0 quiet scrap eater {all finished}

I started this little quilt one afternoon a few days back completely on a whim, as I was trying to avoid thinking about what to make for dinner :). And, before I knew it, I dumped my scrap buckets on the floor and started sorting - I wanted to use only low volume prints but once I made a few blocks I decided some additional color would bring more interest to the finished quilt.

Just like with my Scrap Eater quilt, I followed this tutorial to make my blocks. I very highly recommend you give it a try if you want to use up some of your scraps in quite a short period of time. Every time I make these blocks I'm amazed at how quickly they come together.

I was originally planning on making a lap sized quilt but once I made 13 blocks I was done. I decided to do a 3 x 4 layout and added strips of fabric to the sides to make the finished quilt a little wider (my blocks were 12.5" square before sewing them together).

I think this lovely berry backing fabric is such a fun contrast to the quilt top. Plus, it's super super soft and it gives the quilt a wonderful drape.

I did a random grid quilting (this might be my very favorite quilting pattern at the moment). I really like how quilting sort of disappears into the patchwork and does not compete with all the craziness that's already going on here :). 

I then I used this wider striped fabric for the binding. I love how it not only frames all the scrappy blocks, it also contrasts so very nicely with the berry backing. Definitely a win win.

This Quiet Scrap Eater quilt finished at 44" x 48" and all the pictures were taken after the quilt was washed and tumble dried.

Svetlana

Detail: quiet scrap eater {all finished}

0 scrappy stacked coins

When I first started making this little quilt I wanted to simply join lots of scrappy strips together and turn them into this kind of quilt. After I finished just a few blocks though, it all looked like such a disorganized mess I knew it was time for plan B - Kona Snow to the rescue. I recut the colored strips and used Kona Snow to calm things down and bring much needed order to the quilt.

I then used big strips of no longer loved fabrics for the backing. I find this to be a good way to use up that fabric that no longer sings to me yet I don't feel good about simply getting rid of it. You know what I mean, right? I'm sure we all have quite a few of those fabrics in our stash. (and Rachel has tons of great ideas on what to make with all that no longer loved fabric on her blog if you're interested)

I was out of 505 spray when I finished this quilt top so I decided to pin baste it. All I can say I will try very hard not to run out of basting spray ever again. I did not enjoy poking all those pins through the layers at all. To top it all off, I kept getting ginormous puckers when trying to machine quilt it. 

So, I decided hand quilting was the only reasonable way to go, unless I wanted to re-baste the quilt which I did not want to do at all :) Oh, how I love those big chunky stitches. I'm actually  glad about all the changes I had to make along the way and I'm pretty sure I like this second version of the quilt a lot better than the one I started with :)

 Thanks for reading, friends. Have a very lovely day. Svetlana

Detail: scrappy stacked coins

0 scrappy sixteen patch

I love making happy scrappy baby quilts. So, the other day I grabbed a stack of already cut 2.5" squares in array of colors and got to sewing. I had no precise plan in mind, I simply sewed the squares together to make scrappy sixteen patches. The only "rule" I tried to follow was not to put the same fabric /shade next to each other.

I was chain piecing my squares and before I knew it I had 10 sixteen patches all finished. All that scrappiness needed some room to breathe, so I decided to alternate scrappy blocks with polka dotty ones. I think polka dots make all the colors pop and become even brighter.

I also tried a new kind of FMQ on this quilt. It's definitely not perfect, but I quite enjoyed quilting these giant flowers to fill up each square. 

I like the way flowers made each polka dotty square sort of pop after washing.

I enjoyed making this little quilt so much, I even started a boy version already :)

Hope you all have a very lovely rest of the day. Svetlana

Detail: scrappy sixteen patch

0 baby ohio star

It's snowing. Again! And very, very cold so I decided a day of letting everyone do what they like best (which means I get to sew without feeling guilty) was the way to go :)

I had this little Ohio star quilt top finished for quite some time but for some reason I could not decide on the backing and quilting. Until this morning, that is. I raided my stash and found enough yellow and green minky for the backing and before I knew it I had the quilt all basted and ready for quilting.

I went with simple straight line quilting about 1" apart. It gives the quilt a lovely texture without making it too stiff. I washed and dried it right away and I'm so in love with how perfectly soft and warm it is.

See? just the right amount of crinkles (in my opinion:)).

Finished size of this quilt is 36" x 36".

How is your Saturday going? Hope you're having a lovely time, too. Svetlana

Detail: baby ohio star

0 a sweet little finish

I've had a top for this baby quilt finished many, many moons ago but somehow, instead of getting finished and passed on to some sweet little creature to enjoy, it ended up in my UFO pile.

Until yesterday, that is. I raided my stash and discovered a wonderfully soft berry fabric for the backing, did some simple straight line quilting along the patchwork seams, bound, washed, and dried it, and a few hours later I had this lovely quilt ready to be gifted.

Not bad, right? Plus, it feels wonderful to have one less UFO project hanging around.

Thanks for reading. Svetlana

Detail: a sweet little finish

0 pretty in pink {a baby quilt}

A while back I was asked to make a simple pink baby quilt. I raided my stash and put this pile of pretties together.

I decided to add a little bit of green to complement the pinks and to keep things from getting boring and flat. Plus, who could possibly resist these tiny adorable Heather Ross mice? :)

I went back and forth on what design to go with until I finally settled on the same one I wanted to do in the first place, a simple patchwork using 3" squares. I pressed, and cut, and pinned, and sewed, and pressed some more, and a few hours later I had this 36" quilt top all finished.

A gorgeously soft pink minky seemed to be begging to be used for the backing, so I happily obliged.

I then did simple straight line quilting outlining both sides of each seam and finished this lovely off with white and pink polka dotty binding.

 I must say, there was a point while making this quilt when I questioned whether the small size of the squares will cause the whole quilt to look too busy, but now that it's all finished I do like the way it turned out. I think all these fabrics mashed together make for a very lovely romantic quilt.

And, I already have a new stack of blue and green pretties ready to be turned into a matching baby boy quilt. Can't wait to start cutting :)

Thanks for stopping by. Svetlana

Linking up to AmandaJean's Finish it up Friday.

Detail: pretty in pink {a baby quilt}

0 twinkle {a finished quilt}

She's finished and as sweet as can be.

It took me a while, somehow I lost steam once the blocks were made, but last night I finally finished this adorable little quilt.

I used this fantastically written tutorial by Allison (Cluck Cluck Sew) to make star blocks. I must say, I  really really love star quilts, but I don't actually enjoy making stars. All that constant pressing and trimming was driving me totally crazy :(

I decided to use this lovely, wonderfully soft doggie flannel for the backing. I love using flannel for baby quilts. It's soft and cuddly right from the beginning, and gets even softer and cuddlier with every wash. 

Finished size of the quilt is 41" x 41" and it is available for sale. Here's the link to my etsy store if interested.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Wishing you all a very lovely rest of the day. Svetlana

Linking up to Finish it up Friday.

Detail: twinkle {a finished quilt}

0 whole cloth baby quilt

The other day I made the easiest quilt ever.

I started off with just these three fabrics, plus the batting. My plan was to make a simple whole cloth quilt.

I made myself a quilt sandwich using lovely lime and pink polka dotty fabric from Lecien for one side, and a pretty flowery light blue fabric I received from  Wholeport for the other side.

I then drew out my diagonal grid for quilting (I always use this disappearing ink pen to mark my grids).

I used aqua thread to do an all over diagonal grid pattern and absolutely love the texture this kind of quilting produced.

At first I was planning on using pink striped fabric (shown in the very top picture) for the binding, but after seeing my pretty flowers I decided a bright yellow would be a much better choice.

I rounded the corners and attached the happy yellow polka dotty binding (cut on bias) by machine to one side.

Then I took the opportunity to add a little bit more interest to this simple quilt by attaching the other part of binding using running stitch and contrasting thread. I do love how it looks and it makes for a completely reversible baby quilt.

 
It finished at 34" x 41" and it was definitely the quickest quilt I've ever made. And, I only needed 2 yards of fabric, plus about another 1/4 yard for the binding.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a lovely day, friends. Svetlana

Detail: whole cloth baby quilt

0 eeek!!!

I was so very excited to see Issue 12 of Fat Quarterly in my inbox this morning. The issue is full of wonderful projects from quilts to pillows to a table runner, and they all use pre-cuts only. Plus, I have a Kaleidoscope baby quilt featured there. Yay!!!! Insert a very happy dance here :)

Despite of all those HSTs, it's a pretty easy quilt to make, and you only need 2 charm packs for the whole quilt top. Not bad, right?

I just adore how pretty and vintage looking this quilt is. I used one charm pack of  Bonnie and Camille's Marmalade fabric and one charm pack of Kona  white.

And, since this is a small quilt, I thought it was totally doable to hand quilt it. I used 2 strands of white embroidery thread and did an all over diagonal quilting.

Finished size of this quilt is 30" x 35". I think it's a perfect size for strollers or car seats.

Wishing you all a very lovely day. Svetlana

Detail: eeek!!!