This week I got off to a great start by sewing up a little quilt that was easy, fun, and all about the scraps.  I sewed it up quickly before I could over-think it, and I enjoyed every step.  An auspicious start to the new year!

At Christmas, I went through my 6 1/2” scrap drawer to find pieces for the tissue holders, similar to these, and spotted these six different prints, all from different projects, I think.  I pulled 28 squares, paired them with 28 squares of Kona White to make half-square triangles, and tossed them up on the design wall.  The first try was a slight fail, but was soon adjusted to make a light, airy quilt of girly prints against a white background.

The stash also yielded this perfect piece of batik for the back.  Not only is it gorgeous on its own, but it saved the quilt from being too pink.  I used the trimmings from the back to bind the quilt, careful to offset the colors so that it contrasts a little with the back.

This time I didn’t begin the quilting by stitching between the blocks, or by basting it with water-soluble thread as I have with the other chevrons.  I reasoned that it is a small quilt, and that my feather spines would serve to stabilize it instead. Apparently, it worked, because it all turned out flat and square and fine.

For the feathers, I marked the spines and then quilted the rest free-hand.  For the vines, I drew one side of each vine and traced a circle every place a flower would go, then free-handed the leaves and flowers.  On largish flowers, I need that guidance or my flowers don’t turn out very round.

I quilted that part with a pretty variegated thread from Signature that gave my a few fits.  It wasn’t the thread so much as the way the spool was made.  I solved it in a low tech way.

I didn’t add any extra batting to poof the feathers, and I really like all the crinkly texture that resulted.

I hope all of you are finding time to sew things that give you pleasure in 2015!