Tag Archives: scrappy slab

Scrappy Slab Rainbow Fabric Book • 6 Comments

sarah • December 11, 2020

Two years ago, my son I started making these 8 1/2" monochromatic blocks from my scraps. As with many of my projects, these were set aside in favor of other projects... to be worked on from time to time over the last couple years. I finished it up in October just in time to send to my niece for her 2nd birthday. (I also finished her "baby" quilt.)

The project consists of twelve 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" scrappy slab blocks in monochromatic primary and secondary colors. I prioritized fabrics that had animals and other items, fussy cutting when possible.

I made each page by joining a piece of 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" batting with two blocks by stitching around three sides with blocks right side together. After turning the page right side out I topstitched around those edges, leaving open the edge that would go into the spine. I opted not to quilt the pages.

Then I machine stitched pages together two at a time, then combined those. Four pages (that's four layers of batting and 8 layers of fabric!) was the thickest my machine could handle so I hand sewed the two halves together.

I was just making it up as I went from there. I chose the last of my favorite rainbow print from Timeless Treasures for the front and back covers and finishing the spine. I opted for hand stitching and a little hot glue to cover the corners of the spine, then used a hand binding to cover the spine. This spine is a little more than 1/2" thick.

Scrap projects are full of memories. As I flip through this book, I am reminded of so many projects I've made.

Ladybug outfits for my kids, Aloha Fizz, Bold Blooms...

Pretty Ditty Apron, Midnight Mystery...

Text Me, Wizard of Oz, Candy Shoppe, Rubber Duck...

Ocean Quilt (made by my son), Jungle of Animals (also made by my son), Nelle frog dress, mushroom pants, my second quilt...

Cotton + Steel mini quilt, Finally, Rockstar Rhythm, hummingbirds, chef's hat and apron, and another chef's hat and apron...

Star Light Star Dark, Purple Ninja!

The project also gives you a glimpse of what my stash of fabric looks like. I love bright, vibrant color!

Thanks for visiting!

Orange Improv Log Cabin Mini Quilt

sarah • December 7, 2020

During my Summer 100 Day Project to make Improv Log Cabin mini quilts I stumbled upon the idea to made a spiral in my log cabin.

This log cabin was precisely pieced. I sketched on graph paper to make my plan. Then got to work.

I decided to combine my spiral plan with orange scrappy slab. (I think I had a piece of orange scrappy slab started that I was able to build on to).

First think was to cut up my scrappy slab. I used 2 1/2" strips, trimmed down to size for each log.

My palette was limited to orange, black, and white, and I chose a black on black print for my contrasting spiral. These strips were cut 1 1/2" wide.

When piecing scrappy slab to neighboring fabric, sometimes it is unreasonable to press seams open given the bulk of the seam. These two photos show one area where the tiny strip of light orange will disappear in the seam, creating bulk.

And this shows where the tiny strip of orange and white print will be visible on the front, but required I press the seam to one side. You can see this super skinny strip of mostly white fabric vertically in the photo below, just inside the left most vertical strip of black near the upper corner. One of my favorite parts of piecing with scrappy slab is where these tiny slivers of fabric show.

Tada! Quilt top.

I used my favorite filler, a zig zag meander (which I also used in my red Improv Log Cabin), combined with echo quilting in the black logs. I actually spiraled in and then out all in one trip. Then I bound it in my solid Black Kona.

My quilt finished at 16 1/2" x 16 1/2".

You can read all about the other quilts in the series here:

This is day 7 of the 31-Day Blog Writing Challenge with Cheryl.

Purple Scrappy Slab Cuddle Quilt For My Niece • 18 Comments

sarah • December 5, 2020

There's a sentiment about how a first child's experience is different than a second child's. (We could talk about how my 8 year old doesn't have a baby book yet.) Apparently the same goes for niece and nephew. Within a couple months of my nephew's birth, he had a baby quilt. However, my niece just received her "baby" quilt for her 2nd birthday.

I started out with a different plan for her. My nephew's quilt had been inspired by the mural in his room and I wanted to do the same for her. But her African safari wall left me feeling like I "should" do appliqué... and I don't particularly enjoy the process of appliqué. Eventually I pivoted to focusing on the main color of her room, purple, a favorite of mine. I have a lot of purple scraps and I have been building purple scrappy slabs to piece for Jillian's quilt for over two years!

In recent weeks (months?) the quilt top has been my backdrop while I'm on zoom. I love reminiscing about the previous purple projects these scraps have come from. (There's a section in the upper right that's from my Ultra Violet All About Angles quilt.)

I'm really deadline driven. As Gretchen Rubin says, "things that can be done any time are often done at no time." And that really resonates with me for quilts that don't have a deadline. A challenge or quilt show submission deadline is really motivating for me. Quilt alongs and 100 day projects help, too. But "I'm making this for someone" doesn't usually have a deadline. As we approached her 2nd birthday, I decided this needed to be my hard deadline. I could hardly still call this a "baby" quilt, but at least it is sizable enough to be a good cuddle quilt for years to come.

I opted for simple walking foot quilting in organic vertical and horizontal lines. I didn't concern myself with perfection or equal spacing.

Then I added a little free motion elephant as a nod to her room. (Shh. I also have an elephant quilt in progress for her.)

My binding is more scrappy fabric. I usually opt for a bias binding, but this one was straight grain pieces, since I wanted to use scraps. I attached the binding by machine.