Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Rainbow Boxes - Scrappy Stash QAL on Ellison Lane Quilts


This is my Rainbow Boxes quilt, which I put together during the Scrappy Stash QAL on Ellison Lane Quilts. Jennifer had a really great idea for us to use up scraps, and I'm glad she did, because we love this new quilt for snuggling on our couch!


The back is actually a knit sheet from my son's sheet set.  He doesn't use the flat sheet, so it was just sitting in the linen closet.  I figured, why not?  I've heard people can be intimidated by sewing with knits, but honestly this gave me almost no trouble.  I spray basted so it stuck nicely to the batting.  There are two very small pucker spots at the edge on one side, but pretty much not noticeable.  That box in the center looks like it's got a big pucker, but that's just the way it dried after washing.


I chose to quilt it in the ditch just around the outside of each log cabin block.  I had considered a lot of different ways to quilt it, but to be perfectly honest, I wasn't enjoying the quilting process on my dinky little Brother machine, so I left it at that.  I was just ready to be done.  Since I'm a sucker for simplicity, I am still pleased with the outcome.  


The blocks were easy to make and went by super fast.  I really enjoyed that part of this process.  I think I had the most fun trying to find just the right scrap to fussy cut for a fun little surprise in the center of the blocks.

How cute is this Ric Rac Rabbit?


The binding is a home dec chevron print.  I had over 100" inches already cut, sewn together, and pressed into binding leftover from another project, as well as yardage scraps available to cut the rest of the binding.  The home dec got a little bulky and ended up rounding out the mitered corners a tiny bit, but I made it work.  I pride myself on super sharp mitered corners when binding.  I don't know why, but they make me smile!


Thirty 8.5" monochromatic scrappy log cabin blocks, set in wonky white sashing.  I like how the wonkiness makes it feel like it's moving or even shimmering a little.  I had considered making the sashing wider for a larger quilt, but I liked how the skinny sashing would allow the blocks to be closer together and only slightly wonky.  I didn't really want the wonkiness to steal the show, but I wanted it to show off the fun blocks.


I'm pretty pumped to point out that batting was the only purchase for this quilt.  The blocks came from scraps and a little stash, the sashing was even from scraps!  The backing was just sitting unused in my linen closet, and the binding was from scraps as well.


Rainbow Boxes measures at 45" x 54" and with the knit backing, it's like wrapping myself in a super soft sweatshirt.

Thanks Jennifer for hosting a wonderful quilt along, and thanks to the sponsors as well!  Make sure you stop by Ellison Lane to see the other fantastic scrappy stash quilts in the linky!

16 comments:

  1. It's beautiful, Kristan! Good instinct to stick with skinny sashing. The wonky factor is just right.

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  2. This is wonderful Kristan. Great finish.

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  3. Beautiful, I love how colorful it is and way to use up those scrap!!

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  4. It turned out gorgeous! Great work.

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  5. Such a fun quilt! And it always feels good to buy next to nothing for a project! Yay for save a few bucks!

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  6. I love this quilt! It does look super soft and snuggly!

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  7. It looks great Kristan. I really like the white sashing and the wonkiness. So cool that it was practically free!

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  8. I love rainbow quilts! Your scraps are so pretty.

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  9. Fabulous quilt. I like your fabric choices. Great little surprises.

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  10. GREAT JOB. Love the binding and the backing too!! I am bummed I did not get mine quilted in time. My machine has started doing weird things with the bobbin and I can't figure out why. I was so very very close. Yours is beautiful.
    (The Woodlands) TXJennyWren

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  11. I love the wonkiness! It's perfect! Love the backing, too. Good job!

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  12. This is a great quilt, lots of energy - and LOVE the use of lime for the back. Fabulous.

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  13. love the wonky blocks (and that green backing is fabulous!)

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