Scrap Attack Quilt Finish!!

Over the long holiday week-end, I was able to finish my Scrap Attack Quilt!  This quilt was started over a year ago as part of "Stitched in Color's" Scrap Attack Quilt Along.  I used it to tackle my batik scrap bin.  It's not only scrappy, but also a sampler of several block designs and quilting motifs. My camera really doesn't like the black and white contrast, so DH took a few shots at different exposures to "see" it.

The only thing that's not scrappy about it is the back!  Is that funny or what?  This fabric was a gift from one of my sister-in-laws who was cleaning out a basement, and let me go through her fabric before sending it to Goodwill!  Sweet!

As mentioned in the prior post, I tried to make up a few of my own quilting designs.  This "cells" design is my favorite!! I was finally able to use my Aurifil 40 weight thread for all of the quilting!  I love it, and my Janome handled it beautifully.  The top is all pieced with Aurifil 50 weight (as are most of my quilt tops).

Finally, I used a brilliant idea / tutorial that Melissa at Sew BitterSweet Designs recently shared.  I used the monogram feature on my Janome to stitch a label into the binding!  I LOVE this idea / technique!  I will for sure be using this in future quilts!!

I'm also linking up with Melissa and Shanna's A Lovely Year of Finishes for the month of May!  Come see what others have finished!

Cold Snap and Scrap Attack, and Some New Free Motion Designs of My Own!

Like everyone else, I've been glued to my TV watching the aftermath of the horrible storm in Oklahoma that happened this week.  My mom's side of the family are all originally from Oklahoma, but none of them, thankfully, were affected.

State of Oklahoma

One of the best things about quilting your own quilt is that you can stitch anything you want into it.  I love stitching little "hidden messages" into my quilts.  I've been trying to finish up my "Scrap Attack Quilt this week, and decided to stitch the state of Oklahoma into one of the blocks.  It's hard to see, but it's there.

Topo Map

Cells

Protozoa

Spirochetes

I decided that since this is a scrappy sampler quilt, that the quilting should be as well.  It was also a great excuse to practice some of the designs I have wanted to try but didn't want to commit to a whole quilt. Here are some of my favorite designs.  A few are from Leah Day's website, but I'm trying more and more to create my own.  I made up some "cells", "spirochetes", and "protozoa".  I love Leah's "topo map" design, and will for sure be doing this again, as well as my very own new ones  I also attempted a "stream bed", and tried again to learn to like pivoting designs, but alas, I'm afraid I really don't like them.  Hate to admit it, but I really don't like traditional feathers either... not even enough to attempt them, but maybe my next design will be real feathers :-).

I also decided that I'd try to use a thread that doesn't "match" the sashing, and like how that turned out too!  I'm hoping to finish up the border and binding today or tomorrow.

Finally, here's a shot of our garden that I took last night as the sun was going down.  We had a record cold snap last night, and got a good freeze, but luckily our efforts to protect everything worked.  A few weeks ago we had record high temperatures.  I can't help wondering if the massive tornadoes and our record temperature extremes are related to global climate change.  I believe that they are.  We as a family have taken many steps to try to minimize our impact, but I sure wish governments would step up to the plate and address this most important issue.