I May Have A Scrap Problem... But Now A Little Less!

 

Hi, all!

It's been a hot minute since I posted about my scrappy endeavors, but since I hadn't had much time to work on anything scrappy, I didn't have anything interest to share.  But today I have a flimsy finished!!

Here's what it looked like Tuesday night when I shared it with my sewing sisters at church. But it was still a hair small for what we needed.

Here's a close-up shot - I took it on an angle and it looks really different here!

I found a beautiful green Modernist print by Joel Dewberry in our stash at church and added those borders today - now it's all ready for quilting!  Maybe I can get to it sometime this weekend....

Also, just for inspiration, aren't these stars just fabulous?  I saw this on Pinterest and tucked it away in my folder for this post.  I think I have the design for my next scrappy quilt!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend (if you are here in the States) and find some time to do some scrappy sewing of your own!!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem... How About Some Inspiration!

 

Hi, all!

Well, it's been a really busy week working on annual quilts for the grandkids, so I haven't had any time to do anything scrappy.  Although I will say in my defense that I did use up a fat quarter bundle that's been sitting in my stash for.e.ver.  So there's that!  But I do have some scrappy inspiration to share with you...

First of all, a disclaimer - none of these are my own work. And they've been sitting in my digital files for a while, so I don't know where to attribute them to, either.  But you should enjoy them - I know I do!!

My stash of black and white prints is screaming "THIS ONE!"

And if, like me, you have an overabundance of blue scraps, isn't this a great solution??

I absolutely love the use of "made fabric" in this sunburst...

And here's a great way to put old flannel shirts to use!

And for those tiniest of scraps, isn't this glorious?  I love the unifying solid alternating blocks that set this true postage stamp quilt apart.

Remember, there's an incredible amount of potential in your scrap stash!  Whether you leave it in raw scrap form, or cut it down to usable sizes, there's loads of "free" quilts in those scraps!!

So - - - have you been doing anything scrappy this week?

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem.... Some Inspiration!

 

Hi, all!

Well, it's Wednesday night, the day before Thanksgiving, and I've been cooking all day.  Didn't think I'd have anything to share today, but as I glanced at Instagram in a down moment, I saw two pictures I just totally fell in love with!  And wonder of wonders, they are both scrappy and therefore perfect to share with you....

This first quilt was made by a local acquaintance who truly loves to make scrap quilts.  If you need inspiration, her Instagram feed is definitely the place to check out!  She calls this her Bitcoin quilt.  I've seen quilts made like this before, but wasn't too interested - until I saw this one.  For some reason all the color and movement just sings!  This will definitely be going on my list of quilts to make.  After all, I've got all those strings already cut out!

And our friend Emily, of Em's Scrap Bag, posted this beautiful picture - beautiful for both the quilt and for the sentiment!  Emily's blog is another great place for inspiration but this quilt was totally new to me. I'm already seeing lots of possibilities with this one!  

So that's all I have today - I'll try to do better next week!  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and if shopping is your thing, a safe and productive Black Friday and Small Business Saturday!

Hugs!

Sarah

Hands2Help - Inspiration from Guest Blogger Wendy!

Hi, all!

Welcome back to another Hands2Help Sunday!  As we get closer to the end of the Challenge, I am loving all the beautiful quilt pictures that show up in my in-box.  You are all fabulous!  This week is a check-in week, our last one before the final linky party at the end of May, so be sure to show off your progress in the link-up at the end of this post.  I'll be adding a post later this week showing all the quilts

that our non-blogging friends have sent me.

And now for our next-to-last guest blogger!  Wendy has a beautiful blog full of scrappy creations over at Swirls of Fabric, and has some fabulous quilt-y inspiration for us today, all geared toward simple comfort quilts!  While she doesn't provide full tutorials, most are simple enough to figure out with the few tips she does give.  So grab a cup of coffee or a Diet Coke, sit back, and soak up the goodness!

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What a treat to join Sarah's blog with this guest post! I have been so inspired by her blogs, and so amazed by the outpouring of support from the quilting world to contribute beautiful quilts to worthy charities.

 

Bright Florals on Point Donated to a Woman's Shelter

 

I have been sewing since I was a little girl. My mother and both grandmothers were beautiful seamstresses. After mastering felt bean bags at a young age, I started making clothes for myself. Whenever I visited my maternal grandmother, she was always working on flannel pajamas and small flannel quilts for the local children's hospital. A great inspiration of sewing for others.

Pixel Star donated to Quilts of Valor

Made with 5" squares

After years of sewing clothing, home decor and occasional baby quilts for friends I made a strong pivot toward quilting. My children were young and I could easily start and stop quilt projects during nap-time or in the evenings. I am fortunate to have a guest room in my home where I leave my sewing machine set up and I can simply close the door and walk away. I made "big kid" quilts when my children moved out of their cribs, and quilts for myself and friends, but I quickly realized I had many more quilt ideas than recipients. I joined a Project Linus group which met weekly and helped make quilts for that organization while my pre-preschoolers ran around the church where we met. I loved letting my children help choose fabrics and make design suggestions for Linus quilts.

 

Stacked Rectangles in Blue (Tutorial Here)

When my children started school, I joined a local quilt guild and my quilting world really opened up. Over 100 talented women with wonderful show-and-tell plus fantastic and inspiring speakers and workshops. Best of all, a thriving charity quilt committee. Our guild donates between 200 and 400 quilts each year to local organizations, many to the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, CT. I love that each camper can choose his/her bed in the cabin based on the quilt, and take that quilt and pillowcase home after their week of camp. I chaired the comfort quilt committee for four years, putting together kits with donated fabrics. I searched out simple patterns for the kits and enjoyed seeing the finished quilts stack up in my basement. The kits are great for beginning quilters, and nice for anyone who wants some immediate quilting gratification. 

 

 

A simple Bordered Square Quilt from a Guild Kit

 

I have made dozens if not hundreds of quilts for charity over the last 18 years. I love seeing the design come together as I put blocks up on my design wall. Scrappy quilts are my favorite. Sarah's tutorials this year for string quilts are right up my alley with lots of fabric memories in each quilt.

My favorite scrappy quilts are one or two colors. Below are some favorites from the past which I hope will inspire you to dig through your scraps and make a quilt to share! I have added a few notes about the "formula" for the quilts, but no detailed patterns. Feel free to adapt as desired.

Each block is 14" square, donated to a local woman's shelter.

 

A perfect quilt for a jelly roll or leftover 2.5" strips,

each piece is cut 2.5" x 6"

Purple and pink 2.5" x 4.5" bricks
combined it with a single background fabric.
Similar to a pattern by GE Designs.

Each block is 8" square, half are surrounded by a white border.

The blue & green prints are cut either 2.5" x 8.5" or 2.5" x 6.5".

Rainbow crumb blocks in "dancing squares" setting.

Setting inspired by Bonnie Hunter's Dancing Nines.

Rainbow string blocks, each block is 9".

Twisting rectangles, 

inspired by quilt instructions posted by Maryquilts.

Twisting Rectangles with Wonky Yellow Strings

The yellow string sections are 6.5" x 9.5", the blue borders on 
each block are 2" x 9.5" to make 9.5" squares

Many blue-ish 4.5" squares with a 20" focus star.

This would work equally well with charm squares.

Wonky red crumb and string blocks surrounding a 20" focus star.

The outer edge is 4.5" squares.

 

Scrappy "Plus" quilt.
Each plus is made of two 3.5" squares & one 3.5" x 9.5" rectangle.

I hope some of these quilts inspire you to play with your scraps and share your love of quilting with others! I blog intermittently at Swirls Of Fabric if you want to keep up with my quilty creations.

 

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Well, if that doesn't inspire you to make a quilt, I don't know what will!  So many beautiful quilts loaded with joy and comfort for someone - what could be better?  Thank you, Wendy, for sharing your creations and inspiring us!

And now it's YOUR turn to do a little inspiring!  Link up below to share your progress with your H2H quilts.  Maybe you're finished, maybe you're just starting - it's all good, and whatever stage you're at, someone needs the inspiration you will provide.  So show us!

See you next week with another great guest blogger!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem... How About Some Scrappy Blocks?

 

Hi, all!

Well, today I actually worked on something scrappy!  One of our quilt ministry members ended up moving to another state as a result of a COVID-related job loss in her family, and we decided to make a collaboration quilt for her.  I finally picked up all the completed blocks this week and started laying it out on the wall today...

It's certainly going to be an eclectic quilt!  I had to add some strips to some of the blocks to bring them up to size and trim down some others.  All the outer blocks are 12.5" square.  I thought the center heart block was 36.5" square, but imagine my surprise when I sewed the side blocks together and they were longer!  Oops..... But easy enough to fix.  I'll trim it down a bit and add a stop border to bring it to the right size.  Hopefully this one will be assembled before the end of the week so I can take it to one of the other members for quilting.  She has a new long arm machine she needs to break in!

And how about a little inspiration?  Not as much as usual today because it's been a busy week, but I did find two really beautiful pairs of quilts....

I particularly love the front quilt - all that movement!!!

And the only thing better than one postage stamp quilt?  

Night and day twins!!

Have a great, scrappy week!

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem... Inspiration!

 

Hi, all!

It's been a busy week around here, with not much time for scrap sewing.  With a full roster of t-shirt quilt orders, I'm making hay while the sun shines and knocking them out as quickly as I can!  Today one of my customers sent me a picture of her daughter with her new quilt...

And that's why I love making memory quilts!  It's wonderful to see people react to a tangible, useful recollection of their treasured items.  

That being said, I haven't had much time for scrap sewing (although I've been making a lot of scraps!) but I did find some really cool inspiration on Instagram this week.....

Look at all those wonderful tiny scrappy houses and trees!  I cannot imagine the work that went into this, but I sure can appreciate it!

And look at all that glorious color!!  I definitely need to find out if there's a pattern for this one...

Isn't this one fun?  It's made of shirt fabric!  Such a great way to repurpose those old shirts.  Men's shirts show wear at collar and cuffs, but usually the rest of the fabric is still in pretty good shape - and there's a LOT of fabric in an XL man's shirt!

But this quilt is my favorite of the week.  I love a snail's trail block, but I've never seen a quilt made of scrappy snail's trails - isn't it wonderful?  This one is definitely going on my bucket list!

That's all I've got this week, but hopefully I'll be able to do some personal sewing soon - I just have to decide which project to work on!

Go forth and conquer those scraps!

Hugs

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem... Inspiration Galore!

 

Hi, all!

Wow, it's been a while since I've shared on a scrappy Wednesday - time sure flies when you are having fun!  Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to sew with scraps, although I have huge plans for my scrap stash... But I did get to look at some lovely inspiration this week and I bet you'll find it as wonderful as I did!

Doesn't that make you want to go dig in your solids scraps?

And ditto for your low volume scraps?  This one must truly be a labor of love - that's a lot of sewing!

And check out Karen's pretty scrap quilt!  A unique design using 3.5" squares.

And just in case we forget that Christmas is coming - only 22 more sewing days!

I really love this scrappy forest - and the border on the bottom makes the whole quilt!

But this one has to be my favorite - I must figure out the rhythm to these blocks so I can reproduce it!

That's all I've got this week - I will be quilting all week, trying to finish a Christmas gift and my own Christmas quilt for my new bed.  But then I should be able to do some scrappy sewing!  I can't wait....

Hugs!

Sarah

I May Have A Scrap Problem...No Time for Scrappy Sewing, But...

Hi, all!

There has not been much time for scrappy sewing around here, as I have been working on a mask order, but I have run across lots of inspiration on Instagram that makes me happy.  Let me share it with you (oh, I am SUCH an enabler...)

Isn't this just the cutest little scrap quilt?  Bright and cheerful!

And I have to admit that Beth made my heart go pitter patter with these tiny little scrap tree ornaments...

I am loving this simple quilt pattern made different by the use of a dark background instead of white!

Aren't Erica's scrappy blocks just totally amazing?

This quilt really speaks to me - I'm not sure why so I'm still analyzing it to see what I love about it exactly - but it's definitely on my list!

It seems that rainbows were catching my eye this week - both large...

...and small!  It's always a good day when Amanda Jean posts one of her beautiful quilts!

I am totally in love with these bear claw blocks - it looks like it will be such a cozy, warm quilt!

And last but definitely not least, Emily has knocked it out of the park with this oh-so-scrappy quilt!

Feel inspired yet?

Go forth and scrap!!

Hugs!

Sarah