Embers

My third (leftover) scraps quilt for 2015.
I set a goal of 2 quilts in 2015 made entirely from trimmings and scraps, and got 2 good sized quilts made along with one smaller quilt. The details on the smallest, "Dark Shadows" have already been published.   The second larger quilts details come later this fall.

"Embers" was born from several projects undertaken and finished in 2015  centered around the Marsala Pantone Color of the year 2015, and a Bee I'm involved with, Bee Sewcial (#beesewcial on Instagram). Let's face it, these are my colors. I have always liked them, they speak to me and it just seemed that I got permission this year to use them with abandon. So, I did. I can't tell you every single Kona solid that went into this quilt, but there were many. I used the scraps as they were cut, directly from my bin. I didn't recut, except to trim. I did focus the "lighter" fabrics in a slightly off-set "center" and let the darker fabrics surround them. I also used my 2015 nano particle fabric. In the right light, the combination of the saturated hues, from yellow to orange, red, burgundy and mahogany, glow. The addition of the retroreflective nano particle fabric just accentuate this. I didn't initially set out to make that happen, it just did.

Quilt front (no flash)
Even without the flash, the retroreflective fabric (read as white) "glows"

"Embers"
64 x 56"

Before quilting
retroreflective nano particle fabric is easily seen

Improv pieced original design made entirely from precut scraps

some of the "background" scraps I worked with

Fabrics:  Top:Kona solids in yellows, oranges,  deep pink, reds, deep reds, burgundy and mahogany (red/brown). Focal intense blues (cyan, aqua, lagoon), nanoparticle fabric.
               Back: additional larger scraps, pieced. Stash print fabric
Thread: Piecing: Aurifil #2021 50 wt, 100% cotton
             Quilting: Aurifil#2240, 2460 (top) #2460 (bobbin)
Quilting: relatively straight line, domestic Bernina 820 with a walking foot

pin basting

Busy piecing, simple quilting

Batting: Quilters dream 100% wool
Binding: 2" straight of grain, pieced to compliment the color change in the dark background
Labeling: Versatranz, stitched name, sewn label

Versatranz custom  heat press label

Quilt back at the photo shoot

Think on this: most of us have scraps. Some of us have lots of scraps. Some people only save scraps of a certain size. Sometimes sorting those little odd shaped ones are more trouble than their worth. But I just want to give a shout out to those scraps and your perception of their worth. There may be a pretty fantastic quilt hiding in that scrap pile. So next time you're considering what to do with the left overs, consider challenging yourself to make a quilt, ONLY using those scraps. You might be very pleased with the outcome.

Quilt top taken with flash on. Retroreflective  fabric is obvious