Quilt Finish – Blue on Blue

Last year during Sydney’s lockdown version 1.0, my friend Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts helped save our sanity by creating a mystery quilt along called the Happy Scrappy QAL. It was free to join, with a new set of block patterns being published each week. They were simple bits and bobs, nine-patches, quarter log cabins, and the like, with the intent to dive deep into your scrap bins for source materials. At the time, my blue scrap bin was about to burst, so I decided I needed to tame that beast and like the lockdown itself, lock it down. So week after week, my Happy Scrappy quilt chipped away at anything blue — including the metaphorical blues themselves.

Even after I had used scrap fabrics from Cotton & Steel, Jennifer Sampou, Tula Pink, Libs Elliott, Anna-Maria Horner, Zen Chic, Christopher Thompson, David Butler, Latifah Saafir, Alexander Henry, and numerous others my blue scrap bin is still overflowing! Isn’t that always the way! (I’m thinking I need to package them up and start selling my scraps.) Anyhow, it was a blue-tiful way to at least make an attempt, and regardless, I ended up making this pretty awesome quilt as well.

Make sure you check out the full gallery of Happy Scrappy quilts over at Blossom Heart Quilts. It is once again an amazing way to see how individual fabric choices can make entirely different quilts. While I probably would have made a few different fabric selection choices for various parts of this quilt, the final layout being a mystery didn’t really allow for that discernment. I won’t beat myself up about that because it still exists to celebrate a moment in time, and an extraordinary selection of fabric details to explore in the quilt.

The longarm quilting was handled by the talented Leanne of Mount Vincent Quilts who chose this wonderful circular, orange peel motif to contrast all of those right-angled building blocks. Sometimes I don’t know how she does it! I love how it really pops on the solid stripes I used for the backing. If you’re ever looking for a quick, modern way to back your quilts, follow my lead per below. There’s one run of width of feature fabric, plus three stripes of coordinating solids. In this case they are about 4″, 2″ and 10″, but you could flex them up or down as required, or even add a few more. Suddenly you have a reversible quilt, and who doesn’t love that!?

That Alison Glass binding was about the only bit to come from my stash rather than scrap, and I love the little dimples hand-stitched binding creates. This also clearly why I have a backlog of quilts I’ve been slow to finish and show you! However, I just can not get on board with machine-stitched binding. I realise it is illogical, but I’m sticking by my glue guns for threat of getting burned. Speaking of getting burned–check out Blue on Blue in front of a fire place! Back in February, we went to regional New South Wales to visit a friend, and this Air BnB provided the cosiest photo op for quilts. Also, road trips are the best time to do that binding!

This is me having my complete Escape To the Country moment: rocking chair, glasses of sherry, roaring fire, blue polka dot robe, hand stitching that binding down like a country quilting queen. I’m usually a city slicker, and it’s only Mr. Sparkles that gets me to venture outside my concrete comfort zone. Hope you get a giggle out of this one! This quilt has been gifted to a special friend, and I’m elated it got to bring me comfort, and has now continued that journey with another family.

Title: Blue on Blue
Size: 52″ x 52″
Pattern: Blossom Heart Quilts Happy Scrappy QAL
Fabric: Various blue tone on tone fabrics from stash
Piecing: Machine stitched on Juki TL-98P with Aurifil 50wt, White 2024
Quilting: Long arm quilting by Mount Vincent Quilts
Binding: Hand stitched with Aurifil 40wt, White 2024
Backing: Jeni Baker Color Me Retro Dulcette Bluestar with coordinating solid stripes
Timing: April 2020 – March 2021
Favourite Part: Keeping myself occupied during Lockdown 1.0.