Travel Scraps

 My Patchwork City Sampler was such an undertaking. I did a fair amount of fussy cutting, which can leave your fabric just in shreds. Or rather, holey. As I got ready to reintegrate the fabric I had set aside for the quilt back into my stash, I decided to clean it up a bit and also opted to see about making a quick scrap quilt from the cleaned up bits. I chose a scrap pattern I've had on my list for a while. It's from Scraps Inc, volume 1 and it was designed by Camille Roskelley. It's called Delightful. I loved how she offset the blocks and I love the simple block construction. With the larger centers (I think they're 4 1/2" to accommodate leftover charm squares if I remember correctly...) I thought it would be perfect to use up some of the novelty prints I had fussy cut from. 

I pulled out a bunch of the prints that needed to be trimmed up and then I had to pick a background fabric. This was really tricky and I opted to go bold for a couple reasons. First, there were enough prints that  Was using that had white or light backgrounds that I knew I needed something for them to stand up against. Second, I figured I could experiment with something bright and bold on a scrap quilt that I didn't necessarily care about, something that was extra. 

I went with Kona in curry, one of my favorite yellows. I figured, it wasn't too bright since it's a muted yellow, and it was more fun than a blue or a gray. I tried to audition it next to some of the prints, but it was really difficult to tell. It looked like it would work, so I went for it.

But it did NOT turn out awesome. I really thought about not having it quilted even. In the end, I hoped that quilting and binding would help finish it up and I would like it better. The picture here actually doesn't look as terrible as it does in real life, haha. 

It helped only a little. It's definitely not a great quilt. You know it's bad when your quilter tells you when you pick it up that the back is really fun, haha. But I am proud of myself for trying something out of my comfort zone.

I used some leftovers for the backing that I didn't anticipate wanting to use in the future and the backing turned out okay. Maybe better than the front, lol. 

It's okay. It really is. It was good practice and I think it's nice to remember that everything doesn't have to be perfect. That not every time we set about to create something, it will work. And now it sits in my closet. It can come out if we needed a quilt for warmth, or for some other utilitarian purpose, but I doubt it will come out to decorate. And that's okay.

Remnants of Dreams, pattern by Camille Roskelley, long arm quilted by Abby Latimer, completed 2021

Threads of Memories and Dreams

 I might do a bit of catch up posting to get some the quilts I've finished recently but haven't posted about, even on Instagram. This is one of those, though I have posted about this quilt project. Several years ago, I started a Patchwork City Sampler, designed by Elizabeth Hartman. The book has 75 blocks, 25 each in three different sizes, and includes several layout suggestions. Naturally, I decided to take on the largest one, using every single block, and I determined to make it a travel-themed quilt. When I started, my goal was to make each block represent a specific travel memory. And many do. But, finding travel-themed fabric and making each block look distinct while still maintaining that goal proved really difficult, so I expanded it to include travel dreams as well as a few more generic travel themed blocks. 

I worked on this quilt for years. I started blocks in late 2016 and finally finished it up during the pandemic in 2021. The final stitches in the binding were put on in January of 2022

There was probably at least a year in there where I didn't work on it at all. I amassed loads of travel prints and more memories to include along the way, even a few pieces of fabric I bought while traveling. I was always searching online for great travel prints and looking in every quilt shop I visited for themed fabric. Which means this is probably one of the most expensive quilts I've ever made, as well, since I would buy a fat quarter or a half yard for just a few small pieces of fabric. Honestly, I still catch myself looking because it was such a long project that it became a pretty entrenched habit. I tried to make up for all the fabric purchases by using other prints from my scrap bins and was mostly successful. I worried a bit that the blocks would be too eclectic to look good once I tried to put them all together, but it actually turned out pretty great. I remember reading somewhere, maybe on Amanda Jean Nyberg's blog, that kitchen sink quilts, where you put in any fabric you have, actually often work out just fine because your scrap collection has one common denominator: you. And if you like it, it probably fits in with your style. I think there's probably some truth to that, as long as you stick with fabrics you purchased or you are more judicious with the scraps you accept from friends. ;)

When I pulled it out during the pandemic, determined to finish this long haul quilt, I started thinking about sashing and binding and backing, and of course, quilting. I decided early on I wanted to have it custom quilted and I took it to Marion McClellan. She's just amazing. We decided this would be a great quilt for graffiti quilting and she even added a nod to covid since I had a couple of covid-interrupted trip blocks in there. I attempted to up the contrast and stuff to make it easier to see, quilting is hard to photograph!

I used an amazing metallic essex linen for the sashing and a light blue essex for the binding. I wish you could see the sparkle in the linen, it's perfection, I backed it with a wide-backed Ruby Star sateen and it drapes beautifully. 

This quilt was a major labor of love. Over 75 blocks, because, I learned my lesson from a previous sampler quilt, and I remade a couple of the blocks I didn't love. I am so happy I did. There are still blocks that aren't my favorite (they can't all be favorites, though, right?), but I know I would have kicked myself if I hadn't replaced the blocks that were not square and that I didn't even really like. Here's a few I love, including a couple with the covid fabric.

I was really ready to be done with this project. After so long, I was ready to see the finished product, what I had worked so hard on and spent so much time and money on. But now that it's done, I almost want another long-term quilt project to work on. 

Threads of Memories and Dreams

quilted by Marion McClellan

completed January 2022