A Scrappy Finish

How I wish my photos did justice to this quilt.  No light seems quite right.  Indoors with a flash the colors look just a tad warmer than they really are.

Outdoors the colors wash to white or grey.

You'll have to trust me that its true colors are lights, naturals, warms, and creams with hints of coral/peach/pink and just a few scraps of light yellow and a few whites/off-whites here and there.

This quilt began as scraps cut from behind applique pieces on another quilt.  The pieces were too large to throw away but the largest measured only 4".  There weren't enough by themselves to make a quilt but I had lots of small, light/neutral scraps to sew together.  (But not quite enough.  Susan from DesertSky Quilting sent some to help me finish.) 

For a while they became my leaders and enders and sometimes my purposeful sewing, leading and ending each other until I had a nice stack.  I put them together into blocks with coral/peach sashing and red centers.  Once sewn together I added the circles where four blocks met, but only in alternate squares.

The top measured 61½" x 77½".  The back is scrappy but with only several large pieces of fabric.  The batting is Soft 'n' Crafty 80/20 (cotton/poly).

As much as I loved the top I wasn't sure how I could hand quilt through all the seams.  Some 4" blocks have as many 10 pieces of fabric.  One of my readers, Martha of Q is for Quilt, suggested circles and sent a diagram of her idea which I adapted and altered, then created my own templates.  (I used Prismacolor pencils to mark the circles.  I'll post about that a little later.)

I knew I lacked the skill to make fine, small stitches but I also knew I didn't want do "big stitch" quilting with embroidery floss or pearl cotton.  I finally chose Americana brand quilt thread in a color called buttercream, which was a delight to use, and managed about five stitches/inch.  Big stitch with quilting thread, I guess.  The seams were a challenge.

After quilting it measured 61" X 76".  After washing and drying it measured 58¼" x 72".  I was surprised at how crinkly and puckered it became.  It's easy to imagine how the air caught between the layers will add warmth to someone sleeping under the quilt.  In the photo above you can see the crinkles and also the quilted circles and lines that connect them, creating a diamond box around the red cornerstone.  I used masking tape as a guide for the straight lines.

Out in the sunshine.

And on the floor inside ... because I'm not ready to fold it and put it away yet.  It is just such an inviting quilt. 

I loved the process of creating this quilt, from sewing scraps to sewing binding.  And I love the finished quilt, perhaps more than any other I've made.  My only regrets are that it's not larger and that I wasn't able to/didn't try to take smaller stitches.  Even so, I love it.

I'm linking this post to
> finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts
> Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
> Can I get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
> TGIFF at Celtic Thistle Stitches
> ScrapHappy at Tall Tales from Chiconia

I'm also linking this post to One Monthly Goal - November Finish Link-up at Elm Street Quilts.  Finishing the binding on this quilt was my goal for November.

Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.
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