Time Warp!

Where did time go?!  I cannot believe it's the end of February already and I also cannot believe I spent 8 days with zero, zilch, zippo sewing!  And then let's not forget there was the virtual QuiltCon Together show going on as well!

Many of you know that we quarantine for two weeks in order to spend time with my daughter's God-Children.  There are three of them including the mom ranging in age from 7-1 1/2 years old.  We take Covid very seriously and both our families take extra precautions so that we can all have visits.  

We usually spend three or four days together and then they go back home.  However this time we had the added bonus of snow!  Snow and ice to be exact!  Now, Mid-Tennessee doesn't often see snow except maybe a dusting once in a while.  This time was a bit different and frankly, a very nice surprise!  

It was a beautiful scene!  I love watching the snow falling and how quiet it becomes outside.  Inside was a different story!!  With the roads too treacherous to drive, our 3 day visit turned into 8 days!  The good part was there was snow for the children to play in!  They loved it of course, and it helped getting them outside to play.  

I think we all had a blast and we sure love having the children here!  We are always thankful for our visits.  However...when you aren't use to it...it can be exhausting!  We look forward to the next visit of course, this time without snow!

All that being said, I didn't have one second of sewing in 8 days!  Truthfully the first several were a welcomed change.  But I was going through withdrawals by day 4!  Luckily those days were spent tooling around QuiltCon Together!

I was luckily enough to have two quilts in the show.  QuiltCon is the only show I enter quilts in mostly because don't know any others to enter! 

VITALITY

BEHIND THE SCENES

I understand why a virtual quilt show had to happen and not that I would have been able to go the the show had it been in Atlanta like it originally should have been, but it was nice to see the quilts.  I didn't sign up for classes or lectures...I just looked at all the quilts!  They were great eye candy, but it was a little bit of a let down.  There is nothing like seeing people, their quilts and all the detail in person.  Next year...I hope!

Now that I was finally able to get back to sewing I got to start a project that I've been thinking about for a while now.  Neon pink, Cotton + Steel and Kona Ash!  Couldn't be a better combination in my book!

And of course circles AKA Drunkard Path blocks!  I don't have a lot of the old Cotton + Steel fabric with neon pink left, but it was time to use it.  It just was.  The neon Pink is a Michael Miller fabric that is no longer available.  I bought several yards when I saw it on sale and then realized it was not going to be around for long.  

I drew up a couple blocks in EQ8, printed the templates and began cutting.  By the way, there are a couple prints in the mix that aren't Cotton + Steel, but have neon pink in them!

The blocks are suppose to be 5" finished and an 8" circle.  I always have issues with the edges of the blocks lining up.  I do the crease in the center, often glue my blocks, but they don't always end up perfect.  

I think in the end it might because I don't manipulate (pull!) the fabric enough.  Truth is, in the end it doesn't matter because I'll trim all the blocks to whatever size they need to be.  

Many of my designs aren't set in stone so I'm able to go with the flow.  I make it up as I go!  Which seems to be my way!

Hopefully I can make progress today and soon enough have a finished quilt top to share!!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
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PEACOCK PARTY  ● TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY

Drunkard's Path + Scraps = Baby Magic

After finishing several Black & White quilts I was in the mood for some color!  What better way to feed that hunger than with this group of gorgeous colors?  

BABY DP
33" x 44"

I have been trying to work my way through the pile of scraps I accumulated from a previous project.  

This one might look familiar to you.  I haven't made any progress on quilting it, but it is pinned and ready to quilt as soon as I get up the courage!  

Scraps are inevitable when making circles, half circles or quarter circles.  You could consider it to be a waste of fabric.  I think of it as possibilities.  



With each project I try to design something different.  The basic shape might be the same, such as curves, but half the fun is figuring out how to use what I have in front of me and how to make it different.

Each DP block was trimmed to 3 1/4", which means the finished blocks became 2 3/4".  A little bit small!

In the beginning I decided on a Drunkards Path block.  With the curves at hand I decided to neutralize the color by adding light gray.  Once again I had scraps in different shades that weren't large enough for much of anything.  But they certainly were the right size for this project. 



After I made all the blocks I considered sewing together four and making circles.  Its the logical layout, but I wanted something different.  That's when I decided to add squares along with the DP blocks.  Not only was it a different shape to me, but it created twice as many blocks.  



Even with more blocks at my disposal, I still need a few more in order to make an actual usable sized quilt.  Four square blocks to the rescue!!



I like the addition of the four square block!  It adds a little surprise to the mix!



You'll notice I also added some blocks without the gray.  When working with specific size and shapes of scraps you often have to work with what you have.  I'm very happy I did and love how this quilt turned out!



I explored several different layouts, okay...I was flipping blocks like pancakes!  There are so many options!  In the end I decided random was the way to go.  

Then it was border time.  I used 3" strips in four different colors.  It was all about using those scraps!  You can see in this picture that I have a dark pink border on the bottom.  After I had sewn all the borders on I wasn't happy with the pink.  Out came the seam ripper and it was replaced with orange.  Much better!!



The quilt that started all this used 12" half circles and there were inverted, convex, concave...whatever you want to call them...scraps left over.  Big pieces, but scraps nonetheless!  From the 12" scraps, I made a table runner which is being quilted now, that uses 8" half circles.  I also made a small wall hanging, and now this baby quilt.  If you thought that would be the end of the scrap heap, sadly you would be wrong!  There are more, many more, way too many more!  

I might have to put an end to this madness.  Perhaps I'll shove it in a dark corner of the closet and one day I'll rediscover it with a renewed sense of excitement!  

Why is it that sometimes scraps seem like they multiply?!  I'm about out of new ideas at this time!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING 
LETS BEE SOCIAL ● MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD 

PEACOCK PARTY  ● TGIFF ● WHOOP WHOOP FRIDAY

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY

Magic Circles :: Scrap Busted

I have my first stash busting scrappy quilt finished.  The quilting and binding went off without a hitch and as always, it's full of fabulous crinkles after washing!

When I started this quilt I was determined to only use my unloved fabrics that have been lingering in my stash for years.  I did just that!   Not only did I use stash fabric on the front, but I pieced together the back which helped to whittle down the pile even more.

MAGIC CIRCLES
50" x 64"

I decided to call this quilt Magic Circles for the simple fact that it feels like magic when something this scrappy doesn't look like a hot mess when it's all said and done!  The credit has to go to the white circles.  It seems to have tamed the madness.

Each block was 4.25" unfinished and 3.75", there are 48 circles which are made up of 192 Drunkard Path blocks, which comes to a grand total of 252 blocks!



It's still scrappy, there's no denying or getting away from that, but it feels more grounded and contained.  I don't know if that makes sense to anyone other than me...my brain works in mysterious ways at times!



With a million quilting possibilities running through my head, I stayed in my lane and went with straight lines.  Horizontal, vertical and diagonal.  The lines intersected in the middle of the circles and made a pie!  Wedges for the win!

I used 40wt Aurifil thread (2024) for all the quilting.  I felt like it was the best option, plus I didn't want anything to interfere with the white circles.



I'm slowly learning that by staying in my lane I can achieve better results.  That doesn't mean I'm not going to veer to the left or right on occasion!  I may be getting old, but I like to spice up my life if only in my quilting adventures!

Wanna see the back?  

Isn't it totally bonkers?!  It made a dent in the stash, I'll tell you that!!  I don't think I'd do a back that was this crazy on any other quilt except a scrappy quilt.  Let's just say I was keeping with the theme and leave it at that!

With all the talk of scrap busting and using your stash, I will say that regardless of how I feel about a particular piece of fabric or 40...I love scrappy quilts.  And I love this one.

I'd like to say I've been more strategic in my fabric purchases in recent years, but sometimes I slip up and fall off the wagon!  It's an addiction, right?!  Which is why I buy and love solids!  It's so much easier for me to pair solids than prints.  Prints are...my nemesis!   



I have another scrappy quilt I'll be sharing soon.  Same scrappy fabric, different look!  After which I'll give it a rest!  The stash is smaller and I won't feel the need to bust it for a while!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING ●  LINKY TUESDAY 
LETS BEE SOCIAL ● MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD  ● TGIFF 

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY

Drunkards Path :: SCRAP Busting

This is going to be the year I work through my unwanted and unloved fabric stash.  In fact it, I'm blowing through it with not one but two scrap projects so far.  I've gone from two totes to one and I couldn't be happier about that or happier about the scrappy quilts that are the result of scrap busting.

The first one is a good old fashioned Drunkards Path quilt.  I had these white sections from a previous Drunkard Path quilt in 2017 and instead of tossing them, I held on to them knowing full well I'd come up with a good way to use them.  It may have taken a while, but you never know when an idea is going to come to mind.



My daughter Britt has numerous boxes of 'treasures' stored in our basement.  She was rummaging through some of boxes and came across this set of drunkard path templates which I quickly snatched up.  One day they will come in handy I told myself!



That day came!  The dots were connected when I was cleaning my sewing room and found the templates, found the white scraps and put two and two together.  The templates make 4" blocks and with a little trimming the white sections were ready for some scrappy action!



Dragging out the unloved fabric totes, I started by making four blocks using the same print.  The plan was to pair all four together for one large block and then piece the quilt together.  

That plan went out the window pretty quickly!  I added more prints to the mix for a true scrappy mishmash concoction!



I like to sew curves, but I always have issues with drunkard path blocks.  They never come out perfect.  With the blocks being 4", I took the time to glue first and then sew.  It takes a lot more time and still they have to be trimmed.  I ended up doing all of the work (glue, press, sew, trim) in the evenings.  



Look at that pile!  I love a nicely trimmed and pressed stack of blocks!  I trimmed the blocks to 4 1/4", threw them on the design wall, tweaked, turned and adjusted until it felt right.



AND then the fun began?!  It isn't easy getting the centers to line up perfectly, and truth be told, not all were.  



My answer to that is:  Que Sera Sera, Whatever will be, will be...the future's not ours to see...

And you're welcome...you now have that song flowing through your mind, as do I!



In order to increase the size of the quilt, I added a scrappy border around the outside.  Once it's quilted I plan on using white for the binding.



Another way I drastically decreased my stash of unloved fabrics was to use larger pieces of fabric for a lovely pieced back.  I didn't take a picture, but once it's quilted you will most certainly get to see that.  

While I was on a scrap busting roll and all the fabric was out, I couldn't resist one more quilt.  I quickly drafted a design using EQ8 and it should be a lovely flimsy by the end of the day.  

This my lovelies, is to be continued...stay tuned!

LINKING:

OH SCRAP! ● MAIN CRUSH MONDAY ●  MONDAY MAKING ●  LINKY TUESDAY 
LETS BEE SOCIAL ● MIDWEEK MAKERS ● NEEDLE & THREAD  ● TGIFF 

BRAG ABOUT YOUR BEAUTIES ● FINISHED OR NOT FRIDAY

Drunkards Path :: Getting My MoJo Back

It's taken me a while to get back in the swing of things lately.  I feel like I've done very little in the way of quilting the past couple months.  I thought the best way to get back into the thick of things was to work on a scrap project I started back in July.  My Clammed Out & Scrap Magic post talks about what to do with scraps from a previous quilt.

If the fabrics and color seems familiar, they are!  They all came from the infamous Glam Clam quilt I recently finished.  So many scraps!  

While cutting out the Clams for the Glam Clam, I was left with a ton of scraps.  It seemed like the perfect time to make some drunkards path blocks.

I had a tub full that I glue basted and quickly set about chain piecing those pesky curves. Except...they really weren't that pesky to sew!  

  

I choose to glue baste the curves to save myself from getting frustrated, and so I could put the pedal to the metal while chain piecing.  It seemed like a great idea...and it was!



I marked the center by folding and pressing a crease in each piece.  Here, I marked it with pen so you can see it better.



A small bead of glue goes a long way!  It doesn't take much to hold the two pieces together.



I line up the center point and with the tip of the dry iron I slowly move the top piece around the curve.  It doesn't take long for the glue to set.



Repeat the same process for the other half.



Before you know it...it's done!  There is a little fussing that has to be done when attaching the two pieces, like holding the top piece out of the glue when setting the glue with the iron.



Its worth it to me!  Usually when making this block I would press the seams towards the white. This time I pressed towards the print.  I didn't want the print to be seen through the white, which happens when you are doing just about any block.  



I did a lot of trimming so my blocks were good and square.  These ended up being 4".  I'd like to say they stayed that size!



They did not!  I wasn't terribly consistent with perfection when I slapped these together! When I put four blocks together they were a little askew!  I was only concentrating on lining up the curves for one big circle.  

After assembly, I trimmed all the blocks to 7".  Now that's something I can work with! 

I've played with several layouts since making the blocks, and even had to make more.  The top layout is a possibility, but this last one is not.  In order to do that one I would of had to sew each row together and hope all the seams lined up.  I love the layout and know that one day...it to shall become a quilt!

LINKING:

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