Afternoon Delight

A large bright paisley print by Amy Butler is the starting point for this happy quilt. Citrus, lime, aqua, melon, lilac and magenta colors are just luscious. I chose matching solids, then added crisp white plus a black and white stripe.

I used dies from the Accuquilt 10” Qube to cut squares, half square triangles and parallelograms. I didn't use a pattern, and randomly combined the colors on my design board as I sewed.

Listening to 60's and 70's light rock had me dancing across the room between the machine and iron. Gotta keep moving! All piecing was done on Laney, my sweet Singer 301, painted in Maui Blue & white. Link here to read about her. 

I switched to my Janome 9450 for ruler quilting. The Elvira ruler by Angela Walters is great for long vertical serpentine lines. White thread shows off the stitching without detracting from the fabric. Afternoon Delight finished at 49” square.

Hope you like this one as much as I do. See you next week!

Accuquilt dies used:
55797 Mix & Match 10” Qube
55017 Strips 2½” binding
55054 Strips 4½” borders

 

Americana

Red, white, and blue fabrics always look great together. I have quite a few quilts using those colors but I keep making more.

Remnants from other projects gave me enough material for the blocks, and I added tiny red gingham for sashing and borders. Backing is little red hearts on white. 

The North Carolina Star die has lots of small pieces, which are a little tricky to sew. It takes a perfect ¼” seam to get all those intersections to match up. Jack (the seam ripper) and I had a few tense moments until I worked it out.

Americana finished at 48” square. I quilted with white thread, using a circle ruler to create an allover design. I'll have this one displayed for Memorial Day.

Accuquilt dies used:
55605 North Carolina Star 12” finished
55017 Strips 2½”
55054 Strips 4½”

Waste Not, Want Not

Waste Not, Want Not

Here's the third quilt I worked on during our two weeks at the campground. I brought along a storage bin full of 2½” half-square triangles cut from scraps left over from other quilts. I've been collecting these for quite a while; the top wouldn't close on the box.

They were sorted by color, so finding coordinating fabrics was easy. I chain pieced the triangles, then pressed before sewing into four patch blocks. My Singer Featherweight, Annie, breezed right through this project.

After we got home, I arranged them on my design wall to balance out the colors before sewing them into rows. To fill in the sides, I used 4” triangles from another of my remnant boxes. Neutral striped borders made a nice frame.

I quilted with white thread and a walking foot, using a zig-zag utility stitch. Waste Not, Want Not is the perfect name for this bonus quilt. It finished at 52” square.

I didn't even use half of that storage bin, can you believe it? There's probably enough left in that one for two more quilts. I just can't keep myself from saving little bits of material, especially my favorite fabrics.

I try to schedule a day every few months to cut scraps into most used shapes and sizes: triangles, squares, strips, and rectangles. It pays off because I sort them by size and color, which saves time and reduces storage space. I always have something ready to sew for borders, blocks, or whole quilts.

Accuquilt dies used:
55018 Value Die Half Square Triangle 2½”
55031 Half Square Triangle 4½”
55032 Strips 3½”
55017 Strips 2½” 

Bohemian Rhapsody

Here's the second scrap quilt that I pieced during our camping trip. Hot pink, navy, bright aqua, chrome yellow, and vivid orange prints blend together for a wild hippie 1970's vibe. I enjoyed sewing all these blocks on the Featherweight.

Once we got home, I arranged them on my design wall and looked in my inventory for sashing fabric. My final choice is unusual, but suggested by my husband, so I went for it. The small yellow flowers on a black background look very similar to a peasant dress that I wore in high school.

Bohemian Rhapsody finished at 48” square. I quilted with dark gray thread in a free motion meandering pattern, while listening to the music of the 70's...perfect!  

Dies used:
Accuquilt
55601 Mill & Stars 8” finished
55017 Strips 2½”
Blue Wren 6015 Strips 1½”