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Thursday, October 29, 2020

Scrappy Snowball Quilt

Here I go again!  Busting the stash!  This time I was inspired by a stack of white charm squares I've had for nearly a year.  The have been staring me down almost daring me to use it, and so I did!

But first I had to come up with a plan.  What would I make?  After weighing my options the idea of a snowball block smacked me in the head.  Not only could I use the charm pack, I could use more neutral scraps and...my stash of 2 1/2" print squares.

SCRAPPY SNOW BALL
34" x 43"

Knowing that the charm pack wouldn't be enough to make something substantial, and knowing that all whites are never the same white, I opted to use more neutral scraps to round out my plan.  The subtle variation of the white, snow, natural and whatever I had on hand is pleasing to my eye!

The first thing I did was trim the 2 1/2" squares to 2".  Crazy I know, but I felt that size would best suit the 5" neutral squares.  I was able to pick and choose which prints I wanted to use from my previously cut stash, plus I was able to use other scraps that I crammed away.  A lot of trimming and cutting, but I was sure it would be worth it.     


The white charm pack wasn't going to be enough as I needed 80-5" squares for this quilt.  I gathered other fabric and in no time I had all I needed.  


The basic block is simple.  Sew a square in each corner.  There was a lot of mindless chain piecing involved.  I didn't want to put too much thought into each block, so by randomly picking a print each time, I cut my 'overthinking' out of the process.

Once I had all the corner blocks sewn on trimming soon followed.  It seems like this was going to be the quilt that I wasn't going to stress about sewing, piecing or assembling.  I decided right from the start that if at all possible I wanted my seams to nest together.  That way I didn't need to worry about pinning.  I was hoping for the best!


With each block I pressed two opposite corners in, and the remaining two to the outside.  Nesting 101!  This was going to be a breeze to assemble.  


I guess the most difficult part of this quilt was making sure the blocks were oriented the same way in order to achieve the seam nesting.  Other than that it was stress free.  I rearranged a few blocks here and there, but for the most part it was totally random.  


There seems to be a cohesive 'modern meets vintage' vibe to this quilt.  Modern because of the open airiness and vintage most likely because of the mixed neutral background.  My opinion of course!  


Pile up!


This was my opportunity to add some FMQ ruler work by adding the circles.  With a small quilt I actually feel in control when I'm using rulers.  Not so much with large quilts!  I've never been able to maneuver big quilts with FMQ...ever!


You aren't seeing things!  The top and bottom are different shades!  This was another way for me to use more stash squares and keep the theme throughout.  

I've significantly depleted my scrap squares and I couldn't be happier about that!  I'm not sure how many more stash busting quilts there will be this year, but I know I have significantly worked through my stash.  From unloved fabric to fabric I love...nothing is off limits this year! 

   LINKING:

36 comments:

  1. Beautiful quilt and great for using stash, happy stitching!

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  2. WOW! What a great use for your stash!

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  3. Great use of your scraps, Jayne. It's a happy quilt!

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  4. Love, love, love this one! I've got 45+ years of scraps (from the 30's to current) to use to make one of these -- or maybe 10. Thanks for the idea. Gotta love easy, and its a beautiful quilt. Deb E

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    1. It’s always nice to find a fun and easy scrappy quilt to make. I’m sure I will be revisiting the Snowball block again very soon! All your scraps would make a beautiful quilt….or 10! Good luck!

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  5. I’m new to your blog, BUT. I look everyday so I don’t miss anything. I like your style and all the directions and pictures!!! I have been doing mindless sewing also. It is relaxing. I am choosing 2 of my quilts to give to 2 little girls, ages 9 and 7, that have lost both parents. My heart aches for them. I will have their name monogrammed on the quilts and will hope it helps them in life. I have been blessed and stressed with 4 aging parents, so trying to imagine how the girls are coping is impossible!

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    1. Mindless sewing is very therapeutic! I wish those little girls the best and cannot imagine what they are going through. Having a special quilt will give them a little comfort when they need it. We all know the power of a quilt! Kudos to you and with all that is on your plate…don’t forget to take care of yourself too!

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  6. This made a really appealing quilt! Yes, the mix of whites works well here, adding more interest and dimension than a single white would have done.

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  7. What a great way to use up a lot of neutral stash!

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  8. What a beautiful finish on this one. I love to see how the array of corner colors come together. Very pretty hugs, Julierose

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  9. I would never have guessed by looking at it that it was a snowball block quilt! I really like how it looks and how it was made and am considering making one myself, possibly as a leader/ender project, since it won't require much concentration or decision making. Thanks for the inspiration! (purrfection8@gmail.com)

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  10. The scrappy speaks to me, Jayne. From the mixed white background to the random bits of color... LOVE!!!

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  11. Beautiful quilt! And the mix of many neutrals will always work!
    Happy Quilting! :-)

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  12. such a sweet quilt. I agree, vintage modern. yum

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  13. I love it, and thank you for the inspiration. I have a large number of snowball blocks made and I just didn't like them for the intended quilt, so now I will try your approach.

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  14. You have really been crashing that stash this year! Another beauty!

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  15. I, too, would never have guessed this was a snowball quilt. This is definitely on my "to do" since I have lots of little mini-charm squares already cut from my stash and I think they would "play together" in this quilt pattern (even though they are so different!) I also have different shades of white/cream/snow backgrounds that I normally would NEVER put together.

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  16. A very beautiful stash busting quilt! Love your quilting too, simple but very effective

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    1. I’ve been on the lookout for scrappy quilts throughout the year and was so happy to land on this one!

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  17. Well done. It looks great. Mixing the neutrals was a great idea.

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  18. I love this quilt so much that when I saw it on instagram I headed directly to your blog hoping you would give more explanations because this is a must-sew for me!Thanks for sharing Jayne!

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  19. Really beautiful and love how you quilted it!

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  20. Such a fun quilt. I did something kinda similar on a butterfly block quilt a couple years ago because there seemed to be too much plain background for a quilt for a kiddie. I really like this with just the colorful snowball corners. I hadn’t thought of that. I have a huge bin of multicolor scraps that don’t easily fit in scrap quilts, so maybe? Your quilted snowballs tickle me. I hope that isn’t a prediction of the winter to come (although snowball fights would be a safe socially distanced activity).

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  21. So simple and so pretty. Perfectly quilted. This scrappy snowball quilt is like comfort food - I can use some right now :-) So soothing - love it.

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  22. Such a nice quilt, light background with little sparkling triangles! Great idea for using up scraps.

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  23. This is so pretty with those brights against the white. I love how it makes two designs in a way and your quilting perfectly suits it. Kudos on a great finish!

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  24. This quilt is so pretty, Jayne! I love the design you created with such a simple block. And so impressive that you matched all those seams! Beautiful finish!

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  25. Great design for using all those scraps and different shades of neutrals. And the quilting looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

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  26. Reversing the placement of neutrals and colors makes this quilt vibrant. It looks completely different from the snowball quilts I've made over the years. Something else to consider making... ok, no... I've already got too many started and planned. I'll be good for a while.

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  27. Jayne!! How am I supposed to come up with quilt ideas of my own when you keep posting amazing quilts that I am dying to COPY?! ;-). I LOVE your snowball quilt and I really might do you the ultimate flattery of imitating you on this one. I've been cutting into stash fabric and cramming leftovers into my scrap bins for too long, and I'm starting to have trouble closing them. Also I've had snowball blocks catching my eye here and there around the Internet for awhile now, but yours is definitely my favorite. Did you save the little HST units that you trimmed away for use in another project? Great job with those quilted circles, too.

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  28. I just found your blog today thanks to a fellow Tennessean (My Quilt Infatuation). I'm also a Tennessean, and new to quilting although I'm 75 yeas old. I love the modern quilt patterns and this one is spectacular.

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  29. Just found your blog. This is awesome. I do a LOT of baby quilts and I like experimenting. Everyone gets a baby quilt (first baby, fifth baby--no matter) and this is excellent. I'm thinking of doing light gray background with an assortment of pink corners (girl) or aqua corners (kind of gender neutral) or greens and blues for boys. How fun!!! Thank you.

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  30. I like this blog. Thank you for sharing this information.

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