Scrap Quilt

 

Another quick scrap quilt.  This one was constructed with scrap blocks I've been working on between other projects.

As I've mentioned in other posts I always keep a bag for scraps under my sewing table.  As I'm working on other projects I toss all my scraps in the bag.

When the bag starts to overflow I sort through it, and most of it will head to scrap bits for blocks.

I'll work on these blocks when I'm in a creative slump or only have a short time to work on something.

The blocks get ironed and tossed in a new box.  Again when I'm free I'll work on making them bigger or working on a layout to make them into a quilt.

For this quilt I used a gray fabric as a grounding border to link all my wild and colorful blocks together.

I think the finished quilt is really playful and I hope some young child enjoys it.

Finished size: 52" X 45", flannel backing, 80/20 batting.

Thanks for dropping in.

Have a great day,

MaryEllen

The String Project

 My last big finish for 2025 was this scrappy queen size star quilt.

  

I try to make every scrap of fabric count so I keep a bag under my work table and I throw every leftover in.  When the bag gets full or when I'm running low on ideas I start making blocks.

 
And when the stack of blocks gets high enough I square them up and start thinking of how I can use them.

This fun star design was the result of a lot of playing around with my scrappy blocks. As you may see even the borders are scrappy.

 
For this piece the backing became quite the challenge.  I decided to not use any batting, only a wonderful soft fleece. I also wanted to make the quilting very loose,  I thought by doing all that I would have a really soft, yummy quilt to snuggle with.  This had worked great for a sofa throw sized quilt I made last Christmas. (blog post: Happy Holidays and new backing ideas, Dec.25, 2025)  However because this is a large quilt it was crazy trying to keep the backing straight and smooth.  I should mention I work on a domestic machine, not a long arm.  I think using a long arm may have been really helpful.  

But it's done!! And it's soft and yummy and I'm excited to start enjoying it.

Side note, check out my first attempt at AI by masking out that background in the photo. Go me learning new stuff.

Hope you enjoyed my piece! 

Have a wonderful day!

MaryEllen

Baby Quilts

 

Above is today's collection of finished baby quilts, all ready to be off to cuddle their new owners.

"It's all about the triangles", is 36" X 40" with a flannel backing. The 1930's reporduction fabrics are a favorite of mine. For this quilt I used leftover prints and a solid white to make each of the 5" square blocks.  This simple triangle block design can be found in art dating back for centuries. 

Some historical quilt names for this triangle style design include: Old Maid's Puzzle, 1932. and, Reverse X, 1931. Both of these references come from  Jinny Beyers book The Quilter's Album of PatchworkPatterns.

Yankee Puzzle, Carrie Hall Blocks by Betta Havig.

When making baby quilts I like to focus on improving on a skill, or learning a new technique. In this quilt I was working on getting a nice point in the center of each square. Practicing spinning all those seams was very helpful!!

Quilting for this piece was also an experiment.  It may be hard to see but, the design is lines of cute little flowers.

"Mix and Match"  was an experiment using leftover blocks.  

I used four leftover blocks from this quilt (photo above) I which was made back in 2022 (blog post 6/16/2022).

By adding fabrics from my stash I was able to use up the leftover blocks and make this fun new quilt.

This block is a nod to the Log Cabin quilts I so love. I call it a Modified Log Cabin as I was influenced by the by that wonderful block design.

"Mix and Match" is 41.5" X 41.5" with a  flannel backing.  Meandering quilting was done on my domestic machine.

For quilt number three I was determined to use up the leftover 2.25 square blocks from another project.  I used a basic 4 patch as cornerstones and a 16 squares block as the focal blocks.

Lots of white is always a go to for me when making baby quilts.

This quilt is 42" X 42"  with a flannal backing. Meandering quilting was done on my domestic machine.      

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful day!

MaryEllen

Scrappy Stars (a stash buster)

Scrappy stars was a fun quilt to make and one that just kind of developed the longer I worked on it.

How it all began......

I was looking for a way to use up a few scraps. My process for saving scraps is I put all my scraps in a large bag under my sewing machine as I work on each project.  When that bag fills up I divide the scraps by color and they move to a box.  When scrap the box gets full ..... it's time for a new scrappy stash busting project.

Here I'm sewing the scraps into my new yardage.

That scrap yardage became the 6.5" center blocks for my stars.

Next came the question of how to lay out the stars. I decided I wanted sashing between the blocks but I was unsure what to use.

I had yardage of a dark green fabric?  Nice but I decided it didn't keep with the scrappy theme.

I had already used one fabric for all the star points so I felt they would anchor the blocks and give the eye something stable to focus on. Meanwhile, the sashing and block centers are more fun and bright, and busy for the eye to follow.

The sashing is all shades of green.  The pieces in each sashing row are a consistent width but all the rows vary in width.

Finished 71" X 70".  Flannel back, quilting done on my domestic machine.

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful day!

MaryEllen

Scrappy Table Runner

Today's post is a quick scrappy table runner.

This piece started with a charm pack of various solids and a bag of scraps.

I started by making a stack of sting quilt blocks.

The string blocks were matched up with a solid square and sewn into half square triangle blocks.

If you look careful at the finished piece you will notice that the string blocks are matched running both horizontally and vertically.  Block placement was done on my design wall to give what I hoped was a pleasing mix of colors.

The finished piece is 30" X 64", Batting is Flannel, Backing is more leftover cotton fabrics.

The whole piece is very random and colorful and I love the happy vibes it has for a summer table.

I hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful day!

MaryEllen

Paper Making and Art Journals

The projects in this post started out as an experiment in upcycling fabric scraps into a usable "paper" product.

I began my quest with a search on Pintrest.  I was not disappointed as I found numerous recipes and ideas for making paper from fabric.  

What I settled on was a recipe for a homemade glue using flour, water, sugar and vinegar. I used a recipe I found at SustainableEcho. The instructions on this site were clear and easy to use. The recipe made a smooth mixture, was easy to make and used ingredients that were at hand.  If you are looking for other ideas there are many similar recipes available from other sites.

I made two sheets of fabric paper each with different fabrics but both appr. 11" X 35".  One batch of the glue mixture was used for whole project. Above is a detail of one of my fabrics.  This piece is a combination of two layers of hand dyed cheese cloth with lace, paper fashion sewing tissue, and small fabric scraps sandwiched in between. 

One of the interesting qualities of this piece of fabric  is how light it is. I wasn't expecting to be able to sew it on my domestic sewing machine.  Being able to sew on it enabled me to make pockets and add cording for an embellishment.

My second handmade fabric was a bit thicker.  For this fabric I used the same glue mixture but with a large piece of lace for the back and a piece of cotton patchwork for the front. The patchwork area is a combination of scraps of hand dyes from other projects. Because this piece is so much thicker I wouldn't suggest trying to sew on it with your machine.

My finished project is an art journal, using my handmade fabric to cover a basic composition notebook. I have done a few doodles and embellishments and foresee adding more as I use my  journal.

I really enjoyed this project and like my two fabric papers.  Unfortunately I do feel like they weren't exactly what I had in mind.  I was looking for more of a sheet paper for writing on.  So the search goes on for more ideas for making fabric paper.  I hope you will be back to see where my search may take me.

Have a wonderful day,

MaryEllen

Triangle Series # 3

I'm still working on using up my triangle scrap stash.  This quilt was lots of fun to make as it was so colorful!  

Again, I'm using up the triangle fabric pieces leftover from the wedding quilt I did this fall (see posts from Oct. 19 "It was a wonderful Wedding" and Oct. 30 and 31 The triangle series #1 and #2 ).

The leftover wedding fabric is the white and gray floral.  The colorful fabrics are all odds and ends from my fabric stash.  

I started by making as many half-square triangle blocks as I had left over triangle pieces of (the white background fabric).  This made quite the pile of 4.5" squares.

The design was one I came up with by just playing with the blocks on my design wall.

The base of my finished quilt is a simple 8-pointed star with a diamond block in the center.  The 8-pointed star is a very basic design motif and can be found under various names. The 8-pointed star has a long history in art and architecture, and has also been used as a building block in many quilt designs through quilt history. 

After settling on the middle area of my quilt I played with various ways to turn the remaining half square triangles blocks to fill up the rest of my quilt. I decided on lines of squares to give the appearance of radiating from the star.  

Below are a few of the other possible design ideas I experimented with.   Both of the extra designs are a bit simpler with no star block centers but instead a focal fabric as the center.

The finished quilt is 46. 5" X 46. 5".  Design is 4. 5" X 4. 5" squares and half square triangle squares. It's finished off with a 5" border with half square triangle blocks at the corners. Quilting was done with a meandering circle design on my domestic machine.  The backing is flannel with a scrappy binding.

I hope this post gives you some inspiration for your next project.  I think I still have enough half-square triangle block left for one more quilt so please stop by again.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

MaryEllen

The triangle series - #2, Fall Flowers - Quilted Throw

Today's post is the second quilt in my triangle series. This series is quilts using the scraps from a recent wedding quilt and stash scraps.

The inspiration for the block in this quilt is from a historical block I found in: The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns by Jinny Beyer. The block is found on page 188 and is block #10. The block is shown with the name Mosaic #14. Jinny Beyer attributes the block to "per Havig, ca. 1938".

I used 4 1/2" half square triangle squares and a 4 1/2" border, sashing is 1" wide.

At a finished size of 51" X 51" this quilt was small enough for me to pin baste together on my work table.

The drawing above is me working out the quilting design.  I was inspired by a design called Flower Power by Lori Kennedy in her book Free-Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3.  A really nice book with very clear instructions. 

The finished quilt.  

Have a wonderful day! 

MaryEllen

The Triangle Series - Quilt #1

 

Today I'm posting the first of the quilts I made with the triangle scrapes from my recent wedding quilt project.  (See my post It was A Wonderful Wedding, Oct., 19,2022)

 (wedding quilt)

The above are some quick photos of the scraps I was working with.

Above, the scrap pile worked into a growing pile of 4 1/2" half square triangle blocks.

Finished quilt 55" X 43", cotton backing, 80/20 batting. Quilting is a simple meandering design done on my domestic machine.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

MaryEllen