Thursday, May 21, 2015

Strings, Crumbs and Orphan Blocks

I could not stop playing until this became a quilt. It was just fun to keep adding until I ended up with something I like. Miss Ariel decided she needed to be in this picture. 

The backing fabric is a really nice flannel from Connecting Threads.

Some of the block centers are orphan blocks and some are just pieces of fabrics I like.
As I worked (played!) I put the blocks on a design wall. The blocks are all different sizes, but I kept the widths uniform so they could be sewn in vertical rows. There are several different widths, but each width was sewn into its own row. Make sense?

I just had so much fun with these little bits and pieces. See that sock monkey peering over the edge?
At any rate, it all managed to come together in a quilt I shall enjoy seeing. I think it will have to hang in the quilting room for a while at least. There's a lot to see in there!

These are just some pieces I pulled at the same time. For some reason I had sewn these strips together. For right now, I'm just enjoying how they look.  They may turn into something, or they may go back in the string bin. We'll see.


These are some of the churn dash blocks Deb sent to me. I had asked Sandy to make these blocks into a quilt, but I decided I wanted to do this one myself. What can I say? I changed my mind. I had an idea that if I sashed them in red with blue cornerstones they would make a somewhat red, white and blue quilt for the USO. What do you think?


AND, our gardenias are blooming! I love their fragrance. I just wish they lasted longer. But while they do last, I bring a couple of the blooms inside each day to perfume the house. Just beautiful!

We are still getting a lot of rain. The vegetation loves it, but I could do with a break. Not complaining, since after all - Summer is coming and we will need all that stored up moisture.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to those of you in the States! A lot of people have paid the ultimate price for the life we enjoy. We owe them our gratitude. I am thankful for our country, even when it seems to be headed in a wrong direction.

Enjoy your weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

10 comments:

Sheila said...

I love your quilt! So much color, variety and fun going on there. Most excellent idea. Think you should keep it ... at least for awhile. I visit my orphan block box from time to time.
The red, white and blue quilt top is coming along nicely, too.
Hope you have a nice Memorial Day. Should have a hot dog and maybe a piece of apple pie : )

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

that is definitely a fun quilt to look at (for a long time!). I think the red and blue added will make a nice USO quilt. The other colors just make it cheerful.

Susie Swanson said...

Gorgeous quilt. I love the way you play around with quilts and the neat ideas you come up with.. those gardenia's are so pretty. Mine got frozen this past winter and it didn't come out. I was so sad cause my son got it for me one Mother's Day.
I hope the rains let up soon. Happy Memorial Day dear friend and God bless. hugs, xo

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

A fun quilt indeed! I like the red slashing and blue cornerstones ... I think it definitely makes it RWB. Happy Memorial Day to you ... may we never forget why we celebrate.

Karen S said...

I like the way that quilt has taken off and grown. It does look great. The flannel on the back is such a good idea.
The churn dash blocks look great with the red and blue, too.
Love the idea of the perfume from the gardenias. And make the most of the rain.
Have a great weekend.

Pokey said...

Random piecing of little bits of color sure can make a mighty statement. I like your scrappy fun quilt! I use the same method of measurement by placing different sizes into different rows or columns, it works! Thank you for the inspiration of just playing with fabric, no sewing makes you smile more ~
:-}pokey

Anonymous said...

Love all that beautiful scrappy goodness!

Wonky Girl said...

Your crumb quilt is amazing, made me grin from ear to ear. You have some great scraps to pull from. We could use some rain here, everything is dusty now. Fragrant plants are nice to have around the yard, especially close to windows. We've been enjoying jasmine blooms, they grow nicely so want to plant a few more.

Janine @ Rainbow Hare said...

I love your crumb quilt! Great use of scraps :)

Ann said...

What a wonderful quilt! I love the way you put them together.