Scrappy Celebrations Quilt Done and Donated; New Pillow Project Commencing

So the "Scrappy Celebrations" quilt that I began making in February of 2024 in the midst of moving to Florida has now been finished and donated to Project Linus Metrolina Chapter.  It ended up measuring 50 3/4" x 59.25" after quilting, binding, and laundering.

51 x 59 Scrappy Celebrations Quilt

It's not bad now that it's finished.  Even those blocks with the too-stark solid turquoise fabric don't bother me anymore as the feather quilting really helped to soften them and blend them into the other blocks and fabrics.  I'm very pleased with the feather quilting design and, although most of the fabrics in this quilt came from new precut packs rather than true scraps, I did manage to incorporate some Deep Stash fabrics here and there, and the batting, backing, and binding were all scraps and leftovers.

Loving the Quilted Texture From This Heavier Cotton Batting

I did the machine binding exactly the same way as I did it for the last quilt, except that I used Elmer's School Glue at the ironing board to secure the binding to the front of the quilt before the last run of stitching.  

I used an apple green Aurifil 50/2 cotton thread in my needle to match the binding fabric and gray Aurifil 50/2 cotton thread in my bobbin to match the most prominent backing fabric.

Too Bad I Have No Use For You, Pretty Little Quilt!

One surprising little glitch was that, after laundering this quilt that was perfectly flat and square when it went into the washer, it developed a slight wave all along the binding.  In retrospect, I think it's because the fabrics in the quilt top were all or nearly all brand new and unwashed, but the fabric scrap I cut up for the binding was leftover from my Retro '80s Building Blocks quilt and I'm pretty sure I prewashed all of the fabrics for that quilt in hot water to remove as much shrinkage as possible before cutting into them.  So the new, unwashed fabrics in my Scrappy Celebrations quilt top shrank quite a bit, approximately 4.5-5%, and my binding fabric that was already preshrunk hardly shrank at all.  Lesson learned, only use NEW unwashed fabric for binding if the quilt fabrics were not prewashed!  I was just trying to use up what I had on hand, though, and I loved how well the apple green scrap fabric matched the leaves of the rose print backing fabric as well as the Tilda small scale floral fabric in the double 9-patch blocks on the front.

Slight Wave in Bound Quilt Edges

There she is, folded up and ready to go.  This quilt falls within what Project Linus Metrolina chapter recommends for "Teen Quilts," said to be the greatest need, and I hope it will do some good wherever it ends up in the world.

Folded Up and Ready to Go

Here's a shot of the pieced backing, nothing special but hopefully cheerful.  The gray and pink floral was a JoAnn Fabrics bargain purchase and the Kaffe Fassett green geometric and the pink Tula Pink snail print in the middle were a strip of leftover pieced backing from trimming some other quilt after quilting it on the long arm.  That excess backing fabric needed to load a quilt on a frame need not be wasted.

Scrappy Celebrations Pieced Backing

So these are my most recent quilt finishes, both made for no rhyme or reason except to play around with colors and fabrics that I felt like working with at the time.  I have no little daughters or granddaughters or babies to give these to and they don't make sense anywhere in my home, so sending them off into the world to hopefully comfort someone who needs them seemed to be the best thing to do with them.

Last Look, Off to be Donated

My next project (and my October OMG One Monthly Goal) is laid out and ready to begin, custom throw pillows to go on my own sofa.  I have a bunch of these planned for different rooms, so stay tuned...

Next Project: Chenille Throw Pillows for My Couch

Today I'm headed to a hair appointment late morning followed by dental torture getting a couple fillings replaced with crowns.  Depending on how I feel after the dentist, I may or may not be brave enough to cut into this chenille fabric, which has lots of slip and slide to it.  I will need to measure carefully and kind of "block" the fabric to be perfectly straight and square before cutting the first pillow piece out of it in order to ensure the graphic woven pattern is perfectly straight and centered, but then I can use the first cut piece as my pattern for the other front and the two pillow backs to be sure the pattern matches up just right along all the seam lines.  These two rectangular pillows are also getting a narrow trim cord sewn in-seam and invisible zipper closures.  Stay tuned...

I'm linking up with October One Monthly Goal at Stories from the Sewing Room and some of my other favorite linky parties:

MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs  

TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt  

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

FRIDAY

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre

Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty

SATURDAY

Scrap Happy Saturday at So Scrappy

SUNDAY

Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework