Scrappy Half Square Triangles Quilt with Negative Space

Earlier this week I talked about how this project got started.  So let’s dig into how the final product came to be.

Layout

In my retreat bag I stuffed a number of projects and a few Kona solids.  You can’t go wrong with white and shades of gray.  I had some gray scraps that I wanted to use up.  Once the blocks were made I knew it needed a bit of a border.  This quilt was a bit of the inspiration.

amy butler cameo tiny scrap quilt by quiltytherapy

This is what I ended up with once I added some gray and white borders to the blocks.  Then I used that lovely Kona Capri to surround the blocks.  I know, it’s a little out of my comfort zone for a background.

I pieced the backing and binding as well at the retreat.  Quilting wasn’t really on my agenda for that weekend.  So, I wrapped it up on an empty bolt I had.  Genius idea to reuse those bolts. Easy to store my projects and I can have everything for the project together.

Quilting

When it came time to quilt, I went with simple free motion loops.  It was a nice contrast to the triangles and squares.

I love the colors on the back of this quilt.  However, the fabric did not want to cooperate when it came time to baste.  Look at how crooked that is?  UGH.  We will call this a design element.

The quilt is straight, but with that crooked backing it looks lopsided.

Overall it’s bright and fun.  It’s out of my comfort zone but it’s a finished quilt.  This is more of a throw sized quilt so I’m not really counting it in my baby quilt goal.  It measures 53″ x 54″.  Thoughts?

The quilt is currently for sale in my Etsy shop.  You can find some other great quilts looking for new homes over there as well.

So glad I cleaned out the sewing room and found these just sitting there.  It was a great project to just play with and create.  The entire project is scraps and stash fabrics.  Win win.

This is baby quilt 7/40 for my yearlong goal.

Boundless Fabric Gender Neutral Half Square Triangle Baby Quilt

This post may contain affiliate links.  If you make a purchase, I may receive a small compensation.  All opinions are my own.  

 

This is my first time using Boundless Fabric by Craftsy.  I bought a layer cake from someone having a destash and got right to work.  Over the last few months, I had been wanting to remake the All The Way Up quilt and I thought this may be a good palette to try the design with.  I cut the layer cake into 5″ charms and separated out the fabric.

 

The colors are a mix of bold and muted, creating a wonderful contrast.  For the random look I like to go for, I make 4 stacks of the squares, and then started pairing them up.  Do you ever gravitate towards having some colors together more than others?  I found myself going towards the same pairings and had to rethink a few.  I kept telling myself to keep the pairings random.

 

 

Piecing all of the squares took no time.  Cutting them into half square triangles was easy.  Porter helped me press them and loved it.  Then, I went to layout the quilt as I envisioned and it wasn’t right.  Rather than move forward, I picked up the squares and put them away for a couple of nights.  P and I designed his quilt and that gave me time to rethink the layout.

Rather than recreate the quilt, let’s use it for inspiration.  I started laying out the blocks with the triangles all going the same way.  It was growing on me.  Since I had let go of the urge for everything to be perfect with Porter’s quilt, I decided to just create this top and run with it.  It was hard because I wasn’t absolutely in love with it and I wanted to do more.  However, keeping it simple can work out too.

 

Once the top was finished I starched the hell out of it and got everything flat.  One thing that had not changed from my original vision was using a black and white print with these fabrics.  I decided it needed to be the backing and dug around in stash.  A simple Lotta Jansdotter print to the rescue.

 

For quilting I opted for straight lines to accentuate the triangles.  It felt good to do straight line quilting again.  Once I washed the quilt, it was just the way I wanted it.

 

There was just enough of the binding print to finish off the quilt.  It pulls many of the colors from the quilt, but doesn’t take away from it.

Overall I’m happy with the way the quilt turned out.  I’m proud that I didn’t let a layer cake just sit around and put it right to use.  That was weird for me.

Rainbow baby quilt, gender neutral baby quilt, half square triangle quilt, quilts for sale, boundless fabrics, modern baby quilt

 

The quilt is currently listed in my Etsy Shop here.

2018 Baby Quilt Goal 4/40

Blogger’s Quilt Festival – Scrappy Rainbow Unicorn Sprinkles

Thanks for coming over to my blog from the Blogger’s Quilt Festival.  I’m Tisha of Quiltytherapy.  Sewing is my therapy and the only creative outlet I’m good at.  Unless stick figures can be a creative outlet, ha!  Making quilts from scraps and my stash is what I strive for.  Scrappy Unicorn Rainbow Sprinkles is a combination of scraps and pieces from my stash.

Scrappy unicorn rainbow sprinkles by quiltytherapy #scrapquilt #paperpiecing #modernquilt

It’s hard to truly have a favorite quilt, but this one is in the top 10 that I have created.  It is still for sale on Etsy here.

The center blocks are paper pieced using scraps from my guild members.  Center triangles are trimmings from Lindsay’s quilt she made during our Winter Retreat.  Erika and Lisa brought bins of scraps that they let us raid.  I had pulled some scraps together in this color palette before the retreat but their generousity rounded out my collection.

While I wanted to make the entire quilt out of the blocks, they started to look too similar.  In my stash was a bolt of Kona Robin’s Egg blue that really brought it all together.

 

Look for a tutorial on paper piecing these scrappy blocks to make your own version.

This was the second time I ever quilted the organic wavy lines.  It created so much crinkle once it was washed.  The purple polka dot binding is perfection.  As I noted in my original post about this quilt, I hope it leaves behind a trail of rainbow sprinkles wherever this quilt goes.

Scrappy unicorn rainbow sprinkles by quiltytherapy #scrapquilt #paperpiecing #modernquilt


Read more about creative process with Scrappy Unicorn Rainbow Sprinkles here and here.

 

Scrappy Unicorn Rainbow Sprinkles Finished

Scrappy unicorn rainbow sprinkles by quiltytherapy #scrapquilt #paperpiecing #modernquilt

Scrappy Unicorn Rainbow Sprinkles is finished and ready for her next adventure.  It would be great if this quilt left a trail of rainbow sprinkles everywhere it went.  Instead it just brings lots of color and brightness to a room.

Scrappy unicorn rainbow sprinkles by quiltytherapy #scrapquilt #paperpiecing #modernquilt

It was fun to watch scraps from friends become something cohesive and lovely.  Thank you again Lisa, Erika, and Lindsay for sharing your scraps.  I would love to hear your thoughts below on the quilt and any of your scraps you recognize.

When it came time to pick the backing on this quilt, I was sure I was going to make a scrappy one to flow with the front.  I wondered if I would have a vintage sheet that would work and began digging into that stash.  I did find a sheet that could have worked if the blue was a little more aqua.  While the vintage sheet would have worked, it didn’t feel right.  I would have wanted to change it after quilting it.  Instead I found this solid green sheet that coordinated with the greens on the front.

Remember the purple polka dot binding from Thistle Storm?  I had so much of it left that it ended up being enough to bind this quilt.  Everything on this quilt is either a scrap or stash item I had not used in awhile.  Feels good to finally give some of these fabrics a new purpose and use.

Scrappy unicorn rainbow sprinkles by quiltytherapy #scrapquilt #paperpiecing #modernquilt

As I finished the quilt top, I realized there were a few errors that I hoped to work out in the quilting.  One or two were too big to ultimately just quilt closed.  I had to go back and zig zag stitch over them.  While it’s disappointing that this quilt isn’t perfect, it now has it’s own flare and design elements.  After my IMQG meeting they couldn’t really see the issue.  If a group of quilters can’t see it, then there is no use in stressing over it.

For the quilting, I went with wavy lines again.  It’s a simple method that I want to keep building my skills on.  The waves add a softness to the overall look.

Look at all the crinkles post wash.  I want to take it on a picnic or snuggle under it on the couch.  If you’re looking for a quilt to add color to a room, you can find this quilt here on Etsy.

Scrappy unicorn rainbow sprinkles by quiltytherapy #scrapquilt #paperpiecing #modernquilt

 

You can read about the process of the quilt below.

Scrappy Unicorn Rainbow Sprinkles 


Linking up with

Needle and Thread Thursday

 

Meet Thistle Storm

You have seen this quilt before called April Showers.

 

The quilt came out of the dryer and demanded a new, more fierce name.  Thistle Storm was born and so did our adventures together.

 

P enjoys the quilt

In typical quilt blog fashion, I put Thistle Storm on the fence out back.  She, yes it’s a girl quilt, started laughing.  It was more of a mocking.  “Really?” she said, “Just the fence.  Come on. I deserve way better photos than this.”  “Fine,” I replied and began scouting locations.

My husband works at a beautiful old estate turned event venue here in Indy.  Maybe their grounds would have some good photo opportunities.  We ventured over on a Friday afternoon and started with a normal quilt photo.  Thanks hubby for holding it up.  We walked along a pathway, but Thistle Storm became tired and wanted to rest on the bench.

After a brief rest she noticed the brook ahead and wanted to climb on the rocks.  “Does this bush make me look fabulous?,” she asked.  “It’s not your best pose, but we can make it work,” I replied.

We finished our photoshoot on these lovely brick stairs.  She stretched out and enjoyed the sun for a few minutes.  “I could just lay here all day and watch the clouds,” she noted.  This is my favorite pose from the session.  Once we were done she bunched herself up and rode home in the front seat.  She was excited to see her photos.

Photo editing would have to wait until after my run.  Thistle Storm is the laziest quilt around.  She laid on the couch binge watching The Great British Bake Off on Netflix as I was sweating my ass off.  She shrieked in horror when we pulled up to daycare to pick up P.  “Please don’t let sticky fingers get on me,” she pleaded.  P was unimpressed with her antics.

Since this quilt is so lazy, she needs to find a new home.  Below is a bit more about the specifics on the Thistle Storm and how she can come stay at your house.

Quilt Layout

Kona Thistle is the light purple feature.  Notice the detail in the purple floral print?  It also has thistles which is no coincidence.  In an ah-ha moment at the quilt shop I knew it felt right.  I adore the purple to gray transition, a different version of Icy Waters from what I have seen.

Backing

I used leftover yardage for the backing to create something pieced and scrappy.

Quilting

Why did I wait so long to quilt this?  I was scared of making waves and that it would look terrible.  After trying one, it wasn’t horrible.  The rest turned out well.  There are a couple of hiccups in the quilting, but I’m okay with that.  Wavy lines may become a new go to for me.

Binding

White and lavender polka dots had been in stash for years, YEARS!  As I was piecing the top, I remembered this print buried in my fabric cart.  Rather than the 1.5 inch strips I normally use, I cut this at 2.5 inches.  It was therapeutic to press yards of binding.  There is some left over and now I need something to bind in this great print.

Of course I went with machine binding.

You find the quilt on Etsy and is ready to head to a new home.

From Stuffed in a Bag to Glorious

As a quilter I ponder many design ideas on projects.  Some projects it’s the first time by.  Other projects get halted and then wind up in a plastic bag smothered in my WIP cabinet.  This quilt has gone on a five year journey to completion.  It’s sad, inspiring, and real all at the same time.

Moda Blush Quilt

My love of charm packs were at an all time high in 2012.  People may have noted it as an obsession, but that’s all hear say.  For the IMQG first overnight retreat I grabbed the Moda Blush charm pack and yardage in my stash along with Kona white to make a creation.  Seven to eight simple squares were started and another five or so improv blocks.  Improv is a loose term, they were measured and tried to keep it symmetrical.

Post retreat the blocks and yardage were stuffed into my WIP cabinet in a plastic bag.  I had so much hope for that project as I wrote the above blog post.  Five years later, it was pulled from the cabinet and given new life.  It could breathe again.

The improv blocks were stripped back down to the charm block and the solid.  Rather than continue with a design that didn’t make sense, I wanted to go back to the simple blocks.  Simple will get the project finished rather than sitting in a cabinet.

Simple can help you finish a project faster.

During the winter IMQG retreat this year I took the blocks and created the quilt top.  From the yardage I was able to piece a backing as well.

Post retreat the project went back into that plastic bag.  This time it sat near my sewing space.  Part of my first quarter goals for 2017 is taking the time to finish some projects.  Rather than have this project taunt me, I grabbed the starch and started pressing.  Lots of starch to get these seams to lay flat.

Some franken-batting was created to use up some scraps.  The challenge from my IMQG peeps was to try another FMQ at home.  This was the project that accepted the challenge.  After some spray basting it was ready to quilt.

Rather than quilt at night when I’m tired, I went in fresh on a Sunday morning.  It was invigorating to try this new to me technique so early in the morning.  Challenge myself to break out of my go to straight line quilting.  Guess what?  FMQ went faster and was fun.

FMQ was fun.

After being washed and dried, I truly admire this project.  It has new life, it’s been rejuvenated with the help of a seam ripper.  Stuffed in a plastic bag doesn’t have to mean the end of a project.  Look at it now with all the crinkled goodness.

Moda Blush, baby girl quilt, simple quilt, easy quilt, charm pack quilt, quiltytherapy

Pieced back with enough left over for binding.

What project do you have just sitting around?  Could you break it down to something more simple?

This quilt is now available on Etsy and ready for a new home. is going to a new home.  Someone is going to love it.