Keeping it real, part the last

It started here
and this chapter now ends right here. I do want to say, for all you quilters out there,  you (yes, YOU),  have quilts hidden in your scraps. Beautiful quilts waiting to me made, and shared and loved. I wish I could continue to challenge each of you to make at least one quilt from your scraps on hand. I guarantee you will be happy that you did. This  finish is my second larger quilt from scraps.

Front

Title: "Divisible by None"
Original design, improv pieced with mostly precut scraps.
Size: 76" x 60"
Materials: scraps only (top) all 100% quilting cottons in black, grays, whites, and yellow many by Kona, RJR,  and others (cut me some slack here with the specific names, they are scraps after all but if you are sleuthy, you can read back through all the quilts I made in 2013/2014 and cobble a workable list). I also believe the yellows to be part of trimmings from Bee Sewcial blocks from Hillary.

Back: Black and white prints from stash. All 100% cotton.

Batting: black, 100% poly from Quilters Dream. The black was chosen purposely to highlight the seaming of all the scraps, especially in the light fabrics.

black batting top left, seaming is highlighted.

 A technique I played with to excess here. The original idea for the black batting, compliments of Christine Perrigo. The only thing I didn't like about this batting is that it does pill while quilting, and all this black batting bits on the light top drove me crazy. They came off easily with a lint roller, but it was messy. I guess if it was on a long arm it wouldn't have been noticeable.  But when your quilting away on a domestic machine, the quilt sandwich gets manhandled.

Threads: Marathon 100% cotton, 40 weight in black and light silver gray. Aurifil 50 weight, 100% cotton in dark gray.

Quilting: Dark areas (center) straight line quilting at angles; (peripheral): FMQ boxes. Light areas: FMQ pebbles.

Binding: 100% scraps in various white, off-white, light, medium and dark grays. Cut 2" SOG at what ever length was left over from previous quilt bindings. I had just enough so it was meant to be.

Labeling: Versitranz "Spontaneous Threads".

Lessons Learned: You CAN make a quilt from scraps (not just mini quilts, but a bigger quilt too); especially if you set those parameters (only use scraps/ or adding stash if your scrap collection needs augmentation) and stick to it. Many have taken the "sewing my stash" and "sewing my scraps" challenge for 2015. I know I have, and I meant it to include something significant.

You can also make a back from your stash/ additional scraps. That is my typical modus operandi. But I used my scraps to make the top, so I needed to move on to plan B. Keep in mind, that the back doesn't have to match the front….. You could treat it as 2 fronts if your scrap collection is voluminous enough…… and  since I didn't have any scraps left to cobble a back for this quilt, I opted to use large stash pieces that went together quickly.

back

I know I have said this before. You can push yourself to create from what you have. You can recut scraps to fit a pattern, or dive in and up the ante by using them as is. You can use all scraps, or curate a color palette that appeals to you or the intended recipient.  And in the end the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts.  Scraps in a bin really aren't doing anything except taking up space even IF they are beloved scraps.  But they can give birth to a quilt. Being reborn into something bigger and whole is definitely better and perhaps equally beloved.

This quilt will be a gift to my father who has a birthday and a holiday celebration worthy of gifts and close enough to cover both.