Saltwater Taffy Quilt Tutorial - Scrappy Happy Summer Sew Along!!! ...

Hello:)

I'm back!

Apparently I went on a 

little bloggy break from our 

Scrappy Happy Summer Sew Along

 last week:)…I've been waiting until 

this quilt was quilted 

so that I could show it to you!

Meet my newest scrappy summer creation…

"Salt Water Taffy"

54" x 54"

I named it after saltwater taffy because

it's summer and salt water taffy is famous

 around here for being the favorite parade 

candy that's thrown out to the crowd:)

YaY for parades!

I also think all of the colors and the shape

 of the block looks like salt water taffy…

don't you?

This is one of the projects that I made with my leftover

fabric that was trimmed off the Easy Corner Triangles

on my 24" Summer Skies block:)

If you remember I showed you a super simple way

 to make half square triangles from the trimmings.

I ended up with 72 of them with 2 colors

like the ones pictured above on the left.

I set those aside for later…

 I'll show you the other project that

 I made with them next week:)

For this quilt I used the 144 half square triangles 

that are one half background and one half color.

I decided to take advantage of the fact that

there were sets of 4 or 8 in the exact same fabrics

and come up with a block using 4 matching 

half square triangles.

I sewed all 144 together like this…

and pressed the seams open

so that I could place each block any which way 

as I was playing with them and not have to 

worry about which way I had already pressed:)

I ended up with 36 blocks that measure 

6 1/2" UNFINISHED

I played with this setting first.

I call this block my

 "Salt Water Star"

and I love it!!!

 But since I had just finished my

 Summer Skies quilt with big star blocks…

I saved this for later...

And simply sewed the blocks together

all going the same direction…

and my Saltwater Taffy quilt was born!

I sewed 6 rows of six blocks…or in other words…

a 6x6 setting:)

I laid it out on some fabric on the edge 

 to see if I wanted

 to finish it off with just a binding…

I liked the way it looked

but doing it this way my quilt would only finish at 

36" square and I wanted it a little bigger.

So I added an orange inner border

 and a green outer border!

Cutting for borders…

From background; (1/2 yard total needed)

Cut 2 - 1 1/2" x 36 1/2"

Cut 2 - 1 1/2" x 38 1/2"

Sew these on first then add the orange border; (1/4 yard)

Cut 2 - 1 1/2" x 38 1/2" 

Cut 2 - 1 1/2" x 40 1/2"

Now add more borders of the background;

Cut 2 - 1 1/2" x 40 1/2"

Cut 2 - 1 1/2" x 42 1/2"

Now for the green; (1 3/4 yards lengthwise )

Cut 2 - 6 1/2" x 42 1/2"

Cut 2 - 6 1/2" x 54 1/2"

You will have enough border fabric 

to cut binding strips

but I wanted to use mine for

 another project so I used the same fabric for binding

that I used for the backing:)

Either way…

you will need 226" of prepared binding

which you can get from 1/2 yard of fabric:)

I love how my Salt Water quilt turned out…

it's a great size for the back of a chair…

a lap quilt...

a baby quilt…

a wallhanging…

or a table topper:)

Have fun with your

 half square triangles…

I can't wait to see them on the 

Scrappy Happy Summer

Flickr group!!!

Remember that all info

as well as a link to 

each and every post

from this sew along 

can be found on the home page

of the flickr group!

See you there:)

xx

Lori

Scrappy Happy Summer Sew Along - Summer Skies Quilt Top Finish! ...

Hello cute people!

I was able to finish up my 

Summer Skies quilt top 

and now it's ready 

for the quilting.

YaY!

Click Here

for all of the info if 

you are just joining us:)

I asked Kassidy and Sterling 

to hold it up outside…

on chairs because its pretty big:)

My kids have been asked to

 hold up my quilts for pictures

since they were really young.

Sterling is a big tease 

and likes to bug me by 

NOT SMILING:(

So Kass and I always

 try to get him to.

I tell him that he can't 

put down the quilt until he smiles.

(or bribe him with Cafe Rio)

I decided to use

 4" finished sashings instead of 3"…

so I used a total of 

5 1/4 yards background:)

Here are the cutting instructions;

Cut 12 - 4 1/2" x 24 1/2" 

and sew in-between

 each block in the 3 rows.

Cut 4 - 4 1/2" x 88 1/2" strips 

and sew them

in-between the rows and

on the top and bottom 

of the quilt.

I'm not sure what fabric 

I'll be binding it in yet…

but I do know that I will need

362" of prepared binding 

which equals = 3/4 yard

On my next 

Scrappy Happy Summer post…

I'll show you the blocks 

I am making with

the half square triangles 

that I made 

from the ECT trimmings!

Thanks to those of you 

who have added your photos to the 

Scrappy Happy Summer

flickr group.

Please feel free to post ANY 

pictures from the sew along 

of whatever stages you are in.

Even your fabric choices…

 or even cutting...

I'd also love to see

 your design boards!

xx

Lori

Scrappy Happy Summer - A Sew Along!!!

Good Morning cute people!!!

I'm sew excited to share with you 

the first project that I made for our 

"Scrappy Happy Summer" 

This is going to be a fun and casual summer sew along…

with alot of fun projects and several tutorials

along the way!

The projects will be based on 

Scrappy Happy Block

that I designed quite a while ago specifically for a sew along.

You can find it in my newest pattern called

Cut. Press. Sew. Quilt.

So if you happen to have a copy and you want to play along…

join us for a summer of scrappy happiness:)

As you know…

we will be using this pattern as our manual.

The pattern has the instructions for

 making my Scrappy Happy block

as well as cutting instructions for 4 different sizes.

We will not only be using all 4 sizes during the sew along…

but also 4 different settings of the block as well!

Okay!…onto the first project -

my Scrappy Happy Table Runner.

I've been wanting to make a new runner for

 my kitchen farm table for quite a while…

this sew along is the perfect opportunity:)

I made 3 - 18" Scrappy Happy blocks…

added sashing and borders…

and had a runner sewed up in no time:)

The runner is 22" wide x 62" long.

The first thing to do is choose your background fabric.

I decided to go with my very favorite yellow…

"Beehive" by Riley Blake Designs.

I chose this color for one of the solids

 in my very first fabric collection…Sew Cherry

and it's still my go to yellow.

I thought this would be a perfect

 sunny color to kick off our summer sew along!

You will need just a little under

 1 yard of background for this runner:)

First I cut 3 center squares for my 3 blocks.

Again…I used the cutting instructions

 in the pattern for the 18" finished block.

Next up…

I pulled out my 3 1/2" scrappy stash basket and chose

some strips that I thought would go well together.

Don't stress about this part…

remember that the whole point of this sew along is to

 use up some of your stash and also play with color…

so be brave!!!

I laid out my strips on my background fabric before I chose them…

just to make sure they would show up well against the color.

I also chose 3 fabrics with quite a bit of white in them…

or what I call "busy backgrounds"

Because I am using a solid color for the background…

these will show up nicely and add a little spark to my runner:)

After choosing your fabrics from your basket…

Cut the strips into the squares and rectangles 

according to the instructions in the pattern.

Sew your blocks together…

 and the sew a sashing strip onto each side.

Cut 6 - 2 1/2" x 18 1/2" from your background fabric.

After you have sewn one to each side of your blocks...

Sew the blocks together with sashing strips

 in-between and on each end of the runner.

(Cut 4 - 2 1/2" x 22 1/2")

Layer your runner with batting and backing…

and quilt as desired!

Trim off the excess batting and backing and 

prepare your binding:)

 I chose to use some of the strips from my 2 1/2" scrappy stash basket.

You will need about 200" of prepared binding for the runner.

I cut 21 strips - 2 1/2" x 10" long.

(I had 3 leftover after binding)

I sewed them together randomly…

with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Then I pressed them open for less bulk.

I pressed it in half with wrong sides together and bound my runner.

CLICK HERE

to see my binding tutorial if you have any questions:)

This sew along is all about using scraps 

to make some fun scrappy things for your home or for gifts.

These projects should be customized to suit your needs.

For example...

If this runner is too big for your table…

use the 12" block size.

I will simply be showing you what I made 

and how I made it.

You can do exactly what I did…

or change it up a bit for your needs:)

I like a large runner to protect my table top.

But sometimes I like to put a small square one in the center of my table…

or a large square quilt laid 

in the center diagonally as well.

I chose scraps from my stash to match my kitchen every day…

but you may want to make a runner

 for another season such as autumn…

or in holiday fabrics!

YOU CHOOSE.

My point is…

you are the boss of your own runner:)

Now before you think we are all finished…

I have something for next week

that I made with the leftovers cut 

from the Easy Corner Triangle trimmings

of the three 18" Scrappy Happy blocks:)

My rule of thumb when deciding if I should

 throw away my ECT trimmings or keep them 

and add back into my stash is this -

If I can cut at least a 1 1/2" square from them…I will! 

If I can't…

they are too small for me and I throw them away:)

If I have deemed them worthy of keeping…

 I always cut them into squares right then…

 and add them to my 1 1/2" strips and squares basket

so that I can actually USE them.

I have learned not to put them into a

 bag or container and think I will get to them later.

I won't.

And it's so easy to do it 2 at a time because 

they are already paired up that way when you trim them

off of the Easy Corner Triangle.

After I cut all of the 1 1/12" squares from my ECT trimmings…

This is what I had -

48 - yellow solid

16 - aqua

16 - red (chicken wire)

16 - green (vines)

and 8 EACH from the 6 remaining prints.

Certainly enough to make another smaller project

by adding a different background this time maybe?

I can't wait to show you what I made…

and I will next Monday!

(don't forget to save your squares

 too so you can make one with me!)

Add this button to your blog

 to show that you 

are a member of the 

Scrappy Happy Summer

 Sew Along!!!

 Click here to join us!

This link will take you to the 

homepage of the 

Scrappy Happy Summer flickr group.

Here you can see photos of projects

 from others who have joined …

as well as a place to 

add your photos too!

While you are there…

click on the "ABOUT" tab

to see a list and every link

pertaining to this sew along:)

 Feel free to load pics of 

your fabric choices, 

your Scrappy Happy blocks 

and your projects…

 so that we can all have a 

scrappy summer of inspiration!

Have a quilty kind of summer with me!

xx

Lori