Not all quilts need to be complicated. Sometimes it's the simplest of quilts that catch my eye. My latest finish was a quilt top I sewed in a hotel...in 2023. I sewed so many quilt tops in the three months of living in that hotel, I'm not even sure I've quilted half of them yet. I'll take any finish as a win these days, and I really like this quilt.
The red squares and the whites with black designs are all scrappy. The black squares were leftover backing fabric, and the amount I had of that determined the size of the quilt. I know it's just four patches alternating with squares, but I think the quilt is quite fun. I used a black and white striped binding. I was going to use red, since the backing is red fleece, but when I auditioned the red, I decided I liked the stripe better. Who doesn't love a striped binding?
I made other quilts with this same pattern at that hotel. That trip was all about using up my 2" cut squares. After quilting that denim quilt, my arm needed a break, so for this quilt I put the walking foot on the Janome, and just did a crosshatch design by quilting diagonally through the squares. It was easy on my arm, and crosshatching just looks good on anything. I'm sure the color choice makes this quilt more striking, but even in the other colorways I did, it was still a fun, simple design.
I really need to do a basting spree and get a pile of quilts basted and ready to quilt. I had hoped to baste a bunch of king sized quilts while DH is gone later this month, but I only have one of those quilt tops done. I've been working on some projects for DH, as well as Christmas stuff, so assembling quilts hasn't been on my to do list. A basting spree while DH is gone is still a good idea though. Instead of basting the big quilts, I'm thinking of digging out the scrap batting, making Frankenbatts and basting whatever I've got that fits the Frankebatts. I've got a closet full of quilt tops, and too much scrap batting, so doing a basting spree that deals with some of that is almost as helpful as basting the big quilts. If I still set up the basting tables in the living room, it will leave my cutting table clear for trimming up batting scraps so I can piece them together, and allow me to figure out some pieced backings too.
With my new plan in mind, my current goal is to get as much of the Christmas stuff made as I can before DH leaves, then make a huge mess with batting scraps, pieced backings and basting while he's gone. Piecing batting together is always a messy chore for me. I tend to wait too long in between times where I piece batting, so then when I do, I'm sorting it into similar sized pieces, trimming straight edges so I can sew them together. Times like that I wish we had a full basement instead of a half basement, because I end up with piles everywhere! It's definitely a matter of making a bigger mess to clean things up, because once I finish, I've got empty or near empty bins for scrap batting, I've used up orphan blocks and misc. fabrics by piecing backings, and I've managed to get piles of fabric put away now that I have more room on the fabric shelves. Nothing busts fabric better than backings! We'll have to see how far I get!
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