Green Scrappy Braid Quilt Top Is Finished

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Wow, working on and off, this took almost a month. I added the final borders early this morning.

I LOVE IT!!! My first braided Anything. And mostly from scraps. 95%. That’s the best part.

From this…

To this…

It is officially the largest quilt top I have made to-date. Right now, before quilting and binding, it measures 90″ by 94.” As you can see, it fits perfectly on this regular sized bed in the guest bedroom which BTW is only used to house my crafting stuff.

It has enough of a drop that I could remove the dust ruffle. (Do people still use dust ruffles, LOL!! I still do.)

For the back, I already started making more braid panels. I will probably cut some larger squares from leftover green scraps. And piece together what I can to make it large enough. I won’t spend a lot of time on it, that’s for sure. Already invested too many hours on the top.

After I quilt it, I want to make two pillow shams. I saw the cutest pillows that look like shams on the net (can’t remember where), loved them, will make them.

I am so glad I decided to try my hand at this design and learned to make the braids. If I had never tried it, then I wouldn’t have this to show you.

If you haven’t tried the Friendship Braid, check it out. Super easy. Time consuming, but easy.

Go here. This is what I used.

http://www.quilterscache.com/B/BraidBlock.html

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You can read about the making of this quilt top here.

http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/sashing-is-done-time-for-the-borders/

And here.

http://thisyearsdozen.wordpress.com/2013/01/14/starched-and-ready-to-trim/

Sashing Is Done… Time For The Borders

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Seems I have been working on this Green Scrappy Braid Quilt forever. And I HAVE!! For about four weeks. On and off. With a few other projects being worked on in between.

But I have good news. The sashing is finished. And I can now move on to the outside borders.

Initially, I wanted to use this green fabric. But didn’t think I had enough.

And to buy more at the price/shipping the seller was asking would have ended up being more than I wanted to spend on a scrappy quilt. Overkill. So “Babble”, the name of the fabric, went back to my stash. (And thank you, Sonnethawk, for your help in locating the color I needed. I bookmarked the site.)

I think this apple green with butterflies works just fine.

It complements all the various shades of green I used for the braids.

For the inside borders, I decided on a black fabric with white loopy loops. It is busy. But I like it.

This quilt top will be the second largest quilt I have made to-date. (The American Heroes quilt being slightly larger.) Right now without the outside borders, it measures 82″ across and 65″ down. Borders will be 2″ on the left and right and 4″ on top and bottom. So I am thinking it will end up somewhere around 86″ by 74″.

I am calling it my Scrap Buster. Except for the sashing and borders, it was made with about 95% scraps. For variety, I ended up cutting strips from a few FQ’s and my stash but mostly it was from my green scrap bag.

Remember the photo I showed you a month ago?

This is what that bag looks like now. SWEET!!

I will use even more scraps to make a pieced back. More braided panels. At least two. 92 strips per panel. Then I will piece together leftover scraps and see how close I can come to the measurements for the top. For sure I will need to add from my stash. The same green and black I am using for sashing and borders.

My plan is get the quilting done This Year. Not sure when but this year. I am determined NOT to go into next year with a bunch of quilt tops in need of quilting.

How about you? Are you working to reduce your UFO’s? Have you finished anything yet this year? Do tell…..

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Go here for directions to make your own braided quilt.

http://www.quilterscache.com/B/BraidBlock.html

My Braid Block… It’s Beginning To Look Like….

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HEY!! It is beginning to look like a quilt top.

Sewing these strips is soooo addicting. Try it. I bet you can’t just sew a few. Once you start, you end up sewing for at least an hour.

I now have two sections finished. Each with 92 strips. 5″ across and 68″ down. (The sections aren’t sewn together. It just looks like it.)

I stopped there. Didn’t want to do any ripping out later if I decide to go shorter. I can always add more strips if I want it longer.

What do you think of this fabric for the binding?

It is green but it does have an unusual design. I don’t think it will get lost in all that green. I have it pinned to the quilt top in the first photo. The green in the center has butterflies. It will be the sashing.

Boy, this design sure uses up lots of strips. Perfect for scraps. I only have about 150 cut strips left. And here I thought I cut too many.

Hopefully I can get another 150 from my leftover scraps. Then I will have to use my stash. But that’s a good thing. Feels good using up so many scraps.

Well, got to go to the post office to mail off a couple of packages. I will sew more on my braid quilt later today. Maybe even get two more sections finished.

Hope you are having a great weekend. What are you doing?

Mickey: Love Patches

It feels good to make something from my Fabric Stash. Fabric that has been sitting for years waiting for its owner to come up with a design and actually cut into it. Snip. Cut.

You want to hear something funny. I bought this Mickey fabric off eBay YEARS ago and didn’t notice the seller was out of the country (not USA) when I clicked on To Buy. It took over a month for it to arrive and by then I had forgotten all about why I had wanted it in the first place!!

I used some of it to make simple purses for little girls. But still had a lot left. It is not the best quality fabric. The thread separated in some spots. I snipped off the pulled away threads.

So that I could still use it and not have to do a lot of fussy cutting around the flawed areas, I added a “patch” here and there.

Thus, Mickey: Love Patches was born.

I liked it and said, what the heck!! Let’s add more!! So I added mustard yellow squares plus the ones that look like the Target ads. The black and white circles.

Patches, all except the black/white circles, have been zig zagged. Will keep fraying to a minimum.

Quilting was done with wavy lines throughout.

I love how the back turned out with the zig-zagging detail.

Mini quilt can be used as a doll quilt, a playmat. Even a table runner. Would be great as a wall hanging in a child’s room. A child who loves Mickey.

All cotton fabric, cotton batting. It measures 20″ by 24″.