Scrappy Improv Quilting Blog Hop - Botanics!

Welcome to the book launch blog hop for Scrappy Improv Quilting, by Kelly Young of My Quilt Infatuation!  This is Kelly's second book on improvisational quilting with your scraps, and it is full of fun ideas.  I could picture myself making every quilt in the book!  These are mini quilts, so they go together quickly and have a fun scrappy look to them, which is really my favorite kind of quilt. 

*For my I Like Thursday friends: I hope you'll enjoy my post for Kelly's blog hop!  I sure liked making this little quilt, and hope to make more from her book.  Thanks for visiting!*

I chose to make "Botanics," from the Single Block Beauties section, and here is Kelly's version from the book.

If you've never done this kind of sewing before, Kelly includes lots of helpful pointers for getting started and how to construct the quilt blocks.  I started with lots and lots of low volume scraps, piecing them together in pairs and then larger groupings until I had slabs of these pieces.  

Some were sliced and sewn back together, and some were trimmed into 6.5 inch blocks.

In fact, the whole quilt design is made up of 6.5 inch blocks: leaves, stems, and background!

24 x 24

Quilting was fun on this one!  I followed the stem and leaves up the quilt, and added veins to the leaves like Kelly did in her quilt for the book.

Some favorite scraps in the background have flowers in them!

Then I thought, "Why not add some ghost leaves in the background squares?"

Fun scraps in this section, too!

Seashells, starfish, bowties, marshmallows on a stick, and more.

If you need help finishing up your mini quilt or ideas for how you might use or display it, Kelly includes a whole chapter on finishing your quilt at the end of the book. 

I enjoyed every minute of working on this little quilt and am so happy with the finish!  It needs the perfect spot to hang in my house, but I haven't decided just where that is yet.

But... being a botanical sort of quilt, I decided it did need to go hiking with us the other day.   It was fun photographing the quilt on a favorite trail up near Rocky Mountain National Park!

Kelly, thanks for inviting me to be a part of the blog hop for your book!  I'm excited to see what everyone else has made, too.

Be sure to stop by the other blogs who are sharing quilts from Scrappy Improv Quilting.  It started on Monday and runs every Monday and Wednesday through October 20th.

9/13- Summer Blossom- Lori @ Crossquilt
           Up, Up, and Away- Sandra @ mmm...quilts!

9/15- Flutter- Rose @ Something Rosemade
           Botanics- Diann @ Little Penguin Quilts

9/20- Face the Sun- Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts
           Full Spectrum- Jayne @ Twiggy and Opal

9/22- Prismatic- Anja @ Anja Quilts
           Downpour- Nancy @ Grace and Peace Quilting

9/27- Funkytown- Vasudha @ Storied Quilts
           Cherub Wings- Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty

9/29- Chapel Window- Kris @ Sew Sunshine
           Winter Frost- Leanne @ Devoted Quilter

10/4- Heartstruck- Rebecca Grace @ Rebecca Grace Quilting
           Star Spangled- Christine @ Triangles & Squares

10/6- Birds of a Feather- Preeti @ Sew Preeti Quilts
           Fall Foliage- Susan @ Quilt Fabrication

10/11- Ornamental- Gail @ Quilting Gail
            Churn, Churn, Churn- Cynthia @ Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

10/13- Sunset Crossing- Kate @ Katie Mae Quilts
             Positivity- Sarah @ Sarah Goer Quilts

10/18- All Dressed Up- Linda @ Flourishing Palms
             Shockwave- Anne-Marie @ Stories From the Sewing Room

10/20- Sweet Bee (a bonus thank-you pattern), Finishing, and Wrap-Up (here!)