Tales From The Scrap Yard

On March 24 I met up for the first time with a fellow Stashbuster , Candra, who also lives in Iowa about 1.5 hours away from me. She had sent me an email asking if I wanted some scraps. Seriously?? I LOVE scraps. Candra even offered to deliver but a friend went with me and we drove west to meet her at a quilt shop and then we went to lunch. I had a delightful visit with Candra and stuffed the back of my friend's car with several bags of Candra's scraps. I couldn't wait to get home to the Scrap Yard and sort through them. I kind of analyzed all of the bags of the scraps first in order to figure out the best way to sort through them. In the past I used to sort through scraps I received and throw them into bins I stored by scrap width. But I emptied most of those scrap bins last year.  I sorted Candra's scraps into bags by color and then within those bags I sorted by fabric width. I also ended up with a bag of orphans and another of oddly shaped scraps because I think Candra made a lot of masks and surgical caps in the past year. There was also a plastic jar of bonus triangles not yet sewn together. 

When all was sorted I started with the bag of green scraps. I thought it would be fun to document what all will be made from this bag of scraps. My goal is to make donation quilts roughly of the size 40 x 60. 

First I took out the biggest piece of yardage and put it in with my camping/wildlife themed fabrics. I also took out some 1.5 inch pieces with roses and put those with my rose themed scraps. 

Then I took out the pieces that were at least five inches in width. On the right hand side are some of my own scraps that are 5 inches wide. I decided to add those so I would have enough scraps to make some large Churn Dash blocks - real scrap eaters. 

I made twelve Churn Dash variation blocks that finish at 13.5 inches. 

I added a 3 inch border to the top and bottom with my scraps and ended up with a quilt 40.5 x 60. 

The next scraps that came out of the bag were a bunch of 1.5 inch width scraps...

...some 2.5 inch width scraps and some 5 inch scraps left over from making Churn Dash blocks that I cut into 5 inch squares. 

I first framed the five inch squares with 1.5 x 5 inch  and 1.5 x 7 inch scraps...

...and then added a frame of 2.5 inch width scraps. I made 24 blocks that finished at 10.5 inches. 

In a 4 x 6 layout the quilt ended up 42 x 63 inches.

So...I made a mistake when I cut the 1.5 inch scraps for that previous quilt. I was thinking my center square was 4.5 inches instead of 5 inches so I cut some lengths at 6.5 inches instead of 7 inches. So, I decided to make another quilt to use those 6.5 inch pieces. Along with the 6.5 lengths of 1.5 inch width of scraps I found some 4.5 inch width of scraps in the green Candra scrap bag and cut those into 4.5 x 6.5 inch pieces. And in the brown bag of Candra scraps I remembered there were a whole lot of brown 1.5 inch strips. I cut those into 6.5 inch lengths. 

Then I made 32 blocks that consisted of four green strips bordered by two brown strips and I made 31 blocks that consisted of a 4.5 x 6.5 inch scrap bordered by two brown strips. 

I alternated blocks in a 7 x 9 layout and ended up with a little quilt 42 x 54. 

So, so far that makes 3 little green quilts from a grocery bag of scraps. But wait! There's still more green scraps in the bag. I'm not going to move on to another color until the green bag is empty so there will be more tales from the Scrap Yard coming soon!

Oh, Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

 

Little Quilts and Big Churn Dashes

Two finishes! 

Each 40.5 x 60

The Churn Dash blocks finish at 13.5 inches.

I used a wide variety of scrap chunks. 

These blocks are quick and easy to make so I think for awhile I'll make this my new quilt block for kid sized donation quilts. 

Last year I just made blocks with no layout in mind and I had not given any thought as to whether or not the blocks would play nicely together.  In December of last year I divided the blocks into two piles -- one kind of hot and the other kind of cold - and assembled the tops. 

I pieced the backs with some backing leftovers and some pieces of large bright plaids. 

For several months I've been so afraid to free motion quilt (FMQ) anything because my sewing machine would need to go in for maintenance almost every single time I did FMQ. Well, these were the first two I quilted on my new machine and I was in heaven instead of on pins and needles. 

I quilted spirals. 

 These will be donated to Quilts Beyond Borders (QBB) - a charity providing quilts to children in underserved areas of the world. A visit to the QBB blog will give you a glimpse of some colorful quilts as well as describe some of the charities that received quilts. 

In the last year I have mostly worked on twin sized quilts for donation and gifts using up swapped blocks and moving forward UFOs but I hope to get back to some of these smaller quilts this year. I have a lot of orphan blocks and pieces in the Parts Department. 

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the Fat Quarter Shop sponsors a Fat Quarter Challenge. Send in a quilt for an entry to the monthly drawing for a $25 gift certificate. 

I received my second shot of covid vaccine Wednesday and slept all day yesterday under a pile of quilts because I had the same side effects as I did after the first dose - chills and fatigue and a sore arm. Today is a new day!!

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts

Churning Out Churn Dashes

Two Churn Dash Tops

Each is 40.5 x 63

The Churn Dash blocks are large - they finish at 13.5 inches. 

They were made from quite a wide variety of scrap chunks 5 inches wide or so.  

In order to make them at least 60 inches long I added a border to the top and bottom made from 2 inch strips. One of the places I send donation quilts likes quilts approximately 40 x 60. 

 My December OMG (One Monthly Goal) was to complete at least one top from a large box of complete block sets.   These are tops #2 and #3.  Top #1 has already been finished and donated. 

OMG (One Monthly Goal) at Elm Street Quilts

Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

Dashing Through The 30s

 It's a Top!

92 x 92

 Churn Dash blocks made of 30s reproduction fabrics that finish at 13.5 inches. 

 I used mostly red, green, yellow, blues and browns.  I cut five inch widths of fabrics and used my Easy Angle Ruler to cut the HSTs for the four corners. The Dash sides were made from three 2 x 5 cuts of fabric. That's how I got the 13.5 finished size for the Churn Dashes. 

A finished top was my OMG (One Monthly Goal) for May. 

Mission accomplished!

Elm Street Quilts OMG.

A Few Light and Bright Blue Scraps

This month the new Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color is blue...just the lights and brights though.  

I made a few Double X blocks and the alternate Snowball blocks. Since these blocks consist of both 1.5 and 2.5 inch pieces I cut a 1.5 inch strip and a 2.5 inch strip from a chunk scrap to make the blocks. Leftovers go into blocks I made from those sizes of scraps later on in the month. This quilt was inspired by a vintage quilt. Blocks finish at 4 inches. This project started last year and will continue until I run out of that minty green background fabric. 

Giant Churn Dash blocks that finish at 13.5 inches. Pretty wild, huh? But that's where the scraps took me. I'm sure they will look fine when combined with other blocks in a quilt.  All the parts for this block can be cut from five inch scraps but I don't have a bin of scraps in that size so I cut these from scrap chunks too.  Sometimes I cut that middle accent pieces from a 2 inch scrap. 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

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Garden Watch 

Weather permitting I've been taking a garden walk every day. This time of year new things seem to sprout up every day in the flower gardens.  Scilla is a little blue flower about five inches tall.  Bees love it. 

I started with a few little bulbs several years ago and now it has naturalized in patches here and there throughout the flower gardens.  As soon as the Scilla finishes blooming Bluebells will bloom here. 

Mr. and Mrs. Frog enjoy the Crocus in the Fairy Garden. 

More Crocus in front of a miniature gazing globe that marks a rose bush. A lot of times I do not get to enjoy the Crocus because rabbits and deer eat the leaves and buds. 

Species tulips in bloom. 

Yesterday I planted lettuce, spinach, mustard, radishes, snow peas and sets for green onions and sweet onions.  The asparagus bed is cleaned up but no shoots yet.  And I do see lots of rhubarb leaves unfurling in the rhubarb patch. 

What Happened to Those Orange Scraps?

 The February Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month is orange.  I usually start out the month by digging through my scrap chunks (pieces greater than a 4.5 square and less than a fat quarter) to cut pieces for my blocks that have different sized pieces or are made of larger pieces. 

These Churn Dash blocks finish at 13.5 and are made of 2 inch and 5 inch pieces. 

 Double X Mosaic and Snowballs that finish at 4 inches. 

This is my second year of making these blocks inspired by a vintage quilt. 

These pieces require 2.5 and 1.5 inch parts. 

Wishing Rings that finish at 3.5.

This is another project started last year and continuing into this year. It takes a lot of them to make a big quilt. 

I cut pieces for these from scraps from the 3.5 and 1.5 scrap bins if I have them. Otherwise I cut from scrap chunks.  The center which is 2 inches unfinished and the corners which are 1.5 inch squares are usually cut from a 3.5 inch scrap.  The sides usually come from the 1.5 inch scrap bin. 

 Then since I was in the 3.5 inch scrap bin I made Broken Dishes blocks that finish at six inches. I think this may be my third year of making these blocks. Someday they will make it into a quilt. For now they are a good use of scraps. 

When I was finished with those I cut any orange 3.5 inch scraps left in the bin into 3.5 inch squares and anything less than a 3.5 inch square was sewn together into a strip. I've been making those strips for years and have quite a few of them now. At year end I will make one or maybe even two Chinese Coin type quilts...maybe called Loose Ends? or End of the Line? or...

There's my little stack of 3.5 inch squares. And while I was cleaning up scrap chunks I found a lot of pieces that were 5 inches wide so cut 5 inch squares. 

I think this week I will deal with orange 2 inch scraps. Next week you will see the results. 

Until then you may want to see how others are using their scraps: 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday. 

Some Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) Projects

 This is the month to use dark neutral scraps in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects. 

I dug into the 2.5 inch scraps and made some Garlic Knots (traditional block name Arrowhead Puzzle). 

 Now I have 90 blocks if I counted correctly and can begin quilt top assembly. I am thinking I will make a quilt 8 x11 blocks that will measure 64 x 88.   That means this is one RSC project that will not have to continue into next year. 

 But I still have a couple of other RSC projects that use 2.5 inch scraps that I haven't worked on at all this year. I am going to count my six inch Plus blocks and then decide what I want to do with them in order to move this project forward.  I may or may not continue on with these as a project using 2.5 inch scraps. 

 Another project using 2.5 inch scraps that I have neglected this year is Sprouts.  I need to count these up and decide if  I have enough for the layout I envisioned and if not I will try to make enough additional blocks and get a top made by year end. 

 These little 3 inch Churn Dashes are a new RSC project I will be making from 2.5 inch scraps.  When I tried a few blocks last month with purple scraps I used scraps about 6.5-7 inches long and cut one inch off the width to be used for the side pieces and with the remaining 1.5 inch piece I used the Easy Angle ruler to cut HSTs. 

 I'm thinking that eventually I will combine them with some little 3 inch nine patches because I have a whole bin of those already made. 

After I finished assessing projects that use 2.5 inch scraps I turned my attention to the 1.5 inch scrap bin.  I've been making little 3 inch finished rail blocks from 1.5 inch scraps for a couple of years. After I made these dark neutrals I found I finally have 900 or so of them...

...and will begin assembling a quilt top. 

But I still have some 1.5 inch scraps so I tried a new block called Rocky Glen.  The block takes four different fabrics so I was thinking I will make blocks in secondary colors and primary colors. So if the RSC color is a secondary color like purple I will use two purple scraps, an orange scrap and a  green scrap.  If it is a primary color like red I will use two red scraps, a yellow scrap and a blue scrap.  These blocks finish at 7.5 inches.   The 1.5 inch scrap bin is running a little low so if I don't have 1.5 inch scraps to make these blocks I will cut from scrap chunks.   

In the meantime I want to clean out the 1.5 inch scrap bin this year so will cut any scrap in the RSC color left in the scrap bin after I make blocks into 1.5 inch squares to be used at a later date.   So that means at the end of 2020 I hope to have an empty 1.5 inch scrap bin. 

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday