My Bottled Rainbows Quilt is FINALLY finished!!!

Just under 2 year!  

That's all it took to whip this bad boy out.  I just looked back through my blog to see when I started the Bottled Rainbows Quilt Along and it was 2/28/2011.  

Woopsie daisies!

Now it is off to trim all the stray threads and take some good pics to post!

I'm so glad to cross this off the to-do list!

I'm linking up with Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts {Finish it up Friday}.

xoxo

~Val

You can call me Owl.



Fabric Scraps!!!  
If you sew, you'll create scraps.  If you've ever seen crazymomquilt's Ticker Tape Quilt, hopefully you've started hording these said scraps in order to make your very own.


This quilt began for me at the Old Red Barn Co. Quilt Along #9 on Flickr.  How this Quilt Along works is that Dana, of Old Red Barn Co., chooses a different quilt theme for each round of her Quilt Along. If you choose to participate, you post pictures into the Flickr Group as your quilt progresses.  Dee, of deeroo designs, graciously typed up a tutorial of how to create a Ticker Tape Quilt.

I love Owls and I knew I wanted to incorporate one into this quilt somehow.  I scoured Flickr for inspiration and came across this cute little picture.  I asked the artist if he would mind if I used his image as inspiration for a quilt and he was thrilled. 

I divided this quilt into four quadrants and sewed them all together at the end. The scraps were sewn directly onto a pre-sandwiched (is that a word?) quilt, which allows you to "quilt-as-you-go."  I had never used this technique before, but can I just say that I LOVED IT!!!  It is so refreshing to turn your quilt over, after sewing your little scraps onto the front, to find that you have just quilted it at the same time!!!  The four smaller sections made manuvering around the tiny scraps so much more manageable!  However, not all Ticker Tape Quilts are made this way.  You can also make them the more traditional way by sewing all your scraps onto the quilt top first, then quilting it with the batting and binding. 

 

I was nervous about washing it because I had sewn so close to the edge of each piece (approx. 1/8"), but it came out softer than ever and the pieces all frayed perfectly! However, it did take about 2 hours of mindless trimming to remove all the excess strings that had accumulated on the front from the washing.

For the back, I used Valori Wells' Del Hi line.

What I love best about this quilt is that it is like a snapshot in time for me.  Each teeny tiny scrap represents a project that I have made.  Just like a photo album that brings back memories when you look at each pictures, this quilt brings back memories of all the love that I have put into every single project that I have created.  

I encourage everyone who has scraps that they don't want to throw away to use them on a Ticker Tape Quilt.  My next Ticker Tape Quilt will be the Bottled Rainbow Quilt Along with Rachel of StitchedInColor.  It is never to late to join us!  

Lessons learned (if you are using the "pre-sandwiched" quilt method:

If I make  When I make another ticker tape quilt, there is one thing I would do differently.  On the front of each piece, I had left about an inch of white space along the edges of each quadrant so that I could sew them together when they were all finished.  The problem is, once you sew them all together, it looks exactly like you've sewn 4 quadrants together.  I didn't want there to be a distinct line running vertically and horizontally across the quilt drawing attention to these 4 quadrants.  So, I spent a lot of time removing pieces that were close to the middle and putting new pieces on that did not all run in a straight line.  Next time, I will leave 2 inches along the edges to avoid all the seam ripping. 

I also did something a little differently than Dee had in her tutorial which she wanted me to share.  When the time comes to sew the back panel together, Dee has folded one side over the other and hand stitched it down.  I decided to just sew the folded side down as close to the edge as possible (I'm not the biggest hand stitching fan).  If you leave the 2 inch space along the edges like I mentioned above, you won't even see this seam on the front side because you will cover it up with the pieces that you come back and add.  It worked like a charm and went very quickly!

I never realized this would turn into an "I Spy" quilt until I laid it on the floor and let Baby Jack climb on it.  "D'er's Buzz," he said.

I just linked this post up with the Linky Party over at Quilt Story.  Go check them out!

And thank you to the Modern Quilt Guild for featuring this quilt in their 100 Days of Modern Quilting.

Ticker Tape Quilt... let the obsession begin!

Crazy Mom Quilts.
Hopefully, you've all heard of Amanda Jean and have followed her in amazement as she creates new and amazing quilts.  The Ticker Tape Quilt was one of her incredible inventions.  It has become such a huge hit that it is now part of Dana @ Old Red Barn Co's 9th Quilt-Along.  You can follow all the progress of everyone involved on flickr.  The ticker tape quilt is a way to use up itty-bitty scraps by arranging them in a mosaic pattern on top of an already pre-sandwiched quilt.  Pre-sandwiched, is that a word?

Scraps.....

For the past year or two, I have been saving all my scrap fabric.  I wasn't aware that I was supposed to save my scraps until one sewing evening, Lindsay said to me as I was throwing them away, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"  "Um, I'm throwing away my trash."  "Don't you know you should be saving those to make a CrazyMomQuilts Ticker Tape Quilt!!!?"  From then on, I've saved each and every one.  (Unless it is too microscopic and then I give it to Lindsay).  I save the scraps in an old Cheese Ball container from Sam's Club.  I took my "Cheese Ball" to my first Indianapolis Modern Quilt Guild meeting because we were making wonky blocks from our scraps.  They thought my container was hilarious.  I guess I never thought anything about it until then.


Ok, back to the Ticker Tape Quilt.
I have decided to join the Quilt-Along and I am so glad that I did.  I think the ticker tape quilt has become a new obsession of mine.  It is addicting, to say the least.  Here is a reveal of the bottom left quadrant of my quilt.

Any guesses of what it is going to end up as?  I'll give you a two clues:
1.  It lives outside.
2.  When it speaks it asks a one word question.

Guesses???

~Val