48", 45.5", 43", 39", 36.5", 34", 29", 26.5", 24", 21.5", 16.5", 14", 11.5", 9", 4". Add the following white strips to this set: 1.75" x 41.5", 1.25" x 31.5", 1.25" x 19", 1.5" x 6.5". For the first set, you will need to trim 5 of your strips down to 1.75" wide, 4 strips to 2" wide, and 3 to 2.25" wide- it doesn't matter which ones. Just make a good mix of sizes. For the second set, trim 3 to 1.75", 2 to 2" wide and 3 to 2.25" wide. This adds a little more variety and funkiness. Sewing: Start with your first set. Arrange the strips from longest to shortest, including the white strips. Take the longest strip (48"), and sew your next longest strip to it. Center it, so that you have about the same length hanging over on each end of your shorter strip. Continue sewing until all your Set 1 strips are together. Then repeat for your Set 2. Now sew your two pieces together and it should look something like this: Time to trim again! I folded mine in half one way and used my folded edge as my guide to trim the top/bottom and side/side. It doesn't have to be perfect in this step because you will trim again after you quilt it, but the straighter it is, the easier and bigger and squarer (is that a word?) it will be. Quilting: I just used a simple white for my backing and quilted it in straight lines, a 1/4 inch on both sides of the seam line, except on the white strips. I sewed one line down the middle of the white. After it is quilted, square it up again, bind it and enjoy! A little piece of sunshine. . . Leisel is from Brown Paper Packages. She is a Mama trying to find time to sew cute things for her girlies and also fit a few quilts into the mix. Stop by sometime and say hello.

If your scrap pile has been building up lately, put those pretty fabric leftovers to good use with this Scrappy Herringbone Quilt Tutorial. You can create a brilliantly colored quilt quickly using this sew simple quilting tutorial that uses a traditional herringbone pattern. This easy quilting project goes together in long strips opposed to time consuming blocks, giving it a country chic look that's perfect for fall weather. The best thing about this quilt is that it's a quilt as you go project, meaning you don't have to spend a lot of time drafting out a pattern and can easily adjust the size to your preference. Add a splash of country color to your home this fall with this pretty quilting project.

Let's make a Strata Quilt! Cut strips 1.25" wide from interesting fabrics in your stash. Sew the ends together so you have 55" lengths. Then sew these strips together. Make a block about 6" x 55." Enter your name in the drawing once for each block entered. Helpful tip: After sewing a long seam, press before opening. This "sets the seam" and makes it easy to keep the seam straight when you press it open. Otherwise it can get a little curvy. This quilt was made by readers of the Selvage Blog from all over the world. I finished the quilt, and it now resides in Florida in the home of the drawing winner: the Quilting Violinist. Remember to bring your Bow Tie blocks from February too!

The Summer Storm Block of the Month takes you through a rainstorm in a forest as you make quilt blocks. Full tutorials.

This is a very easy and fun block to make. This block is perfect for layer cakes. Learn to make a scrappy tube quilt block Learn tube quilting in 2 minutes: Materials Assorted fabric strips 3 1/2…

I unearthed a corner of my studio last week and came across some treasures. Neatly stacked in a cardboard box were my QM Bitty Blocks from 2015. I and other QM staff members designed these little gems as freebies that we presented month by month on the Quiltmaker blog that year. It was so much

This sewing tutorial will focus on bargello quilt patterns.

I have mentioned it before, but I am making a real effort this year to burn through some of my scraps. So far I have made 4 scrap quilts (see here, here, here, and here), but there are still so many scraps in my bin. There were a large number of long, skinny strips and leftover charm squares and I wanted to make a quil

My Scrappy String quilt/wallhanging is finished and hanging on my entryway wall. It's the perfect spot for it I think, and my husband agrees. We love it hanging there to greet people as they enter our home. I quilted it with "organic" lines down the middle of each string. I like the fact that the lines are not perfect. And, I love the black/white polka dot binding. It's perfect! There is not a good way to get a photo of the whole quilt so this view is from the hallway looking toward the front door. The next photo is the view from the stairs as you are walking downstairs. I'm really, really happy with this quilt. It was fun to do and I love how it looks on the wall!! I was going to do a tutorial but I found an even better one than I could have written. It's seems many, many people have used this tutorial and I can see why. It's very good. Here's what I did differently - rather than one narrow white strip down the middle, I did two strips of black/white fabrics. That way, when they were opened, they created a much wider light "middle". I used a 10" foundation block and when finished sewing all the strips onto it, I trimmed it to 9 1/2". I used 1 1/2" strips throughout. It was an easy, easy quilt!! In case you want to see even more string quilts, I've created a little linky party. Please join in if you've got a great string quilt to show us! Take care,

From fabric hamburger.... to rainbow sandwiches..... to Scrappy Sandwich blocks! Here's how I make them..... ...

Hi, all! Are you having fun with your scraps this week? I know I am! Here's the latest blocks for my Long Time Gone quilt... These log cabin blocks were fun and I worked them up in about an hour, pulling fabrics from the top of the string basket again. Today I also pulled some scraps to remake this block.... ...because when I put it with the other blocks I've made, it seems dull and muddy. I've pulled some pretty Kate Spain prints for the second go and I think it will be much better. This one will find a home in another quilt! And now, since I have strings on the brain these days, here's some great inspiration I've found in the last few weeks... You can find the original info for all of these quilts by clicking on them on my Pinterest page, Oh Scrap! What have you been doing with your scraps this week? Feel free to link up below and share!! Hugs! Sarah

This morning I spent several hours cutting in an attempt to bring some order to the scrap chaos that is currently in my sewing room. My m...

FREE PIECED FABRIC MAKING OK players! Got your bin of scraps? Here's a step by step of 15 minutes of play... Put those strips of fabr...

My scrap stash is getting bigger and bigger these days so I've been looking for fun ways to use up my bits of precious prints and sassy solids. I've got quite a lot of strips and squares of fabric, so I think string quilting just might be the ticket!

Scrap quilt tutorial using long, skinny strips to make a quilt from scrappy asterisk blocks.

Check out this Ampersand Designs Horizon Quilt Pattern ! It’s a strip quilt with simple style and a modern vibe. When the skies are crystal blue and have those thin, long clouds that look like brush strokes - that's the inspiration for the Horizon Quilt Pattern. I love the spin of bold colors and abstract design of the

Aside from playing around with EQ, this is what I’ve been working on. I need 4 long strips like this for one of the pieced borders for Scrappy Star. At this point, it seems like an endless bi…

This scrap quilt was a long time in the making. I started a couple years ago sewing 1.5"x2.5" crumbs of scraps together and just finally finished! I love using up even the smallest scraps of fabric. This was started as a leader-ender project, but I can never leave them as leader-enders. They have to go on and become my main project! Originally I was going to set these still on point, but in a zig zag arrangement instead of the pinwheels (like old gum wrapper chains). Then I saw the Bonnie Lass pattern and decided to go that direction instead. I decided to go with setting triangles cut from scraps rather than white and I really like how it looks. I quilted the top with a stipple and bound it with black. Scrappy binding seemed like the natural choice, of course, but I wanted something more solid to give a definite edge to the craziness of the top. The size of this quilt was determined by how many of those little blocks I had made... it wound up at 64" square. Of course this quilt is going to Covered in Love. I just took a big delivery up to the hospital yesterday bringing our total to 155 quilts! If you want to join in you can find details about program on the main page or find our block drive going on here. Linking to Finish it Friday and Oh Scrap! Listening to... Avicii. I secretly love EDM and techno :) Happy music for a happy quilt.

I have been quieter the last few weeks, slower too. I had debated on resting a longer while from blog posting and not really starting a...

I decided to go ahead and put Wood Chips on the frame and quilt it. Although the long arm only make a good stitch going forward. I'm pretty sure that I need a new encoder for the y-axis as that is where the stitches are undesirable...sometimes short and sometimes long and sometimes barely there. Since DH's accident I'm not sure he could lift the sewing head and at 50 awkward pounds...I'm not going to risk lifting it either. That encoder is the one that sits under the carriage the head sits on. Any further investigation will wait, probably until the new year. In the meantime, forward sewing it is! and I'm grateful that the long arm is still stitching! I decided to bind in red as I thought the little pop of color would compliment the overall look. The serpentine quilting looks like the right choice for this design...and forward sewing! Yay! pattern credit: Riley Blake's Wood Chips pant credit: serpentine Linking up with Sarah at Whoop! Whoop! and Alycia at Finish or NOT Friday

I call this one "My Happy Quilt". If you click here you can go back to the post that shows the back of it too. It has a combination of Kaffe Fassett fabric and batiks. This quilt is very low contrast. I was trying to imitate an antique quilt that had a variety of elements and a medallion style layout. Click here to go back to the post that shows my drawing that I worked from. I really like this quilt. I had made a few 4 patches but just wanted a sprinkling of them throughout the quilt. Click here for the post that shows a close up of the quilting. I made this one after seeing the cover picture on Kaffe's book "Quilts in the Sun". I changed the size of the block so I could get one block from each strip of border fabric that I cut. I used Benartex Fossil Ferns as my solids around the Kaffe prints. Click here for the post that shows a close up of the quilting and binding. I made 2 sets of similar blocks using crooked strips and divided them up for 2 quilts. I auditioned several sashing colors and my readers gave me their opinions. Posts starting on Dec. 18, 2008 and going into Jan. 2009 (if you care to go back to the archives) show the procedure from making the blocks, choosing the sashing, and finally sewing together. This one is 25.5" x 37". Here is the second quilt with the other half of the blocks. I call it "Celebration". I didn't get it quilted until Jan. 2010. Click here for the post with a close up of the quilting. It measures 31.5" x 45.5". I liked the pastel striped quilt in one of Kaffe Fasset's books and decided I would make one. I ran the stripes across the narrow way instead of lengthwise on the quilt. Here is a link to the page showing the inspiration quilt and my fabric choices. The zig zag quilt top is a charm quilt, every piece different, 308 of them. It was fun to design it since charm quilts are always a challenge. This is a link back to the page where I had finished it. If you want to follow the journey of the designing, go backwards from this date. The barn raising layout quilt top was made before the zig zag quilt top and uses the same size triangles, 6.5" squares cut diagonally. There are 140 different fabrics, 2 pieces of each in this top. I was making this one in February, 2010 if you want to go back to any of the process pictures. This is a pattern called Star Trip. It has a controlled number of fabrics rather than the scrappy way I usually work. This is a Karla Alexander design from one of her books. I was inspired by the 'S' quilt in a Kaffe Fassett book so I designed an 'H' block for myself. I call it "I Give it 5 Stars" for the 5 star blocks mixed in for fun. I worked with 2 sizes of strips around the center squares, changing the position of the 2 sizes in half of the blocks. It was a challenge sewing on point with sashing. Bento Box pattern finished in April 2011. 3", 6" and 9" finished squares with a layout furnished in one of Kaffe Fassett's books. This one was finished in June 2011. Trip Around the World completed in October 2010 Square Dance 1 Inspired by a quilt in one of Kaffe's books. Completed in 2012 Square Dance 2 Completed in 2012 3 sizes of Bear Paw blocks Random Plank, sewing sequence like Jelly Roll Race random length strips instead of full length. Kaffe stripes and prints in 16 patches with floral panels Using all scraps that were strips, I made 2 sizes of blocks for this quilt. Cool color bordered squares, fossil fern borders Crosses wallhanging, Kaffe Fassett pattern, my tutorial on label list under Tutorials. Strips 'n Curves templates and technique. Made from one strata. Two wallhangings, Kathy Doughty pattern in book "Adding Layers" Large squares of Kaffe fabrics with sashing of many striped fabrics, a Martha Negley fabric border. Zig Zag quilt made with strata. Small colorwash with all Kaffe collective fabrics. Pinwheels of hand dyed and Kaffe fabrics with alternate blocks and border of Kaffe Parasol fabric. Half hexagons of Kaffe collective fabrics.

Creating A String Quilt String Quilts have a long tradition. Since they use small strips (strings) of fabric, they are a good use for fabrics left over from other projects. Assembling a string quilt isn’t hard—in fact, if you like playing with fabric, it is a lot of fun. I can’t tell you how many yards of fabrics you need, I’m afraid—this is a project where you pull out the scraps and create as you go. Before beginning, think about the type of block you want. For this demonstration, I was learning how to do a star, but simply cutting straight strips will work as well. You can choose to make the center of each block of the same fabric and strip width to tie the quilt together visually like this: or you can go with a completely random block—the choice is yours. Take a look online for images. You will be astonished at the variety. Also, think about size. I usually make a 10” block (I got a good deal on some 10” piecing papers), but either smaller or larger will work. Think about a foundation. As I mentioned, I use paper, but many people like to use fabric (usually muslin) squares. The advantage to this method is that the foundation becomes a part of the quilt, rather than requiring removal as paper does. I prefer paper since it doesn’t stretch out of square, but many people have good results by starching their foundation squares. What you will need to begin: Strips of fabrics Foundation material of your choice Sewing machine (I suppose you could do this by hand, but that’s not something I want to tackle!) Cutting mat Ruler (a 6”x24” is what I use in these photographs) Rotary cutter (You can use scissors, though it will be a slower process.) Iron and Ironing board Washable glue stick (optional) About the fabrics—you may use leftovers from other projects, buy new fabrics to cut, or check out thrift stores for old clothing to cut up. I advise using 100% cotton fabrics, but I know people have made quilts with cotton blends as well. Avoid anything stretchy or meltable—you will be using the iron for this project. About the tools—I love my cutting mat/rotary cutter/ruler combo—it takes so much less time than scissors and markers—however, unless you plan to do more quilting/crafting, you may not want to invest the money. Quilters got along without my handy gadgets for many years, and they made gorgeous quilts. Safety alert—Rotary cutters are razor-sharp! Take your time and pay close attention to your cutting. To create a string block: Place your foundation flat on the table Choose your center strip. Note: in this case, I am making a star-shaped block, so my center strip is shaped like a kite. A straight strip about 2” wide will work perfectly, if you want to make a straight block. If you are planning to make a quilt that ties together in color like the picture I showed earlier, all your center strips will be the same width and color. I like to use a glue stick (washable) to anchor this first strip across the center of the square, though that isn’t required Choose your next strip. It can be any width greater than ½” (though I’d stay between 1” and 3” when learning to do this). Place your strip on the edge of the center piece, right sides together. Stitch along the edge using a 1/4” seam allowance and a short stitch length (this will help with paper removal later). Press your narrow strip away from the center. Add a second strip on the other side of the center, just as you did the first and press it in the same manner. Continue adding strips, until your paper is covered. It doesn’t look great right now, but it is time for the magic. :) Turn the whole piece over. Using a ruler and rotary cutter, trim the block using the edge of the paper square as a guide. When you have trimmed all four sides, turn the block over. Viola! You now have a beautiful string block! You can remove the paper at this point. If you have used a short stitch length, the now-perforated paper will peel off easily. (You can wait until after putting the blocks together to remove the paper, if you wish. It is your choice.) Putting your blocks together When you put four of the squares together, the star appears. (Or the X if you are using a constant color/fabric/width strip in the center.) There is very little matching when sewing these together. Note, however, that in this case, I was careful to match the edges of the black (just above the colored strips in this photo), so the star doesn’t appear jagged. If you have used a constant color/fabric/width in the center of your blocks, make sure it matches in that same place, so your lines will be smooth. Sew the blocks together in fours. Sew the large stars together to form your quilt. I chose to add a border to mine, but that is up to you. Here are closeups of some of the fun fabrics I used: This shows the backing and binding I chose: String blocks are a lot of fun to make—I hope you will try them.

Choose Whatever Accent Color You Prefer to Tie it Together! This beautiful quilt is sure to make a big dent in an overflowing scrap bin. In the process of using up those odds and ends of 2 1/2″ strips and squares, you’ll be making a gorgeous quilt you’re sure to cherish. The designer accented hers …

I've really been using up the scraps this week. I'm making six inch (finished) string blocks. I need to make 130 blocks for the twin size quilt I have planned. I'm using quite a mix of fabrics. Leftovers from a...

A while back I made this simple strip quilt top. It was one of those " I have to make this quilt right now or the world as we know it ...

Free jelly roll quilt patterns using batik fabric. From jelly roll bundles, to fabric collections, batik jelly rolls, long strips, scrappy strips of fabric, even wide strips you'll be able to sew them up into beautiful quilt patterns.

It’s been far too long since we posted a quilt tutorial! While this quilt is baby size, since we are gifting it to a friend...

I LOVE THIS QUILT!!! The black and white that I had planned to use for the binding was set aside. This red plaid sings!! I took the quilt to work earlier this week . . . "it reminds me of the scrappy quilts my grandmother made" "I love how crinkled it is and how soft it feels" "I think the back is the bomb" Chris did more of her amazing free motion quilting. It's perfect! Here is the front of the quilt. (measures 48" x 60") This is the back . . . (Wild Garden ~ Pollen fabric) Thank you, Tonya! I am SO glad you shared your idea with all of us!! Quiltdivajulie

Stretch squares through this quilt tutorial to create a long checkerboard quilt, a great way to use jelly rolls or scrappy strips of fabric.

Welcome to finish it up Friday! Thanks for all the wonderful comments on my epic quilt top ! I appreciate each and every one! Once again,...

Dumpster Diving 3.0 is FINISHED! 48" x 62" Quilted with vertical wavy lines using Glide thread in Bark. The back was not what I had planned to use - it's better. I did a favor for Jill S. in Illi

I finished my Legos top and love how it turned out. This is Ellis Island: While I sewed, I realized I was making a quilter's Ellis Island. (Ellis Island was the port of entry into the United States way back before airplanes). You know, send me your tired, your poor, your wretched refuse - all those unwanted (fabrics). The name's a bit formal for this loud fun quilt, but still appropriate. There really are some uuugly fabrics in here... I ended up going smaller than king-sized - this is 70x80. With all these shedding cats, any quilt on our bed will have to be washed and I'd like it to be easy to do. Plus, I was really inspired by a photo of Mary's bed with multiple quilts on it. Perfect since my husband and I completely disagree about how much warmth we need to sleep. So sorry that these fabrics from Barb didn't arrive in time, but they will get into another lego quilt! some of these are sooo not ugly. love love the "hello" fabric in all sorts of different languages. Not that we need warmth that often in Florida. But we'll be moving to Maryland next spring and I know they get winter "up in America" as my husband calls it. We've done some househunting and fingers crossed will get a house we love. Anyone here a member of the Columbia Faithful Circle Quilting Guild? I think that will be the nearest guild. Back to the legos. These blocks are sooo much fun to make and so addictive. Seriously fun. Here are some fun one that others have worked on (sorry if I missed anybody - just let me know!): Chawne's Compost Quilt top Julies Dumpster Diving Siobhan's Pensieve Quilt top Diane's Chinese Coins in progress Clare's ongoing monster (don't we all need Doctor Who!) Sara's legos with One-Patches top. The borders are great too. Joe Tulips legos with Flying Geese. she got distracted by zombies though... (well worth it!) Lynley's not quite legos top Kim's I-Spyish lego blocks This is how I approached making the Legos quilt. Sara came up with a different method, just sewing a biiiig long strip amd cutting it in two and joining those lengthwise etc. I have to get a blogpost done so I'm going to sign off now... See you all hopefully sooner than the last time! By the way, you can follow this blog by email (there's a doohicky over in the sidebar) so you'll know when I finally post again! That is, if you're not using a reader (which I highly recommend if you follow more than a couple of blogs). Lily says, time for a nap!

Weeks at Craft Nectar shares two tips for sewing long strips together to prevent them from bowing/curving. For a quilt top any distortion is undesirable because it makes piecing difficult. One of h…

Have you ever made a scrappy binding? In the spirit of making do and using what I already have in my stash, I raided my “long strips” scrap bin for my latest binding, and thought I’d capture the process so I could share it with you. Calculate how much quilt binding you need Step one […]Continue Reading...

Learn how to quilt with easy patterns that teach you the basics! Each of these quilts is simple to assemble, uses basic shapes, and is something you can be proud to display in your home or give as a gift.

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

Quilting Live in Atlanta was great fun! We made Mini quilts and also some Double Wedding Rings! It was such a whirlwind trip! Check out all the fun stuff! I'd say these are about actual size... ;-) 1.5" blocks... My husband and daughter picked me up friday night and we went straight out to our house... I meant to post over the weekend, but I realized I didn't bring my computer along with me! And no other WORK projects, so I got to relax, sew whatever I wanted, and also Cooked all day on Saturday! Beatrice and I made a carrot cake, I made a few jars of Rhubarb chutney, then cooked a great meal of Salmon with Leek & spinach cream sauce with Gruyere scalloped potatoes... Yep, I went all out! I sewed some 15 Minutes of Play blocks, which are for one of six new commission quilt projects! Someone asked me this weekend if I still get to "just sew." I said, "That's all I pretty much do." She said, "No like, just for fun." I said, "Everything I do is fun! I only make what brings me joy... Finding people who want to have one of my quilts, and making it for them, is pretty great... Next to giving one away! That is #1, to give to those who need. Quilts bring Joy. I get Joy in making them... I always make the quilt I want to make... So the fun is always present. I'll keep you posted on this project as it grows... It's so bright and happy, hard to be sad, looking at all that color! ****** A super Busy this week! Newtown Quilters Guild in Newtown, PA Tuesday and Wednesday. 16th -17th Hosting a Book Release Party for Roderick Kirakofe here on Thursday eve. Quilters Take Manhattan Saturday at F.I.T. ( sold out) 20th QTM After Dark party here in my home Saturday night. 20th Miniatures Class here in my home classroom Sunday. (sold out) 21st Then I head to Acton, MA with Alex Veronelli of Aurifil to Quilters Way : we both lecture on Sept 23rd. Then Sept 29-30th I am at Keystone Quilters, in Quakertown, PA Amazing book, by Roderick Kiracofe. So many fabulous quilts inside, you will be inspired!!! Check it out! More info on that to come...