Scrappy Checkerboard Quilt In Progress

Like most quilt makers I have a patchwork and quilting board on Pinterest. It is full of pictures of beautiful quilts made by other people. I find these quilts inspiring, the colours, the patterns, the soft, quilty snuggliness. I admire the complex piecing of quilts that draw the eye to the main focus of the quilt before it catches the secondary pattern hidden around it. I also love seeing the colour combinations people choose, the fabrics and the beautiful quilting.

Yes, I love my Pinterest board but I have to admit that simple quilts are more my thing. I love a good squares quilt, chequerboard, Irish chain, charm quilts - they all make me happier than chocolate ever could. I'm partial to the odd rectangle and half square triangle too but squares are my first love.

 

 

This is my youngest daughter Phoebe, asleep under her Central Park charm quilt.

 

 

Proof that I can quilt straight, even lines with my Pfaff Expression 3.0 sewing machine.

I don't think its because they are easier than complicated quilts, I have made those too and I didn't like them half as much (more on that in my next post). So, when I get the urge to quilt and I have nothing complicated planned I reach for my scrap stash and sew squares.

Here is a quilt that I have already promised to my niece Naomi, when it is finished.

Its made from 2 1/2" (2" finished) squares from my scrap pile, cut with my Sizzix Big Shot machine and the 2 1/2" square die. I love my Big Shot, it saves a lot of time. I chose the softest colours I had and teamed it with some white scraps, which I later discovered to be 2 shades of "white" but I have decided not to let it bother me too much, it is a scrap quilt after all.
 

I am in the process of quilting it at the moment but it is not going very well. I was given a vintage 100% cotton sheet with blue flowers and I am using that for the back and the binding. My 15m roll of batting is now all used up so I am using something called "Soft n' Crafty" from America which my machine absolutely hates. I have made several simple quilts with my machine and the lovely batting from my roll and all of my stitches have been perfectly even, not necessarily straight, but even. This quilt isn't running through my machine properly and I am getting patches of miniscule stitches. I am not happy but they are too small to rip out.

I will persevere and post some pictures when it is finished, just don't look too closely at the quilting.