There's so much more to a quilt than the fabric!

I was reminded again recently how much more there is to a quilt than just what we see!  The quilt I was working on was a simple one, made from ordinary fabrics and using a basic pattern -- just squares with denim sashing between them. 

But to the friend who received it there is more to this quilt.  The fabrics are from shirts that her husband used to wear, shirts she herself probably purchased for him, and that she can remember him wearing as he worked around the house or sat watching tv in the evenings.  She can see a pocket in which he kept his pen, and buttons he opened and closed many times.

She will keep the quilt beside her chair and cover herself with its warmth, and with the memories, each time she uses it.  And I will remember that a quilt does not need intricate piecing or exotic fabrics to make it valuable. 

Memory quilt made from shirts.

Fancy four-patches

A stack of 4-inch squares came to hand and the thought crossed my mind that I should USE them instead of simply shuffling them to another place.  Since the group is working on 4-patch projects right now, that seemed an obvious place to start.  What if I made big blocks out of them and set them all together with some kind of sashing?

Cursory play in Electric Quilt gave me a general layout 

and number of blocks to achieve a useful size.  

Looked simple enough!

Things got a bit complicated, however, when I began putting my fabrics up on the wall.  I chose to add a 4th value.  And this meant I had two different kinds of blocks, plus the natural issues that come with using scraps and not wanting adjacent pieces matching, etc.

I had trouble keeping my diagonal set lined up nicely on the wall!

 I found a vintage piece of orange-y rust that makes a nice complement to the blues.  I like the way those narrow rust lines tie the design together.  But this was what I would call a "nasty" fabric -- not 100% cotton and rather hard to handle.  It required me to approach cautiously with the iron and in spite of being a bit stiff it wasn't very stable on either the horizontal or the vertical grain.  (Once the top was completed I was pleased to drop the last few scraps of this one into the trash!)

Diagonally set quilts always have a tendency to skew out of shape.  I spent the best part of an afternoon measuring, cutting, and pinning to get those borders on the way I wanted them.  And even so I can see a couple of spots that will require some attention during the quilting to ensure a nice flat end product.

I am very pleased with the completed top.

And did this project use up that original pile of squares?  Of course not!  Some of those pieces were the wrong colour or wrong value.  Actually that pile is now larger than when I began --  with the addition of pieces from other fabrics that were auditioned and didn't make the cut!

In the Pink

Some of the scraps in my sewing room are sorted by colour.  This is what the Pink and Purple drawer looks like:

Drawer of odd pieces of pink and purple that don't have homes anywhere else.

This is a collection of odd bits.  Anything larger than a FQ, or anything that has been cut into one of my favourite useful sizes is not in this drawer.  And this is how full the drawer is now, AFTER a couple of projects that were done specifically to use some of this!

I spent a happy afternoon picking out squares (and cutting out more squares from some of the bigger pieces) to make this pink and green quilt.

Lap-sized quilt will be used as a Prayer Quilt by my church group.

And I've just finished a quilt  top that will be a gift for a new baby girl. (Since the picture was taken quilting has been done.  Pink binding has been added and is being stitched down as we speak!)

Baby quilt from 2" squares and triangles.

I can't imagine how many more quilt tops could be lurking in just this one drawer of scraps.  Isn't it a wonderful thing that we have such riches of fabric resources that we never need to worry about running out!

Another one finished

Decided it was time to finish this one up.  It had been in the stack of class samples for many years.  If I decide to teach that particular class again I will enjoy having reason to make a fresh sample.

 I can identify two Y2K fabrics in there, so it was made after 2000, but the top has probably been around for at least a dozen years.  It was fun to notice the different fabrics as I handled the quilt -- bits and pieces from past projects, discoveries from long ago shopping expeditions, treasured gifts from friends.

The top was probably made in two sessions.  The 25-patch blocks reveal a "use anything and everything" approach.  By the time I did the borders I was trying to coordinate colours a little more.  I seem to remember the border was going to "use up all the blues and greens" -- hah!  you can imagine how successful that was!

I quilted this with a fluffy poly batt of a kind that I don't use much any more having moved to the flatter cottons that are easier to handle and that I can purchase by the roll.  But this was a good quality batt and worked up to make a nice fluffy quilt that I'm sure someone will use and enjoy.

25-patch blocks with red corners make a secondary design of 9-patches where they meet the squares in the sashing.  

Having a tall son home for a visit gave me the opportunity to get a photograph.  (Those boys are good for something!)   This quilt will be donated to a Good Cause and will be on its way to a new home sometime this week.   Meantime, that's one UFO off the list and a bit more space on the batting shelf!