Still Scraps Remain

Greetings!  It is finally springtime in Idaho.  The crocus are in bloom along my front walkway, so that is something.  I have moved on from black and white quilts forever, I hope.  I won't say never.  I am still working on that pile of quilt tops that need quilting.  I am down from six to three; half-way done!

This is the Black & White Mostly #4 quilt.  It started out as a quilt back for number 3, but I liked how it looked so much it had to become a whole nother quilt.  I am sure you understand.  You can click on the photo to enlarge it, so you can see the details better.  I used some courthouse steps blocks, in here, and a couple of Deb Rowdin's hearts.

    

                   video of how #4 went together:  click HERE

I have been honing my video making skills and I know I did better on this video than the previous one, so give it a chance . . . and have a view, please.  It shows how it went together from scraps remaining from the previous one, to the scraps remaining after this one.  Still scraps remain.  

I still had some scraps after I finished #4, but they are finally significantly less. I stuffed these on the shelf with my black and white fabrics, but I should move them to the bin with all the strips for making another "random" quilt.  It will need bits of b&w.

Black & White Mostly (#3) Quilt is Finished and Photographed

Black & White Mostly #3 is wider than an outhouse.  It looked like an outhouse, but maybe it was a pumphouse instead.  Finally, it has quit snowing, sleeting, and down right down-pouring long enough for me to get out and take some photos of my finished black and white mostly quilts.  This one I finished in February.  Please, check my Dec 29, 2022, post called "Taking Stock", to read all about how I created this quilt.  There is also a video.

After Teresa and I finished the first two B&W Mostly quilts, there were lots (tons) of scraps left over.  I unearthed that pile in December and decided it needed to go . . . . into a quilt.  I started making a backing from the still remaining scraps, when I liked what I was seeing and decided it was not a back, but a top.  Thus, we have B&W #4, which I will take you through in my next post.  It is simply a lovely day in Treasure Valley.

Taking Stock

Despite traveling and time spent working at the Western Idaho Fair, I was rather productive this year.  I completed 13 regular quilts, 1 small wall-hanging, 1 big bag, 1 pillow, 1 placemat, 1 kitty quilt, and 10 doll quilts.  Oh, and I completed 4 quilt tops (they are not completed quilts).  

What I find interesting is that out of 13 regular quilts, 7 of them were made from scraps.  I have so much lovely fabric, but I keep using the scraps to make the majority of my quilts.  I have done a couple things, in 2022, that are not typical of me: 1) I actually bought and used a pattern to make a quilt; 2) I watched a couple of YouTube videos about quilting, specifically about using scraps.  Karen Brown has a YouTube Channel, and she did a tutorial about using the "after-quilt."  Every quilt you make has an after-quilt.  When you make a lot of quilts, you have a lot of after-quilt fabric scraps.

I find myself, once again, in a fabric purchasing moratorium.  I have tons of lovely fabric.  I do not need more.  In 2023, I am resolved to use my lovely new fabrics, that I have purchased, but not used.  I am going to let the scraps stack up!

Of the four quilt tops, that I made, but do not have backs and have not been quilted, three of them are made from scraps.  Let me tell you about the latest one.

Teresa and I made "Black and White Mostly" quilts in 2018.  We had collected black and white fabrics for three years before we ever got started on our quilt tops.  We each made one.  To use up some of the yardage we bought, I pieced the backs from black and white fabrics.  Still there is yardage in my cabinet from this project, which is perfectly usable in future projects.  However, there is also a pile of scraps from two quilts:  the after-quilts of two quilts.

I pulled out this black and white pile of scraps and decided to use it all up and get it out of my quilt room.  I have found this activity to be enjoyable, but futile, in the past and now.  I made a 55" X 68 1/2" quilt, and still had a pile left over.  I guess that is to be expected, if the original pile was scraps from two quilts.  So, I am going to use the after pile, to make the backing for the quilt top I constructed.

Following is a video, I made, showing how to use your pile of scraps (aka the after-quilt) to make a whole new quilt.

I love how the quilt top came out.  I really hope you like my video.  I am a novice in the video department.

I started by sorting the scraps into piles by size and shape.  Then just started sewing them together.  Then, I decided I could experiment with new block ideas as I go.  One of Karen Brown's videos, was about "How to Make an Ugly Quilt".  None of my big chunks were as big as hers: 14" X 14", so I found three darks and three lights that were the biggest of my pieces.  The smallest of the six determined the size I would make my squares.  It was 11 1/2 inches wide, so I cut my six squares to 11 1/2" X 11 1/2".  When I finished, they were 9 inches square.  You have to layer them dark, light, dark, light, then cut through all the layers on a diagonal.  Then shuffle, cut again, shuffle and turn sideways, and repeat.  You must watch Karen Browns's video, at Just Get It Done Quilts to believe how amazing this process of making quilt blocks is.

Quilt top:  Black and White Mostly (top row are blocks based on Karen Brown's video)

I will talk more about this quilt when it is actually all quilted and complete.  See you next year!