Three Scrappy Quilts / Beauties Pageant 290

Over the past five or six weeks, I have been introducing you to the quilt designs in my book, Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts. Today we’re looking at the last three projects, which have one important thing in common: They are conducive to busting through scraps!

When working with jelly rolls, I consider scraps to include leftover bits from cutting projects as well as entire unused strips ...

Five Little Ghosts

I often have low-volume strips leftover simply because they don’t work with my preferred white and cream backgrounds. I had a lot of fun thinking about what I could do with those light-colored leftovers. One solution I came up with is Five Little Ghosts. These silly little ghouls wouldn’t scare anyone, but they sure are cute in white-on-white strips from various jelly rolls I used in the book.

Jelly Roll: White-on-white prints from various fabric collections 

Background fabric: Spooky Darlings from Ruby Star Society

Batting: Warm and White

Finished size: 49" x 16.5"

Pieced and quilted by Michelle Cain

Meow Mates 

Another project that incorporates full leftover strips is the sample quilt for Meow Mates, pictured at the top of the post. The pale green background fabric provided the perfect backdrop for those low volumes. Then I mixed in smaller scraps for the kitties’ ears and muzzles. I also repeated a few prints multiple times throughout the quilt top to tie everything together.

Jelly Roll: Prints and solids from various fabric collections 

Background fabric: Moda Bella Solids in Hometown Sky 

Batting: Warm and White

Finished size: 52.5" x 64.5"

Pieced by Michelle Cain; quilted by Ophelia Chang

Neighborly

My version of Neighborly was sewn from a single fabric collection, but its fabric requirements could easily be met by my scrap bin. I am plotting a super-size second version that’s all black and white.

Jelly Roll: Flower Pot by Lella Boutique for Moda 

Background fabric: Moda Bella Solids in Off-White 

Batting: Warm and White

Finished size: 30.5" x 30.5"

Pieced and quilted by Michelle Cain

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Thank you for joining me in this first look at all the quilts from Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts! If you missed any of the posts, you can read them at the links below:

• That’s a Jelly Roll Quilt?
• Strip Sets for the Win!
• Two Pixelated Quilts 
• Big and Bold, Cute and Sweet

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• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
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Holiday Quilts I Love / Beauties Pageant 198

As a kid, I loved seeing all the Christmas trinkets my grandmother would unearth every December, from her vintage reindeer candles to her manger scene. Those items were as much a part of the celebration as the tree or the desserts she contributed to the holiday spread.

Although I appreciated the familiarity of my grandmother’s holiday decor and enjoyed revisiting those objects year after year, it took me decades to realize that I’m not much of a seasonal decorator. And I have tried! I have bought some beautiful and meaningful objects over the years, most of which are still (even on December 16) in boxes in my attic. A few years ago, though, I started making quilts with Christmas and winter themes. Finally, I found my way of celebrating the season.

What you see here are the wintry quilts that live at From Bolt to Beauty world headquarters. It’s worth noting that I enjoyed making them so much that I sewed three of these four patterns twice (the twins were gifted years ago).

All of these patterns have their strengths. From top to bottom, the Christmas trees are a great stash buster, Kate Spain’s Chalet pattern makes the most of fat quarters, Camille Roskelley’s Norway design features big, bold blocks, and Gingiber’s Merrily quilt is an interesting way to use panels of a certain size. To read more about these projects—and to see some of their backs—click on the links below.

• Christmas trees (Amy Smart)
  
• Chalet (Kate Spain)
• Merrily (Gingiber)
• Norway (Camille Roskelley)

If you’ve encountered a winter-themed quilt pattern that you’ve loved enough to make twice, I’d love to hear about it!

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The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

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Modern Maisons / Beauties Pageant 193

I find the humble house shape an intriguing element in quilts. Even in its most basic form, stripped of color or embellishment, the five-sided shape conveys meaning of shelter or home. But add a palette or a little design interest, and it transforms into a symbol of belonging, family, community, and more.

What you see here is Modern Maisons, my submission to the Ruby + Bee Fabric Challenge for QuiltCon 2023. I used the challenge as an opportunity to play with the house shape. (“Maison” is the French word for “house” and the origin of “mansion.”) After making (and scrapping) a few blocks with more intricate piecing, I homed in on bolder, more basic patchwork and watched how the house outline changed those blocks. Foundation paper-piecing was the way to go here, giving me the precision I wanted both with the internal designs and with the thin black outlines.

Originally, I set out to make 16 blocks. Then I decided 9 would do. With the deadline looming, I settled for 6 and made them something special by sewing them in off-set columns and extenuating a few of the motifs into the quilting. 

Will Modern Maisons be juried into QuiltCon? I’ll know in another month. (Edit: It was not! Maybe I will have better luck next year!) One way or another, I’m proud of this finished project and happy to have invested the time in creating it. : )

 

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The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter