…improv stash busting quilt…

Once upon a time, I signed up for a block of the month quilt club. Just shy of four years after the club wrapped up, I finally finished the quilt top (don’t talk to me about the actual finishing of it…). As we all worked through our blocks, we regularly commented on how generous the fabric cuts in the packs were, with multiple mentions of how we had enough to make another quilt. I even came very close to selling my leftovers to another friend who wanted to make the same quilt, which is crazy considering I turned my original BOM quilt from a single bed quilt into a queen size, along with a hexie project bag as well! In the end, I wasn’t convinced I was ready to let it go, so I stuck it all back in the cupboard and moved on.

Then, one lazy weekend in early April, the mojo hit. I’d been busy working away a lot and needed some quiet time to spend with my family and catch up on some creative time. I pulled out my fabric stash, and thought…why not…

I surfed Pinterest for some ideas, but I kept coming back to improv. I wanted to use as much of my Vintage Modern scraps as I could, and improv was the best way to do that – not only did I want to make the most of my precious, out of print fabric, but I also hoped to make it without having to buy anything. For the most part, I succeeded.

Once the front was pieced, I was able to patch together the larger scraps to make the backing as well, while holding back some for binding…and that’s where it all fell apart. The batting I was sure I had, turned out to be a lot smaller than anticipated. There went my plan to get it done in the weekend!! I will pop down to the quilt shop this week and grab some wool batting, and then pack it all up and sandwich at camp and start quilting – I’m actually thinking of handquilting it in a grid, with red and blue perle cotton; even though machine quilting would be faster, I’m thinking the imperfection of hand quilting will work better with the improv piecing, and make it lovely and snuggly and cozy.

I’m so happy with how this quilt top came up, and can’t wait to see it and it’s companion all finished…sometime in the next decade!!