Dust Off A Book Blog Hop

~ Jen Strauser

Bea Lee is hosting a fun blog hop this month. She challenged us to find a quilt book on our shelves and make a project from it. I chose my Scrappy Bits Appliqué book, by Shannon Brinkley.

I signed up for an online class with Shannon in 2016. This book was a part of it. It is a very interesting technique, I remember enjoying the class, but I must have gotten distracted, because I got started on the project, then set it aside.

Thanks to Bea, I found the book, then dug out my partially completed project. I had actually done quite a bit of the project already. It was just waiting to be fused together and quilted.

Since this project was put together so long ago, there aren’t a lot of construction photos. The process is fun – you fuse a lot of scraps together, then cut out your shape, fuse it down, and quilt it.

My assistant helps out with fabric sorting.

I originally decided to do a skyline of Washington, DC because that is where I met my husband. His dorm room was two doors down the hall from me during our freshman year. He came to my room to borrow my roommate’s hammer. Isn’t that romantic? We were good friends for several years before our relationship deepened. We’ve been married for 22 years now.

Back to the quilt. The fabrics I used were all scraps from my bin. I had a lot of leftover greys after putting together my That’s No Moon quilt.

For a background, I decided to use some of my treasured Takako Ombres. I’ve had these forever. I need to use them up, but I love them so much. I moved the piece around on the background until I settled on a sky color that worked for me.

Light? Nah. Not enough contrast.
This is much better.

I spent several minutes fusing. Fusing frustrates me sometimes – I’m not patient enough to get a good bond. Also, I’m afraid of scorching my fabrics.

The batting I am using is Hobbs 80/20 Heirloom Cotton. It is a piece left over from another project. Thank you to Hobbs for providing it to me! (I get free batting as part of being an Island Batik Ambassador.)

I chose to use a simple quilting motif – I didn’t want to distract from the precise cutting I had done on the skyline. This spiral square design was included with my quilting computer.

The backing and binding are this pretty peppered cotton. It’s so soft – I feel like I need to use every last scrap of it.

Tah dah! It feels so good to finish, even if it is just a little project. Thanks, Bea, for giving me the motivation to finish this off!

Quilt Specs
Dimensions – 17″ x 36″
Pattern – Washington DC Skyline by Shannon Brinkley
Fabrics – Scraps, Misty Fuse
Batting – Hobbs 80/20 Heirloom Cotton
Thread – Signature Omni 50 weight in Ocean Blue

Want to give Scrappy Bits Appliqué a try? I’m ready to send my book on to a new home. Just enter my Rafflecopter giveaway below. The giveaway will run for one week, from February 21st – March 4th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don’t forget to check out all of the other bloggers playing along!

Monday Feb 18th
Turid at densyendehimmel
Pamela at Pamelaquilts
Joan at Moosestashquilting
Anne at seems like a plan
Susan at Desertsky Quilting
Selina at Selinaquilts
Kathleen at Kathleenmcmusing

Tuesday Feb 19th
Cindy Stitchin at home
Jennifer at curlicuecreations
Stephanie at stephjacobsondesigns
Kathy at Kathysquilts
Shasta at high road quilter

Wednesday Feb 20th
Sharon at Vrooman’s quilts
Suzy at Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Nancy at patchworkbreeze
Brenda at songbirddesigns
Karrin at karrinscrazyworld
Denise at craftraditions

Thursday Feb 21st
Anita at Domestic Felicity
Leanne at Devoted Quilter
Jennifer at Dizzyquilter
Carla at Creatin’ in the Sticks
Lee Anne at Podunk Pretties
Andree at quiltinglearningcombo
Lyndsey at Sew Many Yarns

Friday Feb 22nd
Bea at Beaquilter
Barbara at Bejweledquilts
Laura at slice of pi quilts
Sherry Powered By Quilting
Pat at Life in the Scrapatch
Carol at Just let me quilt
Kathy at Kathy’s Kwilts and More
Marian at seams to be sew

Do you have any old books on your bookshelf that call to you?

41 thoughts on “Dust Off A Book Blog Hop”

  2. This is s lovely. Thanks for the inspirational pictures of the progress. I love scraps, and specially the tiniest bits. I would really like to have this book, but I live in Norway, and the costs to send it is high.

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  5. Love that ombre fabric, and the quilting design is very cool. By the way, the link to your YouTube channel didn’t work for me. I found you on YouTube though and subscribed.

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  7. love your project, and your background quilting is wonderful! I tried to subscribe to your You Tube, but I got a message saying the server couldn’t find it (or something like that).

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  8. wow this is so cool. i love the scrappy sky line. and your quilting circular squares is wonderful. thank you for sharing and inspiring.

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  13. Oh — forgot to add — if you are concerned about scorching applique, try using a pressing cloth. I didn’t do this until just a little while ago. Game changer. Truly.

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  14. That’s a cool quilt and I love the back story. I’m glad you were inspired to finish it. Cool idea for a blog hop!

    Reply

  25. Fabulous finish! Love it. Met my hubby also in DC, but he was living in NJ at the time. That’s how I ended up in our guild. Love the contract background.

    Reply

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