Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Playing in the Scrap Bin

Like most quilters, I have a stack of random charm squares in my stash that are left over from other projects, and this week, as I stitched up rows of my Life is A Highway quilt, I was thinking about what to do with them.  As I got them all out and sorted through the colors, I noticed there were a lot of black and white squares.  That got me to thinking about a black, white, and red quilt, something that's been on my list for awhile.  Of course, not all reds are the same, nor are all whites, so that added a bit of a challenge.  I knew I would need more than just the charm squares I had, so I looked around some more and found my Charlie Harper bird fabric, especially the red and black cardinals.  Perfect!  Those cardinals are kind of a tomato red, so I knew I needed to stick with that shade of red for consistency.


The white charm pack I ordered a while back is a true bright white, and it didn't go with the background of the cardinals or the black and off-white prints that I had, so I had to scrap them for a creamier white.  I also had a little bit of some mama birds feeding their babies in nests on a teal background, that I wanted to include, too, for a little pop of something different.  So, I fussy cut the little birds in their nests to add in.  I used the black/off-white print charm squares to make HSTs since they were actually 5 1/2 inches rather than 5 like some of the others.  (I hadn't noticed before that not all charm squares are equal!)


Finally, what kind of layout?  Another quilt on my bucket list is a plus quilt, so the rest of my play this week has been with a plus design, and here is what I came up with.


This is going to be a mini - not bigger than 30 x 48 (and that's before stitching it up), so I will probably hang it on the wall out in our family room.  My husband and I are avid birdwatchers, and we have several bird feeders hung outside our family room windows, so this seems appropriate for the room!  We wish we could see some cardinals at our feeders, but they don't come this far west, so the fabric cardinals will have to do!

Last, but not least, look what came in the mail for me yesterday!


The lovely families of the PTA at my school gave me a gift card for my retirement, and I have been spending it on quilting supplies like a new cutting mat and rotary cutter, thread, a Tri-Recs ruler, and that kind of thing over the summer.  I had $25 left on it, and that gave me just enough to get 13 fat quarters of Amanda Jean Nyberg's new Good Neighbors fabric from Connecting Threads.  Oh boy!

Linking up to my favorite Sunday afternoon party, Oh Scrap!  See you there!


6 comments:

Tanya Quilts in CO said...

Looks like you are getting lots done. I might have to order some of that Good Neighbors fabric. :0)

gayle said...

I loved watching your design come together! I like to work like that, too - playing with something and seeing where it will lead me. (And I'm sad that you don't get to have cardinals - they're one of my favorite birds!)
I saw that Good Neighbors lineup at Connecting Threads after I'd already put in my 'vitamin C' order. Next time...
Enjoy all your new toys - mats, rulers, and fabric!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

What a fun mini you are working on. I think the HSTs are a brilliant idea - one I will have to file away in my little brain. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

I haven't ordered my Good Neighbor's fabric yet. I was trying to not buy any fabric and knowing you now have some is not helping :)

Bethany said...

Looks lovely! And I'm jealous of the fat quarter bundle you have there. Have fun with that!

Linda said...

What a great idea for your leftover charms! Love what you have so far.

Wish I could send you some of our cardinals. Nothing lifts my heart like seeing birds at our feeder, and my daughter and I are big fans of birdie fabrics. :)

Don't you love the feel of Amanda Jean's fabric? The price can't be beat.

Sandra Walker said...

Oh how I love that Charlie Harper cardinals fabric! That is going to be a great wall quilt. :-) What a lovely way to slowly spend a gift certificate, on all things you love, and $2 fat quarters...more love. Think I need to hop over to Connecting Threads.