Other Misc. Donations to catch up on recent projects

I've received a lot of donation fabrics in the last year.  I've enjoyed taking the scraps and leftovers and making something pretty that someone will enjoy.  Some of these will be donated to nursing homes or dialysis centers.  Others will be donated to a local crisis pregnancy center.  Just because I like making up rules for myself, I have tried to make do with only the donated fabric.  Sometimes I will pull from my stash but typically only fabrics that are so old I can't remember where they came from.

These flannel scraps were so cute but there was just barely enough.  I pulled coordinating fabric from my stash and added some easy pieced borders.  They did turned out very cute.  I call the pattern spinning attic windows and have used it several times now.

Some more cute flannel left-overs found on the scrap table and a pattern to stretch it out to baby quilt size. 

 

And another spinning attic windows.  This one I was trying to use up some questionable yellow fabric with pink dots and several yards of Sunbonnet Sue.  

And the last of Sunbonnet Sue.  The pattern is just a 9-patch alternating with a snowball block.  I've some several variations of this and always enjoy seeing the secondary pattern.

This is another version of the Strips and Stripes pattern from Krista Moser.  I'm not sure but I think I've had that rainbow strip for about 20 years.  I had thought I would use it with novelties, but it always seemed too bright.  But it looks great in this layout. 

Still playing with Novelties

 Just so no one thinks I'm neglecting my novelty stash, I am still playing with novelties in between the other projects.  

This first quilt is a novelty version of Krista Moser's Ribbon Twist pattern. I think I like this one a bit better than the patriotic version.  I think just doing a 90 degree corner with the zigzag works just as well and is easier to cut with no waste.  But this was fun to try.

I got the idea for this next quilt from a FB post so I don't know the pattern name.  It was a fun one to do, though it did generate a large number of waste triangles (which seem to reproduce in my scrap bin).

Another great pattern by Kim Brackett, this one is called Off Course.  Great way to use 2.5" scraps.  I think I'll probably do a patriotic version of this one as it was lots of fun to stitch, and I love the broken effect when you put the blocks together.

This pattern is by Ledine Watson of Sugar Stitches.  So fun and easy, I loved being able to make the entire thing with novelties.

These next two are repeats from years ago.  But they are so fun to do and look so great.  I love picking out the tone-on-tone colors to coordinated with the novelties.

Quick and easy donation quilt.  I need to make about 300 more of these to use up all those precut strips!

I saw this pattern in a catalog in pastels and thought I'd try it in novelties.  The pattern gets lost a bit unless you stand back but it is sort of interesting.  Probably won't do it again tho.

Recent Patriotic donations - fun with Red White & Blue

I have gotten involved in a local quilt charity through one of the guilds I attend.  The program is called Roll Call, which supports local veterans.  Originally, I had volunteered to quilt the tops which other quilters had pieced.  But I love piecing so much I decided to try out some patterns I had found, but using red, white & blue fabrics.  I asked the coordinator if she had any scraps left over from backings, etc.  And she dropped off several bags, including some yardage and 2 bolts of backing fabric.  Whoa!  Now the pressure is on.

I went back to one of my favorite authors, Kim Brackett and chose some patterns from two of her books. This first one is called Blessings from the Wood.  Kind of a strange name but I do love the pattern and have made it before in red/black/white colors.  I found out later that this was auctioned and raised $200+ for the Roll Call program.

This next is called Fireworks.  Definitely appropriate for a patriotic quilt.

This last Kim Brackett pattern called Scrap Basket Blues is one of my favorites and I have made it several times, including with novelties.  So fun and easy.  Like many of her patterns, the block is deceptively simple, and the sashing is built into the block.  When you put the simple blocks together, you get all sorts of great secondary patterns.  In this particular quilt, I mistakenly cut the trimmed rectangles going one direction for the blue ones, and another for the red.  Hmmm.  Which means the stars spin in opposite directions.  But no one will ever notice, and I even ended up with an additional detail that the sashing lines up and makes a basket weave pattern.  I had so much fun, I'm going to make another novelty version.

Last year at one of the guilds I attend we had a program by Krista Moser.  If you aren't familiar with her, definitely check out her blog & patterns (the Quilted Life).  Her "thing" is large diamonds and hexagons but used in very modern ways.  These next two patterns were free on her website.  The first one called Strips and Stripes was ridiculously fast and the result is very dramatic.  I also made a rainbow version for a baby quilt that I'll include in a later post.

This pattern called Ribbon Twist (also by Krista Moser and free on her website).  I discovered that I really have a mental block when the patches aren't symmetrical.  Krista's instructions are very clear, but you do have to read them carefully - and follow them exactly.  So, this one "grew" a bit when I cut a bunch of the blue strips backwards.  I also did this in novelties.

In the bag of scraps I was given, I found a stack of 10" precuts so I went looking for a fast pattern that used that size.  I found this one called Alter Ego on the Missouri Star website.  It was fast and fun to do, but it's a bit too scrappy for me.  Or maybe it's the muted colors and beige.  I'm not as happy with it as the others.  Maybe once it's quilted.

This pattern is called Hitchhikers' Star by Hunter Designs.  It was a well written pattern, but I did struggle with pressing as there are several places with lots of points.  I ended up pressing the column seams open in order to get them to lay flat.