Butterfly Joy

Butterfly Joy

Here's another scrappy project for you.  I nearly couldn't shut the lid on my box of 2 ½” squares, even though I used some a few weeks ago.  This time I decided to stitch up this Flutterbye pattern to make room.

Happy flower colors of yellow, orange, lilac, and pink combine well with sky blue, grassy green, and watery aqua. I used white, cream and gray for the contrasting pieces. 

There are two narrow borders, one in white and the other in yellow with corner designs to match the block pattern.

What a sweet summery little quilt! Butterfly Joy is 44” square. The backing is a black and white friendship themed word print. I quilted with white thread with leafy looking loops done in free motion.

I still can't get over my amazing find of $1 per yard fabric. I know I saved at least $3000 with that deal. Nearly every piece is calling “pick me, pick me to make something now.” I don't know how I managed to get all of it in my sewing room, either! The house may be leaning slightly...

Accuquilt dies used:
55409 Triangle in square 4” finished (sides of triangle)
55017 2½” strip
55059 2½” square multiple

July in Tennessee =
Hot as all get-out!

Another Fabric JACKPOT!

I hit an unbelievable jackpot last week. Fabric for one dollar a yard!  It all started with an innocent trip to the grocery. As we walked in, I noticed a flyer on the bulletin board: Fabric for sale, $1 a yard. WHAT? I pulled off one of the phone number tags and tucked it in my pocket. Probably too good to be true, I thought.

After we got home, I called and went to check it out, wearing my COVID mask. Oh, yeah there was fabric. A whole room full of good quality, beautiful material in a rainbow of colors, folded and labeled. All priced at $1 per yard. Miss Betty, in her 80's, has arthritis and just can't sew any more.

I focused on the quilting cotton, and quickly gathered up bundles from ¼ yard remnants to 12 yard bolts of 108” backing. It's a good thing I keep a large bin in my Escape, because I filled it up, along with several tote bags. I spent $200 and hardly made a dent in her inventory.

Of course, my sweet husband told me I should go back for more. His reasoning was simple: get all you can since it's good stuff and insanely priced. He'd rather I spent $1 per yard now instead of $5 to $15 later. And he was right. The next morning I headed back over there, armed with large laundry baskets.

So, in less than 24 hours, I added 500 yards of quilting cotton in a variety of prints and solids to my already huge collection of fabric. Five hundred dollars is definitely a lot to spend, but I'm pretty sure I won't need to buy anything except batting for several years.

I had to clear out some things to make space. It took me nearly three days to sort, fold onto mini-bolts, and enter all of it into my inventory spreadsheet.

I am over the moon. Thanks, Miss Betty!

They say money can't buy happiness,

but it CAN buy fabric,

and that makes me more than happy!

Stormy Beach

Batik fabrics in ocean hues combine beautifully with a muted blue-gray mini dot to make the storm at sea blocks on this quilt. I've been wanting to sew this one for a while, but I don't have the die.

Fortunately, I do have individual dies for the pieces needed. I laid out the block using EQ8 to fit those dies. Perfection! I had to make more cuts that I would have with the block on board die, but it's certainly easier than rotary cutting everything.

For quilting, I stitched with cream to gray variegated thread, using a walking foot, mirroring the motion in the design. Borders are quilted with a serpentine pattern. Binding and backing is a wide beige cobblestone print. Stormy Beach is 47” square.

These seaside colors remind me of a cloudy beach after a rain: so relaxing, peaceful, and mellow. I hung it on the wall in our great room for the summer, adding other display quilts and pillows in complementary colors. We're not traveling to the beach this year due to COVID, so I made the best of it with décor.

Accuquilt dies used:
55018 Small value die
55047 Quarter square triangle 4” finished
55031 Half square triangle 4” finished
55409 Triangle in square 4” finished
55818 Half square triangle 1½”

Everything is better 

at the beach... 

even rain. 

Easy Pieces

Here's another multicolored scrap quilt made from my stash box of 2½” squares. Quick work, since all I had to cut were the cream/white pieces. I designed the basic layout in EQ8.

Sewing straight seams in batches was a breeze. I tried to keep the colors balanced but didn't fuss too much. Perfection can be stressful and I only wanted to play.

I quilted with white thread in straight lines on the strip sections and in a crosshatch pattern on the eight and sixteen patch blocks. Easy Pieces is 42” square.

I really enjoyed those three mornings stitching away in the sewing room with smooth jazz playing in the background. The thing is, I hardly made a dent in that scrap box, plus I have more remnants to cut. Don't worry, I've already designed another fun project for those.

Accuquilt dies used:
55017 2½” strip
55059 2½” square multiple

Some days 

are simply meant 

for playing