Scrappy Stripey Saturday

Our colors for August at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge are light and medium blues. I'm don't need more blue blocks for most of my current Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects, so I pulled out an older project. These are my Shirt Stripe Boxes, based on a project with the same name from Kaffe Fassett's book Passionate Patchwork. They are all made from recycled shirt fabrics. This project was started in July of 2017.

I made my blocks in 9", 6", and 3" finished sizes. On the wall at this point are all of the large and medium blocks, plus a few of the smallest squares. The units along the right side have been joined into 15" x 21" groups. I will continue joining the rest of the blocks into similar groups, then sew those units together into a top that should measure 60" x 84". 

I enjoyed making the blocks for this quilt, trying to get the stripes to line up well and playing with my collection of shirt fabrics. Unfortunately, I'm not crazy about how the blocks are looking when they are joined together. I like it, but I don't love it. I will keep plugging away until I have a finished top, and maybe it will be a happy surprise when it is done.

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Scrappy Striped Squares

Last month our color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge was blue, and for August we are working with light neutrals. It was a lucky bit of serendipity that I had pulled out my shirt stripe blocks, because they contain plenty of blue stripes plus lots of white/cream/light fabrics. I spent one weekend cutting tons of triangles from shirt parts, and have been putting them together into blocks since then.

Right now the design wall is filled with 6" and 9" blocks. I still have more 6" blocks to finish off, plus lots of little 3" blocks. They will be joined together in a random manner rather than in rows by size. You can see that some of the blocks are each made from a single fabric, and other blocks combine two fabrics. Here are couple of my favorite 9" blocks. Each of them uses both sides of a single fabric, giving a subtle difference in lighter/darker stripes. (It's a little easier to see what I mean in the grey block rather than the light blue/peach block.)

I am linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday and at Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects that everyone is sharing! 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 7/31/17

Over the weekend I was able to spend some time working on my Shirt Stripe Boxes blocks. Here is a group of blocks that will finish at 6" each. They all need to be trimmed down yet. I find these blocks easier to make if I cut the triangles slightly oversized and trim the blocks down to the right size after stitching and pressing them.

Shirt Stripe Boxes, 6" blocks
based on the pattern by Kaffe Fassett
from his book Passionate Patchwork

I have many more blocks in the works, some of them partially stitched together, others still waiting to be constructed. Matching up the stripes requires lots of pinning, so progress is slow, but they look so great that the time is worth it!

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag. Check out all of them for tons of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA

Design Wall Monday 7/24/17

Instead of finishing up one of the many on-going quilt projects in my sewing room, I couldn't resist pulling out my box of recycled shirt parts. A few years ago I was inspired by Kaffe Fassett's "Shirt Stripe Boxes" pattern in his book Passionate Patchwork. I was able to acquire a large number of shirts from rummage sales and thrift shops, and I set about de-constructing them similar to the method Bonnie Hunter demonstrates in THIS VIDEO.

I spent a large portion of the last two weekends fussy cutting stripes into triangles and piecing them back together again. These photos show only the first batch of blocks to be made. My blocks will finish at 3", 6", and 9". There's no telling how big the quilt will end up!

The first photo includes a couple of blocks with very dark blue triangles. I wasn't sure they would work with the rest of the lighter colors. When I compare the two photos, I definitely prefer the softness of the second version without the darker blocks. (My apologies for the lousy lighting.)

I have a couple hundred striped triangles sitting around my sewing room, just waiting to be pieced into more blocks. I love the look of the single-fabric blocks, but it's so much easier with two fabrics because I don't have to worry about matching stripes! I will continue to make both types of block.

I am linking up to Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Moving It Forward at Em's Scrapbag. Check out all of them for tons of amazing quilting inspiration! 

Julie in GA