No Scrap Left Behind Blog Hop

Welcome! I am delighted and honoured to be able to share with you today as a part of  No Scrap Left Behind Blog Tour!

No Scrap Left Behind!

It has been a decade since I first discovered Crazy Mom Quilts and became friends with Amanda Jean online. I immediately felt I had found a kindred spirit! It is no secret that I have a love affair with scraps and Amanda Jean is the Queen of Scrappy!  I cannot think of a better title for her book and I know that if you love scrap quilts or if you are looking for inspiring ways to use your scraps (not just for quilts!), you will want this book.

For fun and in connection to the book, Amanda Jean asked, "How do I manage my scraps?"

My system for organizing my scraps is simple; scraps sorted separately by size and then for the large or odd shaped pieces, grouped by colour. This works well for me, keeps me using my scraps and cuts down on the chaos of not finding what I want, when I want it. ;o) Find a system that suits you and your methods - I think that's what matters most. There's no "right" or "wrong" way to sort scraps!

"June" is the quilt pattern I tested from No Scrap Left Behind.  It's a fun design that goes together quickly and Amanda Jean's tips help it go smoothly from start to finish.  As suggested, I varied the widths of my strips and trimmed each unit afterwards. Chain piecing also works beautifully for making lots of strip units in a short amount of time.

The beautiful floral print fabric used for the large squares, is a European poplin designed by Rebekah Ginda for Swafing. I purchased it a couple of years ago, online from L'Oiseau fabrics in Calgary.

  My colour palette was inspired by the fabric that I decided would be perfect for the main squares in the quilt. I knew I had stashed that gorgeous print for something special! ;o)

Pink, orange and blue are abundant in my stash and I enjoyed mixing them all together for a colourful, scrappy quilt filled with energy.  Pink gingham for cornerstones and a sweet cherry print for the binding.  

The solid backing allows the dense free motion quilting to show off all the texture it adds.

 The solid pink for the backing, is from Free Spirit (in fuchsia) and I pieced strips of the main fabric along with the gingham in two narrow matching bands, to make the backing large enough. Love a pieced backing!

The wee cherry print seemed like the perfect choice for the binding!

 It's difficult to see all the quilting from the front of the quilt,  but it really shows on the solid fabric backing. 

Those large squares inspired me to free motion quilt big blooms in them, while the pieced frames I quilted in long loops.

 
There were approximately a bazillion thread ends to bury after my quilting - but I think it was totally worth it!  ;o)

This quilt was a joy to make!  It's a beautiful pattern that makes treasured scraps shine and it's easy to sew. 

  

 I am so tempted to make this pattern again! If you're short on scraps (um, not me...) I suggest you cut up charm squares for the narrow pieced sections and a couple of layer cakes for the large squares - wouldn't that be fun?

 Thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of the fun in celebrating your gorgeous and inspiring new book, Amanda Jean!

Thank you to C&T publishing for providing a free copy of No Scrap Left Behind for me to giveaway (hard copy for a U.S. winner or a digital copy for an international winner).

•  To be entered to win a free copy of No Scrap Left Behind by Amanda Jean Nyberg; please leave a comment on this post between now and Friday May 5, 2017 at 9pm PST.
• This giveaway is open to everyone, anywhere in the world. Please make sure I can contact you through your comment by leaving your email if you are a no-reply blogger. 

Here's this weeks blog tour stops...

Monday, May 1, Katherine Greaves (this is me!)

Tuesday, May 2, Tracy Mooney

Wednesday, May 3, Cheryl Arkison

Thursday, May 4, Debbie Jeske

Friday, May 5, Amy Smart

 Giveaway is now closed and the winner is...

Congratulations, Lorene!