I finished another scrappy donation quilt this month, using my favourite scrap pattern. I often custom quilt donation quilts as well, they are great practice objects but I didn’t have time to play around, so I used a pantograph instead that I have wanted to try for quite a while. It is called “Chiffon” and I have used it in a smaller version as a background filler but never in the default edge-to-edge size. That’s another really neat thing about scrap quilts, almost any quilting design will work. This one has already been donated to the guild, and I have started making another donation quilt, a great way to use up leftovers and do something useful.

Edit: Every time I post a picture of one of these, people start asking for the pattern in the comments. There isn’t a pattern that you can purchase. This is something that one of my German friends came up with years ago.  I’ll try to explain, maybe you can figure it out by just looking at the pictures. You alternate light and dark fabrics and always press the seams away from the light pieces. I put it together in rows, I find that easier than looking for blocks. The big squares are 4″ squares (including seam allowance, so 3 1/2″ finished size). The small squares are 2″ squares, the rectangles are 2″ x 4″. This means you can just start with 4″ squares and cut them into the smaller pieces (halves and quarters) as needed, without having to worry about seam allowances. They will fit together. You can actually do this with any size squares… if you start out with 5″ squares and cut them in half or quarters, you can put it all together without having to worry about the math.

This might sound a bit confusing but just take a few 4″ squares in light and dark values and give it a try. It’s super easy, and you can make the quilt as big or small as you want to.

Sonja made this pretty quilt using batiks and donated it to a silent auction. “Ground Cover” is actually the name of the pantograph that I used for this quilt, one of my favourite leaf patterns. The warm earth colours of the quilt remind me of a walk in the woods on a sunny autumn day.

“Cat-I-Tude” is the name of the fabric line by Ann Lauer for Benartex that Sherri used to make this quilt. (There is also a similar line for dog lovers called “Dog On It”). The cat blocks are a panel, Sherri cut them apart and put them into a chain setting with star blocks. Isn’t it great how the black background makes the colours pop? It was quilted with paw prints, the name of the pantograph is “Puppy Paws” but they sure look like “Kitty Paws” to me 😉

I am sure you all sometimes wonder where all those scraps are coming from that keep piling up in our drawers, bins and boxes. In an attempt to conquer hers, Patricia took her bright batik leftovers and created this stunning quilt. The black background fabric was the perfect choice, don’t you love how it makes the colours pop? Inspired by the leaf and vine designs of many of the batik fabrics I quilted it with a “Tropical Leaves” panto.

Donna used a panel to make this elephant quilt as a gift. The colours and the elephants made me think of Africa and the setting sun, and we chose a pantograph called “Sun Scallops” for her quilt. Isn’t it just perfect? I love how the curved echo around the spikes creates the illusion of clouds, a very clever design.

And here we have another Rail Fence quilt, made by a different Mary. Sometimes it is funny how these end up in my queue next to each other. This one was made from cozy flannels and is a gift for Mary’s grandson. The pantograph is called “Overlapping Crop Circles”, and I love how it creates movement across the quilt.

This modern Rail Fence quilt in black, white and grey was pieced by Mary. The blocks are quite small, and it must have taken her a long time to put it all together, but isn’t the result just stunning? Well worth the time and effort. Mary knew that she wanted to have it quilted with the modern design “Bauhaus” when she dropped it off, and it all went together nicely.

During the 2019/2020 guild season, the Chilliwack Quilters Guild organized a Block of the Month project, and quite a few members participated. I quilted a some of them, and this is the first one, made by Ellen. I love those little four-patch cornerstones, aren’t they cute? Ellen also took the opportunity to find a home for an orphan block she had in one of her drawers, the butterfly block wasn’t part of the guild’s BOM but works very well with the others. She chose the design “Feathered Curls” to finish her project.

Sandra’s friend Darlene made a Bargello quilt a couple of years ago called “Twist and Turn Bargello”. Sandra loved it so much that she decided to make her own version. She chose a maritime theme and lovely blue fabrics for her quilt. It was quilted with the design “Taj Mahal”, a simple design that adds great texture.

This lovely quilt made from a fabric line designed by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts was made by Brenda. Isn’t it amazing what you can do with just Four Patch blocks and Half-Square Triangles? I love watching the secondary pattern emerge, and this is an especially nice one. The quilting design Brenda chose for her project is called “Paisley Curls”.

Do you know what a Crumb Quilt is? I have to admit that I had never heard of the technique until Carol dropped off this quilt for quilting and told me about it. It seems to be similar to a crazy quilt but without the embellishments, and it is a great way to get rid of your scraps. There are lots of tutorials online on how to get started. The nature of this technique makes Crumb Quilts very busy, of course, and the quilting will get lost. “Taj Mahal” was an excellent choice for Carol’s quilt, it adds some texture and stabilizes everything without trying to overshadow the quilt top.

This lovely quilt was made by June. She chose a modern, simple design called “Taj Mahal” for quilting which adds very nice texture. The colours don’t look right to me in the pictures, the quilt definitely had a summer feel, and this looks more like spring. Too much pink, I guess, but I am done fiddling around with Photoshop. It is a very pretty quilt in any colour.