Sew Sunshine

New Book by Kelly Young - Perfectly Pieced Quilt Backs I am so happy to read and review and use this book to work on my stash. Kelly has great tips and simple layouts to help you use your scraps up in a way to work with the front of your quilts. By using her tips you can use up leftover blocks and bits from the quilt you are making and you are not left with a huge scrap pile.  If you have been following me at all but especially this year I have made it a mission to use my stash.  Part of that mission was emptying out a couple of huge bags of scraps.  HERE  is an example of some of the scraps I used up. In Kelly's book there are 30 different quilt backs ideas. 15 using leftover scrappy bits and 15 more from yardage. Her book  features  great full quilt finishing instructions and each back has instruction for 3 sizes given.  Not only do you get all that help but she has also included 18 lap sized quilt patterns for downloading.  Wow, so much ri...

I recently dug in my closet and found a box of 5" flannel squares I had cut out a few years ago. I made a simple tie quilt with them and thought it was time to use up the rest of the box. (did not succeed but every bit helps) Most of these were from old flannel shirts of my husbands.  I found a soft layer of fleecy blanket left over from a previous denim quilt. I had an old blanket that had two soft layers perfect for the inside of a simple flannel quilt like this. I was however short about 6" so I frankensteined some small pieces of batting onto the edge. I had no idea if it would work but I tied this and washed it and everything is fine! Simple ties in each square held it together just right.  Another recycle/upcycle project completed.  The trouble with digging in a craft closet, well any closet really is you never know what you will find. I came across this old pair of pants my husband had. It had ginormous side pockets on the leg perfect to make over into a bag. So I ...

This is the last bits of scraps from the big bag I decided to tackle. My lqg had an improv challenge and I was not going to participate because I have several improv projects already started that would not qualify for the challenge. However, when I was working on my scrap bag, I had these few that sort of looked good together.  I was just stripping them with no real plan and then in the bottom of the scrap bag was a circle already turned back in the yellow/gold fabric I had used in the strips....Fortunate? I think so. ha You might think no after you read the poem I came up with below. I am not a writer of anything and I don't like to read out loud things I have written but I did at my guild the other night...who knows why? Sundown on Scraps I see you staring back at me, from the far back corner of the room. Ignored and chastised for your girth And cursed at when I dig through you, for  giving birth. Endless times I attempt to sew you only to create more fluff. I surely can ge...

Strippy Scraps quilt. Another all scraps all the way....scrap batting, scrap binding bits and scrap bag bits. I even went to an old machine I don't use often and emptied out most of the bobbins using up thread that was not getting much love.  This quilt was so fun to make just mindlessly sewing scraps of the same size together. I usually make the stripping about 15 to 20 inches wide then trim up. I just plunk the chunks on the wall and fit them together.  So much satisfaction to use these up.  Like I said in yesterday's post about the baby scrap quilts... sometimes you just get tired of some fabrics in your stash and you just want to use them up. So I used up some on the back too! Kind of crazy looking but so is the front. Yay...using my scrap stash....and the journey keeps on going.  Stay tuned for more scrappy things. 48" x 60" 2023 Quilt parade: 2 scrap bag  strip set quilts 2 More  Baby Hexi Quilts  including one giant flower garden QAYG =  Di...

Stuck at home, not feeling great but not feeling horrible for over 2 weeks! My husband joined me about halfway through the days and I was going a little crazy. I kept eyeing this huge overflowing bag of scrap fabrics under my table.  Finally I just dumped it out and started sorting. I was able to make 2 more of my  Hexi Baby  quilts. If you go to the link for that page I have a free template you can use to make your own. I had a little fun with the giant grandmother flower garden hexi using the scraps I had to fit. It has been super windy the past few days so I took quick shots inside.  Some of the pieces in this quilt were a little larger but they were in the scrap bag because I am sort of sick of them.  I bet that one of the butterfly prints I have put in at least 4 other quilts. Time for it to get used up and gone! Then I decided to work through a huge scrap pile of 2.5" strips, leftover binding strips and so on. I quickly matched up a couple strips one light...

Over the years I have experimented with QAYG quilts. I really love when you can make something from ALL the scraps. I used scrap fabrics, scrap batting  and use up thread colors in bobbins that I don't normally use up.  ( I actually like using up the bobbin threads from other machine too as I never have the color I need and never have empty bobbins so...?) I ..........LOVE doing this! All of it. I am so satisfied using up batting bits as my foundations. Strips, squares...they all work. This block was a happy accident. I had no idea how it was going to come together and I made more blocks than I used so ya know...another quilt probably ...hahaha Me trying to use the remote..haha If you can't laugh at yourself..right? Better..haha I had this one done the day I did the quilt parade last week.  HERE  are the ones from last week Speaking of using scraps, I asked a few guild members if they had batting strips they didn't know what to do with.  I scored a few bags of s...