Dreamtime

Dreamtime

As many quilts as I make, fabric scraps multiply quickly. Every few weeks I have a cutting session to keep the remnant baskets from overflowing. 

Using Accuquilt dies, I cut my most used sizes of squares, triangles, strips, and tumblers.  I sort them into inexpensive kitchen storage boxes, then label and stack in my cabinets. With all these pieces organized, my sewing room is neater and I'm able to sew a quick quilt anytime.

Today's project is made up of 4 ½” hourglass blocks in bright, cheerful colors and cool white/cream/gray neutrals pulled from my stash. It's an adorable 40” square baby quilt called Dreamtime. After piecing the blocks, I arranged them on my design wall to balance the colors before sewing them together.

I quilted it on Rockette, my latest Singer machine (see last week's post for that story). I used white thread in a straight stitch 3/8” from each horizontal and vertical seam line.  Perfect, neat and simple.  Love that Slant-O-Matic!

Accuquilt dies used:

55398  4 ½” finished Quarter Square Triangles

55017 2 ½” Strips

Come with me,

where dreams are born,

and time is never planned.

~ Peter Pan

Double Time

Double Time

Bright crayon colors outlined with white give this quilt a happy feeling. I created double hourglass blocks using two Accuquilt dies: 6 ½” and 3 ½” half square triangles. I had this design idea while working on the small hourglass quilt a few weeks ago.

The border is made up of 2 ½” squares with 2 ½” x 4 ½” rectangles, also cut with AQ dies. I quilted in white thread, using a decorative stitch on the sashing and outlining each square with a straight stitch.  Backing is a blue and white tablecloth check print. Binding is blue and white dots. Double Time finished out at 41” x 51” size, lovely for a wall hanging or child's quilt.

I put a tiny dent in my remnant stash with this one. It gave me an opportunity to sort and cut a few more scraps before I put everything away. I've been making an effort to clean up my space between projects. It's so nice to have clear tables and everything in its place!

You never know

what you have

until you clean out

your closets

Counting The Hours

I teased last week about a triangle project. I really hate to waste fabric so I always keep boxes and bags of scraps. Only the tiniest slivers get tossed.

Today's quilt, Counting The Hours, came from little aqua, green, white and cream remnants. I used 2½” half square triangles turned to make quarter square hourglass blocks. 

It took a while (and a bit of patience) to sew the 952 pieces together, press them, and arrange them on my design wall. I didn't keep track of the exact hours, but I spent almost a week from idea to finished product. 

I love the peaceful color scheme of this lap sized 39” x 47” throw. It matches other quilts in my collection. I quilted in serpentine stitch with a neutral green thread both horizontally and vertically.

The best part is that I used material left over from other projects. These days I use Accuquilt dies to cut them into useful pieces when the boxes overflow. Every now and then I schedule a cutting session to manage and organize my stash. I store them in plastic shoe boxes and square containers labeled with the size and die name.

"I believe the desire to make something out of nearly nothing is bred into my soul."  ~anonymous