Rainbow Scrappy Placemats - Reveal Part 3

By request, here are the finished placemats 

on our dining room table.

If you missed the first two reveal posts,

click HERE 

and HERE 

to see individual photos

showing the scrappy fabrics 

and multiple quilting designs.

Most of the placemats reverse to black and white prints.

(DH made the woodturned salt and pepper grinders) 

Two of the 12 placemats reverse to scrappy teals.

Here is one ready for our grandson's next visit.

And for those who mention 

they would be afraid to use quilted placemats

for fear of getting them dirty --

they DO get dirty

but they also wash and dry well.

This set of scrappy aqua and green placemats

has been in use for over a year 

with countless trips through the washer and dryer.

They do just fine!

This set of autumn color placemats

has been used during September-October-November

for the last couple of years.

They have been laundered quite a few times

but you'd never know by looking at them.

SO . . .

My challenge to you is to

go forth and make scrappy quilted placemats

and use them without fear!

* * *

Linking up with this week's edition of

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Fear is static that prevents me from hearing myself."
Samuel Butler

Rainbow Scrappy Placemats - Reveal Part 2

In case you missed Part 1 of the Placemat Reveal,

CLICK HERE.

* * *

I had a good time playing with different quilting designs

on these scrappy placemats.

I especially like this wiggly spiral from Leah Day.

I don't know that I'd try it on a large quilt

but for smaller pieces it is great.

The quilting on this one is hard to see.

I used pink thread and Leah Day's Loose Weave design.

I used the same design on this vivid red placemat.

Chris used this green placemat

to teach me how to quilt free motion baptist fans.

I quilted the pink and orange one 

(see previous post)

using those same fans.

This one was one of the early ones.

It was quilted using Barb's giant double Baptist Fan stencil.

(there's a link in my sidebar if you are interested)

Here are all twelve placemats laid out 

on our sunroom coffee table.

I used a number of Glide threads for quilting

including Autumn, Apple, Viridian, Turf, 

Pink, Dijon, and Hawaiian Blue. 

Here are the twelve showing their reverse sides.

* * *

I'm delighted with these

and even happier to have them finished

and ready to be used.

* * *

Stop by tomorrow to see 

the placemats on our dining room table!

Quiltdivajulie

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"We all live under the same sky, 
but we don't all have the same horizon."
Konrad Adenauer

Rainbow Scrappy Placemats - Reveal Part 1

For the 2017 Rainbow Scrap Challenge

I decided to make a set of scrappy placemats.

Lots of small scraps sewn together

became something useful and fun.

The original plan was to have six reversible placemats

featuring 12 different colors.

From the beginning I planned to quilt them in a variety of ways

but bind them all with one black and white stripe.

Somewhere along the line,

that original plan changed.

Two of the very first placemats reverse to colors

but the others reverse to multiple black and white prints.

So now there are twelve scrappy placemats.

The funny thing about placemats like these

is that they end up taking longer than it does

to make an actual quilt.

Especially when it comes to the binding.

20" + 20" + 14" = 14" = 68" of binding on each one

times twelve equaled 816" of binding stitching.

My typical 48" x 64" quilts need 224" of binding

so these placemats used as much as 3-1/2 quilt tops.

That's perfectly okay though,

because these placemats make our dining room table

so bright and cheerful!

(I'll share the second group on Friday)

Quiltdivajulie

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"The precision of naming takes away from 
the uniqueness of seeing."
Pierre Bonnard

Zinderalla - The Quilt

Last December, I shared this 38" x 51" quilt top

created during Lori's Quilts Madder QAL.

It was a bit too small for a decent lap quilt

so I figured it would become a baby girl quilt

and into the waiting closet it went.

Then last month, it was pulled out of the waiting closet

to be combined with more of my scrappy light neutrals.

(the RSC color for that month)

The now-larger top and back

were duly folded and hung back in the waiting closet.

But then Chris came to visit

and taught me how to quilt free motion Baptist Fans.

So I pulled this perfectly-suited for baptist fans

top and back out of the waiting closet

and got them sandwiched and pin basted.

I chose a thread color . . .

. . . and I started quilting.

I can't tell you how happy these make me!

But then of course the quilt needed a proper name.

I spent some time searching images of flowers

and chanced upon this zinnia.

(flowers always have such interesting names)

Dark red centers, creamy inner petals

and peachy-pink outer petals --

the same colors in my quilt.

And so, I have named my quilt

ZINDERELLA

in honor of that beautifully colored zinnia bloom.

On a gloriously clear morning,

I took Zinderella outside for a photo shoot.

DH and I both love the back

even more than we love the front.

Like I said,

I'm so happy that I now know how

to free motion fans.

Their texture is beyond wonderful.

No more words are needed . . . 

just time to sit and enjoy 

this lovely finished lap quilt.

* * *

I'm still mostly off-the-grid 

for another week or so 

but I wanted to share this finish.

Spending lots of time with Little Man 

(formerly known as Mr. Adorable and Mr. Marvelous)

and dealing with the never-ending demands 

of our resident paper tiger . . .

I really want to go sew!

Quiltdivajulie

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"I have to let the canvas tell me how to proceed slowly, 
rather than have an agenda in advance of the process."
Susan Avishai

Blues and More

As this RSC month of BLUE winds to a close,

I have finished this table runner

made with leftover blues from previous projects.

I even quilted it with blue thread.

8.5" x 36" 

This one will be gifted in the next month or so.

(you can read more about it in this post)

I also have the backings cut for my scrappy placemats.

This colorful scrappy jumble

definitely brightens up the design wall.

The plan is to quilt and bind these in the next few weeks.

There has also been a bit of stash enhancement.

Delta Patchwork is running their annual 

Clean Sweep Clearance sale

except this year it is on EVERYthing

instead of only the clearance section.

This week they are discounting at 30%.

Next week it will be 40% 

and the following week 50%.

Check their website for details.

(I just couldn't resist adding a few more

 Bella solids at such a low price)

Aren't they gorgeous?!?

Lots of ends of bolt pieces

make for a happy scrappy stash.

Quiltdivajulie

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"My spirit has ways of seeing that my eyes cannot comprehend."
Philippe Benichou

Scrappy Saturday - The Placemat Project

There's been a LOT of power stitching this week

but I can't share any of it yet since it involves 

my take on the mystery quilt project

for November's local quilt show.

However . . . 

I CAN share my now-completed 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge placemat slabs.

I absolutely LOVE them!

Created with leftover blocks (or parts of blocks),

scraps, bits of binding, and the remains of

a few abandoned/closed down projects.

My original plan was to make 

a set of six reversible placemats.

The first two were quilted earlier in the year. 

(the ones with their corners flipped)

Now I have changed my mind and

decided to back each of the unquilted slabs 

with a different white-on-black print.

That means more time quilting and binding

but it also means more placemats to choose from

when we set the table for family dinners.

I am also going to free motion quilt 

each one differently

(instead of continuing on with dbl baptist fans)

which will be more a lot more fun.

Here is a close up of the first four combinations

(collages will supersize if you want to see more detail -

just double click)

Here is the second set of four.

And here is the final set of four.

I will bind all of them in black and white stripes.

* * *

Linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

where this month's color is BLUE.

I'll also be linking this post with

Cynthia's Oh Scrap!  

along with

Em's Moving It Forward 

and 

Beth's Monday Making

Quiltdivajulie

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"The way we do anything is the way we do everything."
Martha Beck

Update - My Scrappy RSC Placemats Project

double click to see more detail

I did finish my placemat slab last month

when the RSC color was yellow.

(these slabs measure roughly 17" x 24")

Earlier in the year 

I pulled scraps in the colors

Angela called out in January.

I took the pinks with me

to the sew-in day

a couple of weeks ago.

This is how far they had gotten

when Angela called BLUE for July.

So I pulled out my baggie of blue scraps.

I'm not sure why this particular photo

came out so yellow . . . 

This is the first of two slabs

that came from that small batch of scraps.

And this is the second slab.

(these colors are much more accurate)

The orange scraps will be the last group

after the pink ones are sewn together.

This project has hung on long enough

and I'm ready to get these finished.

In the next few weeks

I'll get the last slabs sewn together 

so they can be quilted and bound.

The squirrels in my studio

are getting rowdy . . .

* * * 

Linking up with

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge

and

Oh Scrap! 

Quiltdivajulie

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"All methods are sacred if they are internally necessary. 
All methods are sins if they are not justified by internal necessity."
Wassily Kandinsky