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Thursday, October 21, 2021

Nothing That a Bit of Scrappy Won't Cure!


I finished the quilting on Cherry Crunch!

The best part?  Giggling at all of the weird fabrics that went into it.  They span decades!

Amongst the favorites?  The Cat in the Hat in the reds, and some Kellogg's cereal prints in the neutrals.

There is even Pittsburgh Steelers fabric in here - not because I am a football fan, but because it came in a scrap box sent by a friend.

And I'm constantly continuing to test that whole "If it's still ugly, cut it smaller!" thing!


And Wonder of Wonders - I didn't make this one giant.

It's about 70'' X 77''.  A good couch size.  And while my first thought was that it would be a Christmas quilt, there is some patriotic, some florals, a lot of novelty, and whatever else fit the bill of either neutral or red.


There are music notes.  Red bandana. OLD Christmas. And some Halloween!


And what's this on the back?

Japanese Koi fish??


Don't worry, it rolls over to a red on black floral!

I spy Canada and cows in the border!


Anything red-on-black went into the backing.

The great fabric bin clean out of the 2020's continues.  I'm considering this as 5 yards gone and worth it!

Yes, there are sewing notions, Minnie Mouse, and Betty Boop and red chili peppers in there along with the Koi fish.  Why not?


Trimmed and ready for binding.


What a happy mess!


A cranberry binding to finish the edge just right.

I didn't choose a red that would disappear at the edge of that string border - I needed it to be just a bit bolder, so leaning toward the cranberry side of red will give me the finish that I want.  

Cherry Crunch will likely make its appearance as a PDF pattern after Quiltville Winter Mystery season is over.  In the mean time, start pulling those red and neutral scraps and set them aside with intent!

And now I am ready for some more nights of stitching binding down as darkness comes earlier and we snuggle in to watch TV in the evenings.

We are still plugging away on Scandal. (SO GOOD!) and interrupt that on a weekly basis to sneak in Blue Bloods and the NCIS's.  The NCIS Hawaii is growing on us, it's just taken a while to learn the characters.  

We are also chuckling greatly over Boston Legal, which we never saw when it was running in real time. Hysterical!

New Tricks still makes an appearance on occasion - and that is pretty much what you'll find on our playlist as of late.

In other updates - Click to Play:


More info on Boxy Bow Ties!

I've had requests to show close ups of the fabrics I've used in Boxy Bow Ties.

I understand how hard it is to break away from playing the matchy-matchy game.  It can be a struggle for many.


In my own quilting, I pretty much stop focusing on the PRINT on the fabric, and just look at it as if it were a color crayon. 

ALL COLORS WORK TOGETHER.

I go for variety, the more variety the better.  Spread that variety around.  Pull in some things that clash - because that's where the magic happens.  The unexpected may surprise you!

When it comes to setting the block quarters into big blocks - look at the scale of the design on the fabrics so that you aren't putting all "small stuff" into one block - Perhaps one has a floral, one has a geometric, one has a novelty, one has a little ditzy print.  Keep it a bit jumbled up.

And don't forget to stand 6 feet away - because sometimes I think we can get too close to things and miss the whole picture.

I hope this helps!

We tend to think there is safety "in the box"  But it is this thinking that is keeping us from growing.

Step out of the box.  We need a larger space to play and create.  You can't grow if you are boxed in.

Are you ready to begin? Start here:


Have you entered the Gift-Away?

I'll be drawing for one winner who will receive the printable PDF pattern for Boxy Bow Ties for themselves AND a friend, along with this for both:


A This & That Fabric Roll from Cotton to Quilts!

Enter to win ON THAT POST.

Drawing to happen Monday 10/25/21!

You'll find Boxy Bow Ties in the digital pattern section of the Quiltville Store! And to kick this excitement into gear, I've placed it at 25% off through 10/31/21 at only $9.00, No coupon required!

Don't forget that my Punkin Patch Runner is also marked 50% off at only $5.00 through 10/31/21 as well!

If this is your first time downloading digital patterns from my store to a computer click HERE.

If you intend to download to an iPhone/iPad click HERE.


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

How boring life would be if all of the same quilts were made with all of the same fabrics and everything was identical and perfect. ⁣
Dare to be the one that stands out, not the one that is exactly like the others.


I'm off to start a 3 day Midnight Flight workshop with the Scrappy Sisters who arrived from Tennessee yesterday afternoon.

Oh, and my "Make One Thing Better" from yesterday? It wasn't a big deal, but I trimmed up all of the backing scraps left from quilting Cherry Crunch and sliced them into Scrap User's System sizes and put them all away.  No piling them on flat surfaces.  It was a great feel good!

Have a lovely Thursday, everyone!



 

20 comments:

  1. Please keep posting your "one thing" as it is inspiring! Isn't it great how one little thing done or intentionally gets our juices flowing. Love it! Thank you, thank you for all your blogs.
    Susan

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    1. Yes, I agree! Very inspiring. Thanks Bonnie.

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  2. Piling on flat surfaces is one of my worst quilting habits to change!

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    1. What we are not to use the end of the table for left overs!

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  3. Bonnie - thank you for your insight on scrap quilting. I find myself getting bogged down on color matching & coordinating, so will try a scrap project using your tips. Thank you!

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  4. Off to a 5 day retreat this morning. I will be home at night due to keeping 3 cats fed. It’s an a la carte retreat, held in ballroom of a local hotel. Rooms are discounted, meals on your own. And due to pandemic, only half the people we usually have; one person per table.

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  5. Wow what a stunning quilt. You are tempting me but I have all your books for inspiration..anxiously waiting!

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  6. thank you for the close-ups of cherry crunch. these are the type quilts that i love, you see something different every time. it's how i chose to make my quilts. i pulled out my 1.5" squares box and actually found 59 pairs to start. now to pull some lights for the other part of the 1/4 block. along with not forgetting to finish the bit coin top (20 rows of 70 so far) with more rows ready to build. thanks for sharing so much with us. patti in florida

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  7. It makes my heart happy to see the Canada prints showing up :) Loving this quilt!!

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  8. I may be strange but dealing with the leftovers of a project before I start a new one really gets my creative juices flowing. It builds anticipation for the new project and the bonus is that I have a clear area to fill up! But my scrap boxes are filling up so I'm looking forward to a scrap user project.

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  9. I cleaned the piles off my breakfast room table. Awesome feeling. Thank you for promoting "one thing". I hope to continue daily, cause there is always one more thing.

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  10. I'm such a better quilter since I broke out of the "matchy-matchy" box! My quilts are more vibrant and appealing to the eye and the big win? I enjoy quilting even more because I have allowed myself to be more creative! I learned that from you, Bonnie. Thanks for your creative encouragement! :)

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  11. I need to do more of the cleaning up as I go. Love the Reds!!

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  12. If you haven't binge watched the Ally McBeal series you need to. Lots of chuckles and sometimes a tear or 2.

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  13. I managed to dump some topsoil over cardboard in an area of my yard I am smothering the grass to build a new bed for next spring....on my lunch hour! didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would, just had to pull the trigger - thanks for the boot up the backside to just go do it.

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  14. I love the Cherry Crunch! Mystery Quilt time is getting closer! So excited!

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  15. I enjoy your TV recommendations! After you mentioned New Tricks some time ago, I watched every episode of every season and truly enjoyed it! Happy Quilting!

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    1. We’ve been watching Boston Legal too. Surprising how “current” many of the topics are. We love the writing. Hysterical!

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  16. I can hardly wait for the pattern for Cherry Crunch. I really love the reds. What - the dining table is for eating meals? Where would I put my sewing machine and all my tools, etc? Living alone has some positives, and what else would I use my lap tray for but dining? Anyway, I loved Scandal, and I have to look into where can you watch Ally Mcbeal. I loved watching that when it was on T.V. Thanks for all your inspirations because you brighten my days.

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  17. I also live alone, but am a neat quilter. I clean as I go, friends say leave it, I can’t it bothers me. After each project I clean up to start the next one. My daughter in law bought me the dyes for my go machine that has different size strips for Christmas, so looking forward to using it and getting everything organized. Do we need to be pulling colors for mystery quilt yet? So looking forward to doing this quilt with you. Love the red on cherry crunch.I need more red. Thanks for your positive attitude it is keeping me going. Apt I moved into was not move in ready. Having to clean everything as I unpack. Tomorrow is another day Praise the Lord. Blessing Bonnie.🌸

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