My Blue Scrap Bin Quilt

Recently I have been obsessed with all the beautiful granny square quilts that I've seen popping up on Flickr lately.  I just had to make one.  It took me a long time planning out each block, going through my stash and choosing which fabrics to use!  That was the best fun, but maybe just a bit of a messy process?  I hate that every I get in a creative mood, I seem to make chaos all over my studio.  Oh well, it was truly fun!

I just finished sewing down the binding.  This binding is also the first time I've used a new method as recommended by one of the older ladies at my local sewing group.  She doesn't cut the wadding to the edge, but instead leaves an extra 1/4 inch extra hanging over the edge to help "fill" the binding.  It makes it slightly harder to hand sew as there is more bulk, but the result is a binding that feels more like cording.  I like it and will use this method when finishing quilts in future.

The quilting pattern I used for this quilt is an Anne Bright pattern called "Button Blossoms".  The center of each flower is stitched to look like a button.  Cute, right?  Anyway, I thought it had a bit of a 30's feel to it that would work well with the granny square blocks.

So, are you wondering why I titled this "My Blue Scrap Bin Quilt"?  Well, about 6 months ago (before I got my long arm machine) I posted some pictures of my sewing room and my scrap organizing system.  At the time my blue scraps were filled to the brim.  Since that time they have been spilling over, so I decided to make the backing using only my scraps from the bin.  It was fun, freeing and cleansing all at the same time.  The result was this:

Definitely something that I will do again and again.  Great way to use scraps, although a bit more time consuming than the plain backings.  My husband declares he likes the back better than the front.

I will leave you with a few close up shots of some of my favorite blocks...

Chocolate Lollipop Finish!

Last night I finally finished sewing down the binding of this quilt that has been in the making for years!!!  I bought this Chocolate Lollipop fabric by Anna Maria Horner when it first came out, so how long is that?  I think this one was about the third or fourth quilt that I did on the long arm as well, so that was done last year in December, I think??  I chose an all over paisley pattern with a solid brown backing. 

I made this quilt using an octagon template set.  If you have been following me for any length of time, you'll know that I have made a lot of octagon quilts!!!!  And, it might just so happen that I have a few more up my sleeve that I haven't posted about yet.  Hmmm... I should pull those out when I get the chance and finish them as well. 

I'll leave you with the sunset picture I took last night from our deck!  I never get tired of the views here...

Rainbow Dresden Quilt Finish

So, if anyone is wondering why I haven't been posting a lot on my blog, the reason is because I have had the worst internet connection over the last month!  There are advantages and disadvantages to living rurally--this is probably one of the disadvantages.  Higher rates for internet services with poorer service.  You can forget about mobile phone coverage too!  I've been on the phone over a dozen times this last month alone with my provider and they basically can't figure out the problem.  They just end up sending me a new modem after about an hour or so of trying to figure it out, which is just to look like they are doing something about the problem.  What they really ought to say is that they can't offer me a service worthy of what they are expecting me to pay for it.  And to further complicate the matter, country people are known for not complaining.  I finally get it.  I finally get why they don't complain--it's too much hassle. For me, I will keep going through the motions -- having my internet company to send me a new modem every week until they decide it might be wiser to actually send someone out to investigate the issue!  Anyway, I'm having  conversations with a few nice Indian people as part of the journey--keeping them a job anyway.

Ha, so I am completing some quilts!  This one has been mostly done for a while.  I took me a very long time (a few months) to decide what fabric I would use to bind it.  Originally I had thought I might use a rainbow fabric for the binding, but nothing really spoke to me.  In the end I liked the Authentic word print in black by Sweetwater.  I tried using as many text fabrics as I could in the dresden plates, so it was in keeping with that.  I also tried something new for myself in that I used a wool/plend wadding instead of my usual cotton.  It made the quilting stand out more and the quilt feels lighter than what I am used to.  It is also warmer as well!  I'm in love with the honeycomb quilting pattern too which I will definitely use again  now that I know the trick of getting it to line up exactly.  I only recently learned the trick to do this with my longarm so this one will just have to live with the slight mistakes...