Quarantine SQUIRREL...

Hello again.

I hope I am not the only

one suffering from 

'Squirrel' syndrome during

this quarantine....?

Pretty sure I am not

and thought I would share

a few of the things I have done

since this began.

We went to Chicago mid March 

for a baby shower and that was

 the first time I had really taken 

my head out of my work long

enough to notice what was going on.

When we got home, I started making

some masks for my youngest

who works in a unit that

was being transformed into

a Covid unit and that freaked

me out just a bit...!!

This Worldmeter is dated March 22nd.

What a difference 2-1/2 months makes!

While my brain was trying to make 

sense of it all, I started hand piecing

these tiny little half-square triangle blocks.

Then for some reason unknown to me,

I decided I should start using some of 

the scraps from magazine projects to 

make a series of blocks...?

I don't make scrap quilts!!!

These were Very Helpful and necessary to 

my sanity as I watched job after job cancel.

So I have 5 sets of blocks

that match and I can't decide

whether to put all the same 

blocks, different fabrics together

OR, put all the same fabrics,

different blocks together.

Big Decisions!

Until part 2, keep stitching~

Scrap Quilt Challenge

Let's start with a giant HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME:))

It was fun finding out I would spend my birthday with so many quilters!

 

Ok, now down to business....

How do you define a "scrap quilt"?

You are here because you are taking part in the Scrap Quilt Challenge and they have rules, one of which is this:

 

A Scrap is defined as a piece of fabric smaller than a fat quarter left over from a previous project either done by yourself or someone else.  (It's okay to have scraps from another person)

 

So now we know the size but are there other rules?

I don't consider myself a scrap quilter by any means in comparison to all those who do it well and sometimes I question what the term "scrap quilt" means.

Is it different colors all put together willy nilly?  Can the sizes be large or small?  Should there be a common background? Does it all have to be random?

These questions would stop me in my tracks until I learned a new way of looking at scrap quilting.

 

Being military, I understand a 'scrap life' better:

a $10 bookcase here, hand me down bed there.......

When it comes to scrap quilting though, I feel the urge to control the outcome and might consider myself an organized scrap quilter.  What is the difference you ask?

 

Some scrap quilters can just let go and use that exercise where you just pull scraps from the bag without looking and go for it.

I cannot!  I have tried and as soon as two colors came together under (ok, near) the needle, I stopped and grabbed for another. 

 

If that is you too, then join me in my thought process so we can learn to be 'organized' scrap quilters together.

I'm not a matchy-matchy (all fabrics must be from the same line of fabric) quilter but to my eye the most successful scrap quilts are the ones with a common background so that there is a place for my mind to rest and the scraps are framed or shown off better, and ones that have a common element or theme.

 

An organized scrap quilter might pick a theme such as all florals, novelty, ocean, or birds.  A cream background combined with every floral scrap is beautiful but still hard for me.

OR, maybe deciding on a color scheme guides your scrap quilting and not the designs on the fabric.....I tend to fall into this category more!

 

When preparing to start a pattern sample, I shop from my stash first.  That seems like step one in organized scrap quilting because I now know that I have to make things work from the scraps on the shelf.

I don't remember anyone putting a size limit on how big my scrap could be so my rules are quite a bit looser:)

Exhibit A:  Las Flores de Amigas

                                                   

This sample started with a FQ pack all from the same line and matched beautifully.  Did I have enough to finish the top?  No!  From my stash I had to shop for the backgrounds to the applique flowers, the black petals, most of the green leaves, and the borders and 9 patches. 

The applique background isn't one fabric but the scraps are similar so that it reads as one common background.

In my 'organized scrap' mind, this counts as a scrap quilt!  The red, purple, and center gold are the fabrics from the pack and everything else was shopped from my stash. 

See how simple this is..... Next.

 

Exhibit B:  To Market



 



This sample started from the shelf and on a tight deadline.  I had enough of the beige background for the quilt and not much else. The pumpkins are 4 different oranges along with using 3 different greens, 2 different reds, and 2 different browns.  Again, doesn't really follow the rules for this challenge but Baby Steps!!

 

Exhibit C: Butterfly Cabin 

This is probably my most successful 'Scrap' quilt.  The creams and reds are all different!  It didn't matter to me that the prints were different because I picked a color scheme and that guided my stash shopping.  As long as the colors went together it didn't matter that one may have a panda in the background and another a flower.  The pieces were smaller too because I really did shop from the strip basket on this one.
Do you have a strip basket?  You know the spot where you throw those left over trim strips or excess binding strips.....
Get one, they are very colorful after a bit:)

So if scrap quilting isn't your thing, I do hope I have inspired you to at least attempt it in a controlled setting.  After you get a few under your belt, it gets easier to let go (or maybe not:))

Go visit the blog to get started-there is still time!
http://persimondreams.blogspot.com/p/scrap-quilt-challenge.html

You can find me HERE: 
http://www.nestlingsbyrobin.com/
https://www.facebook.com/NestlingsbyRobin
Thanks for stopping by!

Quilting with my Grandma

This photo is from 1994 when we went to celebrate my Grandma and Grandpa's 50th Anniversary!
L-R: Grandma Bea, my mom Ellen, Me, my babies; Devin on my hip and Lauren in front.

 

 

Ten years after her passing, I finally took the time to quilt with my Grandma.  I didn't learn to quilt from my Grandma and by the time I learned, she was already very sick.  Before she passed though, she had set aside a couple of UFOs and other pieces for me.

 



First up is this puff quilt made in 1976 to celebrate the Bicentennial.  Over the years it had become faded because she kept it out all the time to enjoy it.  So, at some point she decided to start taking it apart to redo some of the puffs in fabric she had saved.  When I received it, it was in sections with many little scraps of paper pinned to puffs notifying the order in the quilt: 2nd row, 3rd down, etc. 
Gram had done A LOT of easing in on those seams during assembly (must be genetic:)) and trying to sew through all the layers upon layers of seams was a pain in my big backside!! It did NOT take long for me to decide, no way Jose! Plus a sweet friend reminded me that Gram was gone and she wouldn't know:) 

What I ended up doing was salvaging the largest chunk for myself which is a good lap size. The reassembly in just that was a bit much but doable. The remainder of decent puffs were put into a good size pillow cover for my mom and the remaining fabric was donated to an appraiser friend who also does restoration work.
There is still some fabric left and I have an EPP design that I am working on to use it.  I will have enough to make a small table topper for myself and my mom!

What I learned:  I NEVER need to make a puff quilt:))

Next up was a box of horribly ugly 70s fabric that she was using to make a scrappy strip quilt.  When I opened the box, there were 8 finished, 12" blocks with all the green/red centers cut for approximately 32 blocks according to a sketch done in pen. YIKES!  Again, I pretty much knew that wasn't happening!  So now what to do with what was done.  These blocks had been done in the foundation method with a muslin??? that was more like cheesecloth.  I found a price tag on one of the fabric pieces that stated it cost $1.49/yd. and was purchased at the Fabric Bonanza.  I never heard of that store.....

I decided to give Foundation piecing a try and made 8 more quadrants, added some large green areas to try to quiet all the other colors, and some hippy-like floral applique.

I had a friend quilt it on her long arm machine with an all over floral design before I added the applique flowers--SO much easier!  Here is the new quilt with Grandma's finished 8 making up the 2 large blocks and my 8 quadrants in the borders and in the green areas for some movement.  It ended up being about 60" square and a perfect lap quilt for me!

What I learned:  Foundation piecing is SO much easier than paper piecing and I don't know why I didn't try it before!
I also was reminded of how much Grandma LOVED her moth balls.  With every press of the iron I was reminded over and over:)

For an added fun memory, I found some fabrics in the strips that seemed very familiar to me.  I went digging through some things and found this little doll quilt that Grandma had made me to match the Holly Hobbie puff quilt she had also made me.  I no longer have the puff quilt but do have the doll quilt.

If you look very closely, you will see the match to the pink swirl and the green floral fabrics.  Thank you Grandma for the lovely memories!!