Oh, am I excited to use that word. FINISHED!
For those who might be newer to my little blog, this quilt started as something of an experiment way back in October of 2010. I went through my scrap bins one at a time, and cut one 5″ square from as many different fabrics as I could dig out. I had a goal of making 14 sets of half-square triangles each week, and would stop when I made it through the scrap bins. Turns out, that netted me over 400 blocks from more than 200 fabrics. DANG.
And while there were a lot of starts and stops (and major life events) along the way, it is finally done. I assembled the HSTs into 20 of these blocks, and then had enough left over that I added another ring around the entire quilt, just continuing the pattern. It ended up being approximately 72″ x 88″, or a pretty generous twin-sized quilt. If it’s not the largest I’ve ever made, then it’s close.
When assembling the blocks and, subsequently, the quilt top, I will tell you that I put as little thought into fabric placement as I could. I didn’t lay a single thing out ahead of time, I just grabbed the next HSTs out of the box and sewed them together. I only vetoed if the two fabrics were too similar to one another. That was it.
For the back, I had a handful of HSTs remaining, and damn if I wasn’t going to use all of them. For the rest, I ended up pulling a rainbow of solids from my stash. I meant it too look more “color wheel” than “pride flag,” but hey, it’s pretty whatever you want to call it.
The binding is solid medium gray. Given the complete randomness of the front, I could easily have used just about any fabric. But to narrow it down, I decided to go for something that would compliment the back, and the gray just kind of spoke to me. In my haste to have this thing finally done, I decided to give machine binding a go. I am happy to say that it was pretty darn successful. I attached it to the back, first, and then sewed it down from the front. The front, I think, looks really good. The back is a little iffy, but not terrible. Not too shabby for a first effort on a big quilt.
I am really, really happy with this quilt. But while I’m perfectly pleased with the way it looks, I’m even more satisfied with it in the abstract. This was a departure for me – it was a process quilt. It was always about the process that got me to the end product, not the end product, itself. I love that the whole thing is like my own personal I-Spy quilt, with bits and pieces from lots of old favorites. I love that the whole thing came from stash and scraps (aside from having to order more Kona Bone), and yet barely put a visible dent in either.
I would definitely like to do another process quilt. Something that pulls from scraps, something that is maybe a little daunting to think of in its entirety, but that I can do pieces here and there over time. String blocks, maybe? A warm-cool HST quilt? Log cabins or improv blocks? I don’t know. I’ve got other projects already started, so I’m going to turn this one over in my head for a while, but I do think I’ll do it again.
My favorite favorite quilt is a triangle one that my great-grandmother made. It’s falling apart at my mom’s, but I’ll have to instagram a pic next time I am down in Austin. =)
Lindsay recently posted..Merry Christmas 2011!!
I LOVE this! I only wish I had such a great variety of scraps to make it myself! I just finished my first large quilt (twin) today, and it was so much fun! I’m ready for my next project!
I remember when you started this! So cool to see it all together. Congrats on finishing.
Liz – It is absolutely amazingly awesome! I LOVE it! I am so afraid of getting even points using HST, but I really would like to try. I tend to stick with easy, inprovisational piecing, which I also love. Congratulations, this is GREAT! (Now 2 questions: spray baste or pin? starch?)
Love how this turned out. I am always looking for ways to use up may scraps. I tend to save way too many little pieces of fabric. I am going to try this pattern. Looks like it would be fairly easy and one you can start and stop as needed. I try to cut my scraps into some size of square after I finish a project so I have an huge bin of 5 inch squares already cut. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing this amazing quilt – I was looking for a great HST quilt. Thanks for the link to the tutorial also.
Happy sewing!
CJ recently posted..Ready for Spring
You’re quilt is absolutely gorgeous! I am working on reducing my scrap pile and might make one as well. I hope that’s okay?!
It turned out great, and I love that you used it all from your scraps
Love it, it looks fab, really like the design. I have been making 9 patches from my fabrics, almost got emnough for a quilt now. I am thinking od doing a scrappy HST quilt next. I also have been cutting 2.5″ squares from all my scraps but have no idea what to make with them.
This is fantastic! And gorgeous! And… I’m so happy I was here to see the end result!
Heather recently posted..Sew & Tell Friday: Pillows, Pillows, Pillows…
It’s divine! Love seeing it from start to finish.
I think a string quilt
Anne (I should be sleeping) recently posted..Gluten therapy
This. Is. Amazing! I love it! And I love that you said, “Dang”, “damn”, and “darn” all in one blog post.
The whole time, I kept thinking that I need to step up my fabric game, because my “stash” and “scraps” could not possibly yield anything like this. Bravo!
I love the quilt and the process you used. You should try a 1000 pyramid quilt. They are stunning and awesome stash busters!
liz, it’s beautiful! congrats on the finish!! and to remind you, thanks for the inspiration too. i didn’t technically quilt along with you, but you gave me the idea for the teacher quilts i did last year. so i’m interested in another process scrap quilt too!
carl gatto recently posted..Snow Angel
It looks lovely! Congratulations on the finish!
Love this pattern and how the quilt turned out! Thanks for sharing.
abby recently posted..Valentine Wall Hanging
Very, very cool! I love it!
Wow! What a journey it’s been making this quilt. It looks fabulous and it’s so great knowing it was made from scraps. Love it even more!
I am finally going to start a kind of scrapbook type quilt. I’ve printed off a few picture and have a few more to go. I am hoping it will be like a scrappy scrapbook quilt. Reading your posts has inspired me to actually start something again.
Amy recently posted..Test Results
I love scrap quilts, and this one is no different. Beautiful work!
I love it! And am really impressed with your ability to not lay it out ahead of time! I always work so hard to make something ‘look’ random instead of actually being random!! Great job and I love the process involved here!
amylouwho recently posted..One year ago
PS – thanks for linking up to Sew & Tell!
amylouwho recently posted..One year ago
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