I May Have A Scrap Problem... But Wow Am I Inspired!

 

Hi, all!

Well, vacation is over and wow was it wonderful!  And now I'm back to real life as we roar like a freight train to the holidays.  Seems like time passes so quickly, doesn't it?  

It felt really nice to be back in my studio today, although I only had a few minutes to play.  There is so much to be done then first day back from home - laundry, groceries, putting things away - but I did make a few minutes to work on another reindeer.   I'm getting close to finishing all nine, and I can't wait to pull them all together in a quilt.

I did find a lot of inspiration on Instagram this week that should keep you going for another week....

Joy is in the process of writing a pattern for this, and she's going to be hosting a quilt-along later this fall, I believe.  Might be worth checking out!

Don't you just love all that color??

I really like that she used different sizes of the same block to add visual interest and a place for your eyes to "rest"...

I don't know about you, but I'm a little bit obsessed with tiny houses these days....

This is the beginnings of a Sea Glass quilt, but it also looks like a spectacular way to reduce your fat quarter stash...

I can't begin to tell you how in love I am with this quilt!  And that tub of solid scraps is screaming "use me, use me!"

This is such an interesting way to use up strings - I really need to play with it!  This may show up in next January's tutorial series.

This quilt is just fascinating - it looks like she used Amanda Jean's technique of appliquéing scraps to a solid background, then used those blocks as the center tiles on this wonderfully scrappy quilt.

That's it for today, folks - I'm late as it is (fell asleep in my chair last night!)  Go play with scraps!

Hugs!

Sarah

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? It's Never Too Early....

 

Hi, all!

Well, here it is, Friday once again, and finally - Friday at the beach!!  I didn't think this day would ever get here, and as of last week, we were worried we'd be hurricane'd out, but all is well and I am writing this as I look out on the Gulf of Mexico.  

It's been a lovely vacation so far, so we are definitely whooping it up!  But it's time for all of us to get our whoop whoop on, so let's get started!

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Because we are at the beach, I haven't really finished anything this week, but I have been fun working on a Christmas present...

It seems I just can't get enough of Lorna's fun pieced character quilts, and when I saw her past Christmas quilt-along, I knew it was something I wanted to try. 

 Then when I realized that a Christmas quilt would be the perfect gift for one person, I had my opportunity!  

She had so many cute blocks to choose from, and I thought about making a sampler quilt, but then decided to do Santa's reindeer instead.  Because who doesn't love Santa's reindeer?

I've managed to finish five of them - Rudolph for sure (he's the one with the red nose!) but I'll name all of them once they are finished and reveal their characters.  

I'm thinking about putting their names on each block, maybe in one of the white bottom corners.  Still trying to decide how to do that!

I'm looking forward to making the next four - and I found a great reindeer print for the sashing and borders.  It's going to be a fun quilt!

So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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And now it's your turn!

What's got you whooping it up this week?

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... But Plaidish May Be The Cure!

 

Hi, all!

It took a vacation to give me some time to do some scrappy sewing, but hey, I'll take it when I can get it!  You may remember a few weeks ago when Lilli and I spent an afternoon together pulling fabrics...

...which I then turned into a kit and tucked away for vacation.  It took all my will power not to dig right in - but there were other quilts that took precedence.

Someone was looking out for me, though, because when we got to Perdido Key we had two rainy days that kept us from enjoying the beach (although not the balcony!)  And that meant sewing time for me!  It all began with one block...

...and that one was so much fun that, rather like potato chips, I couldn't stop at just one!  Soon the low volume blocks joined the dark blocks, and shortly after that the bright blocks - although I was so excited about those that I forgot to take a picture!

As soon as I had enough of the bright blocks, I laid out a bit of the quilt so I could see what it would look like.  It's always a mystery to me what a truly scrappy quilt will look like, and this one was made of fabrics chosen by my granddaughter, so I really didn't know!  But I was happy with this initial peek...

...and once all the blocks were finished, I laid it out and finished it right up!  One thing I really liked about this quilt - I didn't fiddle around with the layout at all.  I just laid out the blocks as they came off each stack, and the layout pleases me!  

I do think the next time I make this quilt (and there will DEFINITELY be a next time!) I will be sure that there is more difference between my dark blocks and some of my "medium" fabrics.  I had a few that were on the darker side and I wish there was a little more differentiation.  Live and learn!  But I really like this quilt, and it was fast and easy.  All of the pieces were cut from 5" squares, a size I routinely cut my scraps into.  Because it is truly scrappy, I just laid my pieces out in the block layout and chain pieced each block together.  I'm guessing that it probably went from kit to pieced top in about ten hours of sewing.  Not bad!

The pattern is Plaid-ish, and it's a freebie from Kitchen Table Quilting. You can find the free download by clicking here.

And just to prove I'm really at the beach, meet one of our companions from earlier this week!  My husband was his best friend - catching catfish that he would have thrown back but for this guy's insatiable appetite!

Hugs!

Sarah