Scrap Obsession Quilt

I'm so excited!  I finished a scrap quilt today! I've been working on this one for a long time. I called it Scrap Obsession. I wanted this to be a nice Leader/Ender project to work on while I'm sewing other things. Until I became obsessed with it.  I couldn't wait to get to work on it. I thought I'd use up a good bit of my scraps but there are still a big bunch in my bin. Oh well, another quilt or two for another day!

This quilt is made up on 3 1/2" x  2 little bricks from odd cuts of fabric from my scrap bin.  I found the pattern from the youtube channel Sew Very Easy with Laura Ann Coia. It was so much fun to sew!

I am trying not to buy fabric and so I dug around in my stash and found the perfect border and binding!

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I freemotion quilted it with a gold thread on my Juki. I thought the thread color would pop more than it does, but I love how subtle it turned out. It measures 91.5" long by 65" wide. It's a big one!

Some of the fabrics I used are from a friend's Mom who is quilting rockstar and legend. Lynn is an amazing quilter and designed some of the quilting tools/notions we use today. Lynn has alzheimers/dementia and doesn't sew as much as she once did.

I will always think of Lynn when I use this quilt.

Double Churn Dash Quilt top

 I'm not fond of the churn dash quilt block. But when I saw this quilt, I loved it. It seemed like it had movement and flowed. A friend suggested the class at our local quilt shop so I took it with her. We had so much fun and I learned so much!

I'm trying to dig into my stash, so I asked my husband to pick out a jelly roll for me to use. He picked an asian  fabric line for me to use.   I love the golds and grays in it. I picked out a really neat black and gold for the border and a  black grunge for the backing. The border will be a neat black and gold stripe.

 What I love most about this quilt top is that it is so out of my comfort zone. It isn't perfect but I'm happy with it. 

My Latest English Paper Piecing Project

Since finishing the top of my Grandmother's Garden English Paper Piecing quilt, I have been anxious to do another EPP project.  I want to do another big project,but also want to finish some of the UFO's I have too. So I opted for a small project to finish while my husband was having surgery on his shoulder and  to work on while I waited for him during his physical therapy.  I wanted to use up some 30's print scrap squares I had. 

I try to learn something new with each project so I appliqued the honey combs onto some fabric I had on hand to make these pillows. The honey combs were a bit bigger than my Grandmother's Garden hexies so it sewed up pretty quickly. They aren't perfect, but at least they are finished! 

  I didn't have enough extra fabric to put a zipper on the back of the pillows.  So I put one on the bottom of each pillow.I love them just the same. We will use and most likely abuse them, so my mistakes won't matter!  

A finished project!

 This is what I've been working on over the summer! I wanted to get some free motion quilting practice in and thought this was the perfect project.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy it.

 I am so excited to say it is the first quilt I have sold!!   I didn't expect to sell it,but when a coworker saw it, she loved it so I decided to let it go. It has encouraged me to try to sell a few more of my quilty things in the future.
This project is number 11 on my UFO list.

Flannel Rag Quilt Update

I finally finished the second  flannel rag quilt using up my scraps.

I made one for my Mom from her winter MuMu's scraps. I was so excited to give it to her I forgot to get a picture.She is really happy with her quilt and uses it often.

 But I remembered to take a picture of mine. It isn't perfect,but that doesn't matter. It will be warm. I can't wait to use it next winter.

I've been diligently working toward making my stash smaller and working on UFO's.  It feels good to get things accomplished that have been in my UFO basket for a year or more. 

 A friend introduced me to another online group called Stashbusters. The group's purpose is to help you be accountable for using up your fabric and making good use with what you have. I love this  idea. Many of the members are part of a UFO challenge. My friend encouraged me to join. It has made a world of difference in how I see my bins of unfinished projects. I've been a member for a few weeks and have gotten three half finished projects completed!  One of my faults is that I want to learn new things and see a new pattern/technique and I drop the project I was working on to start something new. I have so many half completed projects it isn't funny.

I am trying to give myself some grace and keep plugging along. I don't allow myself to start any new patterns until I get a big chunk of work completed. I'm also trying really hard to not buy more fabric unless it is for a backing or batting. I've faltered once or twice and spent a little but they weren't big spends like they once were.  The other day I placed an order with Missouri Star Quilt Company. Tonight I canceled it. The more I thought about my purchase, the more I realized I should look through my fabric totes to see if I have something on hand instead of buying more.  As much as I would love that new fabric, it felt pretty good to cancel the order. Now I can put that money toward a bill or something useful for the house. My victories may be small but they still count as a victory!

Quilted Post Cards

 This spring, Patty from Elm Street Quilts hosted a quilted postcard swap.  I had never heard of quilted postcards and it intrigued me so I signed up.  I saw a pattern for a welcome sign in a magazine and hoped to make the regular sized version someday, but instead thought it might make a cute postcard for the swap. I got to work and came up with this:

I had so much fun making it so I had to make several of them. My card to swap went to a lady in France.Which in itself is very exciting. I so was honored to learn my 3 little birds card was  highlighted on her blog!

 I received this awesome card from my swap partner Meloney.

Isn't is amazing?  All those beautiful tiny triangle pieces! I love the bright colors and the scrappiness of it.  Can you find the teeny tiny bumble bee? We corresponded by email and she invited me to join an online group of postcard swappers.  I jumped at the opportunity to join and signed up for a few swaps. My first two swap themes were Blue Moon and Batik Beauty. 

Blue Moon Theme cards I have received

Made by Sheree

 Made by Dr Amy

 Made by Jeanette

  For my Blue Moon card, I used scraps I had and also switched up the tree fabric. It's not my favorite work, but I'm happy I made it. 

Batik Beauty theme card I recieved:

 Made by Shelli

Aren't they all awesome?!  I love each one. The tiny details in each card amaze me. I am so happy I joined this group. I know I will learn new things with each card I make and learn new techniques also.  

The Batik Beauty card I made was my first attempt at thread painting. I LOVE it! This was so much fun to make. I hope to thread paint more in the future.

 I am so happy I joined this group. I know I will learn new things with each card I make and learn new techniques also.