Quilting with scraps

Some years ago, I found that I was constantly creating long, vaguely triangular scraps. Perhaps I had figured out how to use square and rectangular scraps and that was all that remained! At some stage I happened on the idea of creating a kind of swirling log cabin block, foundation piecing it to stabilise grain running every which way.

An archaeological dig through the cupboards turned up 7 plant dyed blocks created in this way, with all kinds of tired old fabrics used as the foundation: worn out napkins and a threadbare dressing gown handed on by my mother-out-law stood out as most recognisable. I created 2 new blocks to make up 9 and set to work on creating sashing from all kinds of black fabrics from my stash. There are a lot of different black fabrics here, mostly cottons and all from stash. I have done this kind of crime against quilting enough times to know that I am OK with it!

I trimmed all the black offcuts and those from making all the blocks the same size and began on the back.

It’s a wild patchwork of all kinds of leaf dyed fabrics.

Then the batting. We made an inventory of the high cupboards. This resulted in some lovely manchester my Mum must have handed on going to a happy new home through Buy Nothing, a quilt I made in the 1990s going to my granddaughter, and the saddest of our woollen blankets being selected as batting.

Oops– mood lighting indoors at night strikes again.

I had some trouble getting it quilted flat but in the end I managed something I could live with. I am quietly confident that people who make really neat, accurately pieced and beautifully quilted quilts, do not do some of the things I do when constructing a quilt. But… I end up with something warm and I’ve had imperfect home made quilts on my bed for many years without feeling bad about their imperfections.

Next stop, binding (with strips of plant dyed fabrics), another great use for narrow strips or prints that are just not that scenic.

I gave this quilt to beloved friends who live in Denmark with the disclaimer that this was a big, heavy thing they might prefer not to take home.

They took one look at it and decided yes! They were prepared to wrestle it back to Denmark. And, that the side I thought of as “the back” was, from their perspective, “the front”. I’m so glad they like it!