Lucie The Happy Quilter's Blog

Here’s a little indication of what things are like here in my part of the northeast of England lately. After snowing steady from about lunchtime yesterday this was the scene just after the traffic jam calmed down. My car and driveway were spotlessly clean before the blizzards started. After walking the dogs this morning I cleaned the drive in case the temperature drops and freezes everything up making it treacherous under foot.

Once I had done all my chores I slipped away into the sewing room and got started on my Scrappy Trip Around the World.  I used the directions posted on Quiltville. I think the most difficult part of this job is choosing scraps. I can finally see my scrap bin levels dropping now. Yay!!!! That was my goal when I started the Use up Your Scraps month challenge. Once January is over I will carry on using my scraps but I think it will be a treat to use new fabrics purchased for a specific project. So far the biggest or most involved scrappy project has been my Lilly Pilly applique work which I am thoroughly enjoying. I hope to post a progress photo of Lilly Pilly soon so you can see where I’m at. For anyone from my area who is looking for the Lilly Pilly pattern I purchased mine at Stitchin’ Heaven.

So I started today’s Scrappy Trip by choosing my fabrics and pressing then cutting everything into 2-1/2” strips. The 2-1/2” strips were then cut into 16” sections and I carried on from there.

The instructions regarding pressing were very helpful because it helped to spread the bulk. So here’s a little peek at the little bit I’ve pieced so far. I think I will start by making four diamonds and joining them and adding a border. I have really enjoyed today’s work. I plan on working on this particular project as and when I have time.

In researching for the Use up Your Scraps challenge I have found so many ideas. Lots of Jelly Roll patterns work really well with scraps. And I didn’t realise that I had so many books that are perfect for scrappy projects. I also learned that using a Scrappy Log Cabin quilt top as a background for applique works really well. I think the next thing I would like to try is string quilts but that’s a story for another day. In Fact there are many different techniques I would like to try while using scraps. I love making bags and I haven’t made a bag using scraps yet. Perhaps that should be the next project I aim for. So far using up my scraps has been an interesting adventure. I hope plenty of you out there in blog reading land are enjoying my journey.

So for this evening, this very happy longarm quilter will be working on some Lilly Pilly Leaves. Whatever you may be doing this evening, I hope you’re as warm and cosy as I am in my imaginary beach hut. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching. ♥ ♥