oops

So I broke my rule already -- I started another quilt.  BUT this one is a gift, with a deadline.  So it will be finished before the end of the year.   Some friends are getting married at the end of December, a date they chose in part due to uncertainty about what 2017 will hold.  And as I process my jumble of feelings at the end of this year, making them a quilt out of a rainbow of colors to celebrate love has seemed like something I can actually DO.  And so I picked fabrics, and cut strips. 

Using the scrappy trip tutorial from Bonnie Hunter, I quickly sewed strips together and then sub-cut, pressed and sewed again.

And in what seems like no time, I have a quilt top!  The scrappy trip is the only quilt pattern I have ever made more than once, and I still love it each and every time.  Now to get it basted, quilted, bound and ready to be gifted. 

scrappy rainbow stars

Earlier this year I decided to buy a sizzix.  My goal was to use my scraps more by being able to easily cut usable shapes to have on hand - when I made a bed quilt from Anna Maria Horner fabrics last year, I immediately cut the remaining scraps into squares and have found I use them so much more than other scraps!  I also loathe cutting bindings and often have a quilt ready to bind for months before I finish it, so I started with a 2.5 inch strip die.  I used it to cut a rainbow of scraps into 2.5 inch strips, and then subcut those to 2.5 inch squares.

They sat in their bin and the next time I was feeling project ADD I decided to start sewing something with them.  I started off by making a wonky red star

Which quickly became a rainbow of stars

                             

And then I decided to do some with the low volume for background... and then I added in some simple nine patches... and then I had a quilt top!

                             

I ended up backing it in some Heather Ross I found in my stash that I won in a giveaway years ago -- I just love finding the perfect match when something has been on my shelf forever!  And this was a particularly soft piece - I have no idea what the fabric is but I think it's perfect for a baby quilt.

                                     

And now it's washed, crinkly and ready to be loved by a newborn baby girl - I hope she loves rainbows as 

much as I do!