Something from nothing

Victoria from Bumblebeans and Fifteen Minutes of Play has organized a swap of 12 inch mini-quilts made from scraps.  I had a lot of fun making mine (except for the part where I had to unquilt my free motion quilting because it was so jerky! More on that later.)  I took pictures along the way to show you how I made my block.
I started by sewing random scraps together to make an 8” square.  I cut a matching square from yellow solid fabric left from my rainbow quilt.



I sewed the two squares together right sides together around all four sides and then cut along both diagonals.




I ended up with four half-square triangles.

 

I played with them in a few different configurations.



I liked the pinwheel the best so I sewed them together.



Next, I needed borders.  I looked at the colors in my made fabric and decided to go with the turquoise colors.  I found more scraps to sew into borders and attached them to all four sides.




The back of the little mini-quilt could easily have been one piece of fabric but what fun is that?  So I sewed another scrap fabric and it looked like a little house to me, so I made some scrappy sky to go with it.



Then came the quilting.  I love the look of spiral quilting!  I tried it with the walking foot and it was very difficult to do the center of the quilt.  So I ripped it out and tried again with the free motion foot.  The center was definitely better but the outer circles were very choppy.  So, after some debate, I decided to rip out most of the spiral and leave the center intact.  Then I used the walking foot to finish the larger part of the spiral.  This was much smoother (although I can’t imagine doing it on a larger quilt!).  I love the texture.


I used some of my trusty black dot binding to finish it off. I sewed it on by machine and then finished the back by hand.  I am very happy with it now.  It isn’t due for another three or four weeks so I have some time to get some other goodies together.  I can’t wait to see the rest of the mini-quilts!  Click over to the Flickr group to see who has posted so far.

Play mat complete!

I made a play mat/quilt for my granddaughter to use at my house.  Just in time, as she will be crawling soon and not staying in one place!  I was lucky to have my daughter take some photos of Saydee on the quilt on a sunny day.

Saydee trying out the new quilt.  Doesn't she look ready to go?

I used a charm pack and some Marble Moda dots.  I was trying a new idea from Christina at A Few Scraps to make a triangle on one corner (she calls it a Golden Goose!).  She has a lot of designs made from this one idea.  I jumped right in and made the corners a little small (they get a little lost in the busyness of the fabric, I think). 

I did machine quilting (and lots of unquilting!  Lots of puckers on the back and I couldn’t stand it so I redid it several times!).  I did mainly meandering with one flower in the center of the design.  I also wrote the words: Baby Love, oh Baby Love (sing along!) in the white border.  It was fun to “write” with the sewing machine!

I used some more of the squares for the back.  Hopefully Saydee will come over and use it soon!

I am linking to some fun link parties below!  Go check them out!

Great giveaways!

Head over for a fabric giveaway at Pieced on Earth (and vote for some very cute boy fabric at Spoonflower).

Here are some of my favorites:

 Super cute foxes!

 Pirates and pirate ships!

 Owls in bow ties with balloons!

Tops and paper airplanes!

They are all so cute!  These are fabrics designed by regular folk and there is a contest to vote for the top ten (hurry over, the voting ends on April 6).

In other giveaway news, go here to domesticlass to win a copy of The Art Quilt Collection  and  2 charm packs.  Spirit by Lila Tueller and Dream On by Urban Chiks.  It is her first giveaway!

 

Naked Bed Challenge

I just agreed to making a bed sized quilt!  By June!  Hmmm.... I need to make one for school by then, too.  Maybe I can combine the two?  Jump over to Sarah Fielke's blog for more info.  She was shocked how many people who are quilters do not sleep under quilts (we don't, my lovely husband prefers comforters).  So she is challenging quilters to cover their naked beds!  Very cute.  Maybe.  IF I can manage it.  Hmmmm.....

Scrap swap and a new beginning

I received two out of the three swap packages I am expecting (you sent as many as you wanted  up to five and I sent three.  One of my partners just moved and will be sending hers after she gets settled.).  One of my partners checked out my blog to see what I might need and saw that I was a little short in the pink and tangerine categories for the Bottled Rainbows quilt a long so she kindly sent me those colors of scraps.  So much fun to play with!

Here are some of the pinks:

And all kinds of orange goodies!

This is my second package.  I am not sure what kind of fabric that shiny group is but the colors are beautiful!

Thanks to both of my partners, Kristin and Vicky!

Here is a project I started the other night as I was trying to figure out what to do with my brown bag quilt fabric.  I bought these great fabrics recently and I am trying some wonky curves for the first time.  I do not use any patterns, just cut away with my rotary cutter.  I cut two at a time and then switch the fabrics.  After sewing, I paired up two different blocks, then I made another smaller cut and switched the pieces again.  When I had finished all the pairs, I squared all of them up.  I have made eight so far, but I think I will at least make 8 more.  I may put a narrow sashing of white in to lighten the saturation factor (although I really love these colors!).

We spent the afternoon today buying a bathtub!  Fun, huh?  What did you do today?

I am linking up to Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day and Sarah's Whoop Whoop Party!  Jump over to see what other talented people have been sewing.