I May Have A Scrap Problem.... Gratitude is Finished!

 

Hi, all!

I am definitely dancing a happy dance right now, because my Gratitude quilt is completely finished!!!

If this is the first time you've seen this quilt, here's a bit of its history.  I read about Amy Smart's Gratitude quilt on her blog (the pattern is free until the end of November!!) and immediately knew I'd need to make one.  Then my husband gave me a bunch of his old shirts to cut up for the fabric, and an idea was born!  So I gathered up a few more shirts and cut away.  Every piece of fabric in the front is made from men's shirts.....

...and so is every piece in the back!  I used all the extra 10" squares I had cut to make this back, and it really makes this quilt completely reversible!  But even better....

...the backs of two shirts yielded enough fabric to put a scrappy binding on this quilt, too!  So every piece of fabric in this quilt came from men's shirts that would have gone to Goodwill, and I have a big stack of 5" squares left over for another quilt.  I made some adaptations to Amy's pattern, creating a plus block that has four different fabrics in the corners, and I changed my border to the piano key border to utilize the leftover pieces.

So, have you ever used shirts for fabric to make a quilt?  

Hugs!

Sarah 

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? A Mixed Bag....

 

Hi, all!

Friday has rolled around once again, and you know what that means - it's time for us to get our whoop whoop on!!  This week seems like it has just flown by, but hopefully you can find a little something that you're whooping about to share!  So let's get started...

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I've been chasing a squirrel this week, working on a men's shirt version of Amy Smart's Gratitude quilt. (PS she's offering the PDF pattern for free this month - you ought to go get your own copy!) I'm saving the full photo for next Wednesday's post, but I did get the center of the quilt assembled....

Isn't that a pretty swirl?

And then I started some more pillow covers for a special project!

And look at the view out my sewing room window - isn't that spectacular?  Definitely whoop-worthy!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up?

What's making you do 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

I May Have A Scrap Problem... Progress on Gratitude!

 

Hi, all!

Well, it's been a busy week, but I'm pleased to say I have made some progress on my Gratitude quilt!  First I cut this huge stack of 10" and 5" squares from my stack of shirts....

...and then I cut a white oxford shirt into 2.5" strips to cut the cross-pieces for the plus blocks.  It's hard to believe, but one XL man's shirt yielded more 2.5" strips than I needed to cut all the strips for 41 blocks!

And then, I even had time to make a couple of blocks just to see what it will look like!  I've cut all the pieces for the rest of the plus blocks, and cut down about half of the 10" squares into their quilt parts, but still have some cutting to do to finish that.  

And now I'm wondering what this would look like on-point?  I may play with that on EQ8 to see if I'd like it.  Who knows?  The blocks are quick and easy so hopefully I'll have more to show next week.

So now I really want to know - what wonderful scrappy things are you working on?

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem... And A New Project!

 

Hi, all!

If you have seen my blog for the past month or so, you know that I'm working a WIP challenge - so of course I decided to start a new scrappy project!   Last week I shared Amy Smart's pattern Gratitude...

...with the thought that it would make a great scrappy quilt.  Then my husband cleaned some lovely cotton dress shirts out of his closet and said I could have them for my stash if I wanted.  It occurred to me that this would make a good manly quilt made with shirtings!  So I started cutting up those shirts...

...and when I realized I wanted more variety in the quilt, I went to the bins of shirts I had been stashing for years....

...and dragged out a whole bunch more!  FYI my husband is a bit of a clothes horse and absolutely loves nice dress shirts - so when he cleans out his closet I benefit!  And when you think it's not worth cutting them up, take a look at all the 10" and 5" squares those shirts yielded!  

I didn't count the final number, but after the first six shirts I counted 45 ten inch squares and 93 five inch squares!  There's a LOT of fabric in a man's XL  shirt and I think this is going to make a fun version of Amy's quilt.  Next week I should have some progress to show you, so stay tuned!

I'm also considering using this as a design for a few memory quilts I need to make using some very non-traditional pieces.  Still ruminating over that one, though, so we shall see!

So what have you been doing with scraps this week?  Anything fun?

Hugs!

Sarah

PS - remember that Amy's pattern is free until the end of November!