Welcome May! Scrappy Kaffe Flimsy

May! It's a pleasure to welcome a new month!

 

April ended on a super-high note as I finished a flimsy! It feels so good to have a finish to share. Feast your eyes on this Kaffe Fassett beauty.

Last November, I  began sewing my collection of 2.5-inch squares of Kaffe Fassett scraps. A block even easier than the 9-patch, I opted to keep it really basic with a 4-patch. The collection of random fabrics collected here in this scrap quilt date back a whole lot of years. I did some serious reminiscing with some of these beauties.

All the while I was making the 4-patches, I had absolutely no plan for them. I trusted that when I had a while giant mess of them made, I would know what to do next. I knew that an idea would come.

 With my best sewing bud Sharon's input, we came up with the easiest and (as I see it all together now) the very best option. Keep it super simple and use just one fabric for setting squares. Let the 4-patches be the star of the show. And they truly are. I love-love-love this quilt top. 

The nature of scrap quilts - at least in my experience - is that piecing small bits is acceptable as is making blocks with 'near matches' when necessary. Using the scraps is the main goal, so improvise as needed.

Pertinent details on this quilt: Blocks are 4" (finished); 4-patches are made with 2.5-inch squares; it is 18 x 22 rows and measures 72" x 88"; it contains 396 blocks; 198 pieced and 198 setting. It does not have borders, but I may add some. We shall see...

Are you a fan of Kaffe Fassett fabrics? When they first began appearing on the scene, I was not a fan, but they grew on me. And then I sorta' became obsessed. I have a way-too-big stash, and even though I've made quite a few KF quilts over the years, I really need to get crackin' on making more.

Maybe sometime this month, I will devote a post to sharing all my KF makes in one place. That'd be fun.

I'll try to be back tomorrow to do the April collage and share some plans for May.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Tutorial - 4-Patch Scrappy Quilt

Several dear readers have reached out to me in recent days requesting information on how I made my 4-Patch Scrappy Quilt. Sure makes a quilter feel good to know people want replicate something like this. I truly just played with squares and triangles until I found a block that pleased me.

 I figured it would make sense to whip up a little tutorial for readers. If you have a significant scrap overflow, and are like me - unable to throw any of it away, then you will like this, I think.

Actually, I did a post a year ago March in which I explained how I made the block for this quilt. It is just one block, with two colorways to provide the hourglass effect where they meet.

This post and the scrap challenge described therein came just before the world shut down with the pandemic. Covid changed plans for quite a lot of folks, and while I have more or less done a lot of other things throughout this last year, I always knew I would find a way back to my Scrappy 4-Patch.

Click that link above for precise directions, or follow this summing up, if you prefer.

The inner 4-patch unit is made with 2-inch squares. All the squares in this quilt are from a bin full of 2-inch scraps that I add to all the time. Once constructed, the 4-patches should measure 3.5 inches.

The interior triangles are made with 3.25-inch squares cut once on the diagonal. One block requires 2 squares cut this way. Originally, I finger-pressed the center of the triangles and lined that crease up with the seam on the 4-patch. After awhile, though, I became dissatisfied with the way the edges were so haphazard. Even being super-careful, I think finger pressing distorted the bias. I found better results with this method: center the point of the triangle on the 4-patch. 

 

I generally work in batches of 8 or 10 at a time, chain piecing so I don't waste time or thread stopping and starting with every seam. I put triangles on two opposite sides, press, then add the triangles to the other sides. Press again when the batch is finished and trim to 4.75 inches. Use the marks on your ruler to assure that you are saving the necessary quarter-inch seam allowance all around.

The outer triangles are made with 4-inch squares cut once on the diagonal. Continue working in small batches applying the triangles, pressing and trimming in the same manner.

Finished, trimmed blocks should measure 6.5 inches. My quilt requires 84 blocks with red inner/white out triangles, and 84 white inner/red outer triangles, for a total of 168 blocks. Working in batches makes this seem doable. That's just my preference, however.

The "summing up" was more than a little involved. Maybe you can follow this well enough, or perhaps you'd be wise to click back to that original post mentioned above. *smiles*

Stitch those blocks together - my quilt is 12 rows wide by 14 rows long. I recommend taking the time to pin each intersection, and while not all of my points meet up properly, most do and for a scrap quilt, I am more than satisfied.

Hope this helps any of you who might want to make this quilt. Even though it took me over a year to complete the top, I am so very pleased with the effort.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Local Art Show

Concerned citizens of our little town are trying their darnedest to revitalize a decaying historic downtown. Determined to save old buildings and attract new business,  new life is slowly returning to this formerly bustling town. 3G hosts several events throughout the year to boost Greenfield's comeback.

Tonight the 3G organization is sponsoring a Wine Walk and Art Show. Sounds like a good time, right? I have entered three little quilts as "art" - yes, I think they qualify. I wanted to show you what I've entered, and while we walk this evening (and sip our wine), I will take some photos and share those later.

 All three of these little gems have been hanging on various walls in the sewing area. I've described them in previous posts, but this post will provide a little recap.

Tossing a few little quilts around on the kitchen table makes for a festive look. I did a whole post on some of my little creations awhile back. Click to revisit here.

Pink Lemonade

Scrappy Stars (it's real name is Pincushion Stars)

4-Patch Scrappy

All were machine pieced and machine quilted. I would venture to say that all were made on more of a whim than on any specific plan or goal. All were made from existing stash fabrics, often scraps that were just left out on the table from the last thing I made. Don't judge! *grin*

When I filled out the paperwork to enter these little quilts in the 3G event, there was a space on the form for indicating if the pieces were for sale. I considered this momentarily, but I don't think so. While I wouldn't mind making money on my quilts, I really like these three little creations. I wouldn't even know what kind of price to put on them, actually.

Scrappy Stars, aka Pincushion Stars, is especially dear. If you read this post, you will see that it provided me my one big claim to fame at that 2016 Ross County Fair. 

Click on the links under each individual quilt to read odd bits and details on when/how the quilts were constructed. 

That's all for today, Peeps! Come on back to see pics of the Wine Walk and Art Show!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

A Scrappy Finish

After the busy stuff of last week preparing to host two different "events," I find myself this week with tons of free time for sewing. 

Yay!

It helps when I have a good audiobook, too. This week I have been sewing in the court of the York King Edward IV, at the beginning of the War of the Roses. His sons were the famous "lost princes in the tower." What fascinating, yet tragic history. The book is The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, and the story is told from his wife's point of view. Elizabeth Woodville saw much tragedy in her life.

from Goodreads.com

 

All that listening has provided me time for finishing my long-term WIP, the 4-patch scrappy quilt top. Over a year ago I was gung-ho on this quilt, and worked furiously to make these blocks and stitch them into a quilt top. I didn't have a pattern, and had no ideas sketched out for how many I would need, but I felt confident that 80 blocks would be plenty.

Ahem.

Thirty-five blocks cover about a quarter of the bed.

 

If I wanted a bed quilt, eighty blocks would not be nearly enough! Why, I needed at least 80 more!  Goodness gracious; that really demoralized me. So I put it aside and worked on other things. A whole year's worth of other things, actually. (Have you seen previous examples of my skill with avoidance??)

Blocks made at quilt retreat.

As I prepared for the Quilt Retreat last month, this came out of its year-long 'time out,' and ever since, I have been steadily whittling away on the additional blocks, and finally, this week have completing a full quilt top.

I call my scrappy quilt an example of "controlled scrappy." The 4-patches are 100% from my scrap baskets. I pretty much pieced them as randomly as possible. The shirtings (white) are not necessarily scraps, although some are. I used fat quarters from my stash and tried to keep them all as consistent in their coloration as possible. The red started out as scrap red and was intended to be consistently one particular fabric. But I needed a lot and I forbid myself from buying more, so I searched the stash for a suitable matching red. As I look at this quilt on the bed, I have a hard time finding differences, although they are quite evident, if one studies it.

I had a helper when I laid the quilt top out on the bed; Rocky is here for a visit.

Now I am pondering whether to add borders or not. I suppose what I will do is check the stash for ample reds that would suit. If I don't find anything, I will just leave it borderless. I am ready to move on to the next quilt!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Returning To Scrappy Work

 I took a lot of time off from working on this quilt. Click here to see the previous effort, from way back in March of last year. At that point, I thought I was so close to having a finish, yet when I laid it out and saw that it barely covered half of the bed, I was a bit crestfallen. I promptly put that bad boy aside and began working on other projects.

Lately, the urge to return to this scrappy 4-patch has been niggling at me. So here are some snippets of recent process.

From the Nelsonville retreat.

From Wednesday; sewing with Sharon.

A plentiful supply of triangles.

Today I am sewing over at Terry's with some of the Frankfort Girls. I will take my Scrappy 4-Patch and all the parts to see what sort of progress I can make. I figure I need at least 70-80 more blocks, so I have a stretch of work ahead of me.

I should mention that with each stage of triangles, I am trimming to size. This has proved time-consuming, yet very necessary. It is surprising that even when you think you are sewing everything exactly the same, the edges are off, almost every time. The nature of triangles, I suppose. Plus, I think my triangles start out a fraction larger than necessary, which is another consideration. I know every block must be trimmed. I've resigned myself to it, and it's really not so bad.

I need to be getting out of here!

Happy Quilting, Friends!