Tinker Taylor....

I've have finished my Scrappy Summer quilt and just in time for Joe's great nephew's first birthday party this weekend.

The pattern is Scrappy Summer by Alison of Cluck Cluck Sew using the free tutorial on the blog.
This quilt was so lovely to work on. I loved the colours I chose and the easy piecing, much of it chained which helped it come together like a dream. The way the white blocks run through the quilt gives it a really crisp summer look.

Everything I used in this quilt I had, so it truly is a scrappy quilt. The backing came off another that I had got as far as basting but it just wasn't doing it for me on that one. So a bit of an un-pin and re-pin and voila, backing ready to go. It's a Denyse Schmidt floral in blue and green from Spotlight, from the range after Picnics & Fairgrounds....Sugar Creek.

The binding is a fabric I bought from Fabric Shack from their cheapy discounted section. It's a perfect zingy stripe (and dot) in red and aqua which picks up the reds and blues in the quilt. Unfortunately, I cut off the selvedge and didn't have time to go back and investigate the name.

This time I decided to machine stitch the binding. I know a lot of quilters claim that it's more durable and an expedient way to attach a binding...which it is, but....I don't know, I don't love it. It's got stitching through it. I honestly prefer the neat finish of a hand stitched binding. This is probably only about the second or third time I've attempted machine stitched binding and I respect the fact that practice makes perfect, but those little oopsies when the stitches come off the rails on the back drive me nuts. All that being said, I'm not undoing it! It will be fine and no-one else cares except me!

Now that's two little whinges I've had in this post so we'll leave it there for now. I do love this quilt, it's perfect for a little boy and I hope he gets lots of use out of it, at least as much as his big brother got from his a few years back. Happy birthday Taylor!

Favourite colours.....

I'm on a bit of a bandwagon for orange, green, yellow, blue, grey and red lately with them popping up in at least two quilt projects in a row. Both of which are quilts for little boys.

The first is a quilt for a little man who's turning one shortly. I've used Cluck Cluck Sew's free tutorial for the Scrappy Summer Quilt. This pattern is so easy and comes together so neatly. Currently it's basted and waiting for the Adelaide weather to move on from its never-ending 40 degree plus heat waves (we've had two already!). I love how crisp these colours look.

Then because I was loving the colours so much and am always on the hunt for an excuse to make a quilt, I made a scrappy swoon for a work colleague who's son has had his first baby, and Liz's first grandchild. The pattern is by Camille Roskelley and once I got my head around it, it is pretty easy to turn scrappy....although I could have contrasted the colours against the centre square a bit better. (Must try harder next time!) It's one single Swoon block, set inside 8" of solid borders which makes a 40" square quilt.

The back is a single metre piece of Spotlight fabric picked up for a song last year. It's the perfect turquoise for a little boy.

Actually, this whole quilt didn't require one cent of expenditure....I had it all. Scraps, enough solid, enough binding and enough batting to frankenpiece! I love a gift from 'nothing'!

Last Christmas the Sew & Sew's girls decided to give an end-of-year gift of our scraps to each other. Just reporting in girls....but I have managed to use gifted scraps in both of these quilts and another so far this year. (Red pin dot - M, Grey mice - K, Green floral - C) It's a lot of fun to use other people's fabrics, that's for sure.

I've linked to Crazy Mom's Finish it up Friday!