Wow! Can you believe it's Friday again! Are you ready for the weekend? As spring gets closer (or at least the warm part of spring) I get the urge to work in my yard on the weekends - but I still spend my weekdays in the studio! I've been busy this week working on something fun - so I'm ready to get my whoop whoop on - are you? Let's get started!
Several weeks ago, Craftsy contacted me and asked if they could send me some of their new Boundless solid fabrics to review on the blog. Well, let's see - get free fabric to play with and then talk about it? Yeah!!
When I looked on their website, this is what I found out about their new line...
"Inspired by quilters and their creativity, talent, and just a dash (or three!) of sass, the Boundless team set out to create collections that live up to every expectation and excite fabric lovers daily. With a stunning spectrum of colors and original prints and a premium, easy-to-work-with hand, Boundless is designed to delight."
These fabrics come in 30 colors, in yardage, 5" squares, 10" squares, 2.5" strips, 6" strips, and fat quarter bundles. There are a variety of pre-packaged color ways, too!
And best of all, it's 35% off right now!! And just to make life interesting, I want to show you what I made with my 6" strip bundle....
Isn't this pretty? One 6" strip bundle, 25 strips of beautifully saturated solids created this 57" square quilt, a great lap size!! This particular color way is called Crayon Box, and there are five other curated bundles that contain enough strips to make this quilt.
It's a beautifully simple quilt - just hourglass blocks! I pretty much allowed the colors to fall where they would, just avoiding putting two of the same color next to each other. Here's a simple tutorial for the hourglass block...
If you’ve never made an hourglass block before, it couldn’t be simpler! Here’s how you make this block. Take two 6” squares of different colors, and draw a diagonal line, corner to corner, on the lighter block. Lay the light block on top of the dark block, right sides together, matching the corners, and stitch 1/4” from each side of that line you drew. Cut the block apart on the line you drew, and carefully press the seams to the darker side. (FYI this is also the process for making a half-square triangle block.) Now make another set of HSTs with a different pair of colors. You should now have four HSTs, two in one color pairing and two in another.
Now, take one of each differently colored HSTs and draw a diagonal line from the light corner to the dark corner, crossing the stitched line. Lay the marked HST on top of the unmarked HST, with the seams matching and the colors in opposite position, as shown above. (The top HST is folded back so you can see the alternated colors.) Pin across the pencil-marked stitching line, making sure that your seams are butted together nicely and corners line up. Stitch 1/4” from either side of the line you drew. Cut on the line to separate your work into two hourglass blocks! Tada! Trim to 5” square.
For this quilt, I cut each 6" strip into seven 6" squares, then paired each with a contrasting color for the first half square triangles. After those were cut and pressed (but not trimmed), I paired them up as shown in the instructions above and stitched them again. After those were cut and pressed, I squared them up to 5" square, arranged them on the design wall until I was happy with the design, and put it together!
Time to make the back. In keeping with my efforts to sew my stash this year, I looked for material in my yardage that I liked. Nothing there! Then I remembered the two tubs of random fat quarters I had stashed away, and picked out twelve pretty rainbow colored prints that read as solids. It all worked up really quickly into a nice back!
Next I loaded it up on the frame and did a quick and easy random meander, then bound it with a diagonal stripe from the stash. A quick turn in the washer and dryer, and voila, a finished quilt!
And you know the most wonderful thing about this quilt, at least to me? Right now, the 6" fabric roll I used is only $27.62! That's all it would cost to make this quilt top - what a great deal! And there are 6 different color combinations to choose from. Something for everyone!
Now here's the skinny about these fabrics - they have a lovely hand, nice consistent weave, and the colors are beautifully vibrant and clear. They sewed well, washed well, and there was almost no color bleed on my Color Catchers (and that was more likely to be from some of the fat quarters I used on the back!) I would use them again in a heartbeat!
So - - - can I get a whoop whoop???
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And now it's your turn!
What are you whooping it up about this week?
What's got you dancing a little happy dance?
Share - we want to dance right along with you -
And it's always more fun to dance with friends!
The party will stay open until Sunday midnight -
Hope to see you there!
Hugs!
Sarah
PS - There's lots more on clearance at Craftsy, too - you'll find craft project kits and supplies from your favorite brands and designers, discounted at least 40%. Stock up for spring, and get ready to pack a picnic basket full of inspiration! Hurry - offer ends Sunday!
