Friday, January 8, 2021

Rail Fence Finish


Rail Fence
It's a finish!
90 x 90



I just draped it over the clothesline because it is covered in hoarfrost and the clothespins are little ice cubes. 

I started making little 3 inch rail fence blocks from 1.5 inch scraps back in 2017 as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project. I made a few each month from actual scraps in the color of the month from 2017 through 2019.  Sometimes there weren't very many scraps in a particular color and sometimes I had lots of scraps of a particular color. Sometimes I just had to wait for scraps to happen. I just worked with the scraps until I had 900 little blocks.  Then I assembled the top in November 2019. It has been waiting in the quilting stack ever since then. 

It's not exactly easy to wrestle a big quilt through the dinky harp on my DSM but I finally decided I might as well get 'er done.  I quilted vertical and horizontal lines through the centers of the blocks. 

A scrap catalog.  Blocks were sewn together randomly. 

I made a scrappy binding. A lot of the pieces came from the leftover binding shoebox. I tried to use multicolor geometrics on white. 


 The backing was a wide piece of bleached muslin. 


40 comments:

Julie in GA said...

900 blocks?!! That's a lot of little blocks! They look great together. I always admire how well your "random" layouts look. I tend to agonize over laying out blocks just right to keep similar colors from touching, but it really doesn't matter with so many blocks, does it?

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Oh How I love this one!! All that pretty scrappiness and it is just beautiful over the fence... LOVE it!!!

sue s said...

This really turned out nice and big! A good idea for a slow RSC, which may be what I need right now. The leftover binding is a good idea too!

Elizabeth V Kelbaugh said...

Fabulous! I love all the scrappy color. Thanks for inspiring.

Quilting Babcia said...

You have the most amazing perseverance girl! And you always end up with a special quilt to show for it!

Julierose said...

What an absolutely lovely quilt--900 blocks? G U L P !! You are amazing...hugs, Julierose

Jenny said...

Amazing, 900 tiny blocks! Such a great effort. And they look so nice together, out in the snow!

Pam in KC said...

I LOVE this. Makes me want to make one of my own.

maggie fellow said...

happy scrappy quilt - awesome

Quiltdivajulie said...

Holy cow this is AWESOME!!!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely amazing! I love it!

Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com

quiltingbydawn said...

Amazing Scrap Quilt!

The Joyful Quilter said...

Congratulations on your super scrappy quilt finish, Cathy!!

MissPat said...

That's a huge quilt to push through a DSM. Your arms and shoulders really got a workout. This is scrappy goodness at its finest. I have the blocks made for a baby quilt and I'm going to take a page out of your playbook and put them together randomly instead of trying to lay it all out on the bed upstairs, then bring it back downstairs to sew. Let's see how that goes.
Pat

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! Love it!

Linda said...

Another fabulous scrappy quilt. I love the binding leftovers you pieced together, really effective.

Laura said...

You still have hoarfrost? Wow! But it sure is a beautiful backdrop to that wonderful scrappy finish! :)

scraphappy said...

Yay for a finish. Looking at that frost just makes me cold. Good thing you have a great quilt to warm you up again. So many great fabrics! Glad you were able to git er dun.

Gretchen Weaver said...

These blocks are perfect for a RSC project, you've ended up with a wonderful quilt! Happy stitching!

Jennifer said...

900? you are a patient woman! (with a fantastic quilt!)

Janis said...

Wow, what an impressive quilt. I can't even imagine making 900 blocks for anything! That's a true accomplishment and a very pretty quilt. Congratulations on getting it finished.

Kathy S. said...

This is fabulous! What a great way to use those little 1.5" strips! 900 blocks -- whew! You definitely had patience and perseverance for those. It's nice to see a little bin fill up over time. I always LOVE your scrappy projects. You are definitely an inspiration. :)

Quilter Kathy said...

An Amazing scrap catalogue!
You are the scrappy queen!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

A scrap catalogue is exactly right! I love this one, Cathy! Amazing that it is so huge, but made of all those tiny blocks.

grammajudyb said...

It truly is a fabulous finish, Cathy! The scrappy binding is perfect !

Chantal said...

What a fabulous quilt this is! Stunning! 900 blocks! WOW! Best scrap buster ever I think. I love your pictures in the snow, with the frost everywhere. They are awesome. I'm in love with the binding too. Just FABUlous, really. ;^)

Deb A said...

Wow! That came out amazing. So fun and scrappy.

Kayaking quilter said...

Well done quilt. So many blocks of a small size. Good use of leftover fabric as you went month to month in another project. Thank you for sharing that quilt. I bet you are glad it is off the UFO list.

Ivani said...

Super cool!
900 Blocks? You rock!!
You really did an outstanding job on this quilt.

QuiltGranma said...

Another wonderful finish!

swooze said...

Another fabulous quilt!

karenbbsnow said...

I've never seen a rail fence with such small blocks .... gorgeous! I'm itching to make some now :)

mangozz said...

OMG!! I absolutely love your rail fence quilt! 900 3" blocks and a quilt that size? You must be nuts! I've never seen rail fence blocks that size before. On one hand, I want to start one of these quilts right away. On the other hand, I don't know if it would ever get finished. I know for sure that it would never get quilted by me on my DSM. I did make the Checkerboard Rails quilt top that Bonnie Hunter designed, and it has been basted for a few years, but it has yet to be quilted. But those were, I think, 6" finished blocks.

Emily said...

Wow! That's a lot of blocks and I absolutely love it! So colorful, and your pictures in the snow are gorgeous. This is a really fun one. I can't believe how small those blocks are and how many!!!

Sharon Kwilter said...

Such a creative scrap quilt. Well done.

Pamela Arbour said...

You did an awesome job with that. Congratulations

Frog Quilter said...

A beautiful scrappy quilt, love it!

Nann said...

The white centers provide a focus amid the glorious scrappiness. What fun! (I've done 3.5 red-centered rails. You're encouraging me to try white!)

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

Wow that is gorgeous! I have made a rail fence and had a hard time keeping it up because there were so many other possibilities. I may have to try again.

Susie H said...

What a fantastic treasure! Love the scrappiness. Hate the idea of making 900 blocks! YIKES! I am sure there are a lot of memories tucked away in this quilt. Great job!